Winchester 1906 Pump 22...Q about BBL Relining

MBK

I have found a Winchster 1906 22 Pump made in 1908.
It is all there with nothing messed up, but almost no bluing left.

I tested its accuracy and it is a 5 incher at 25 yards. I will use a foam bore scrubber, but the previous owner said he cleaned it over and over already.

So, if I take the step of doing a barrel insert, that would likely make it reasonably accurate. But would that hurt its market value, In Your Humble Opinions?

lkannes

Let me know how it works out for you, I have one I'm thinking about doing it to. Rifle is rough looking, bore is unusable so I don't think mine has any value anyway. I just as well make it usable.

MIKE WISKEY

"It is all there with nothing messed up, but almost no bluing left."........with no blueing left there isn't much 'collector' value left either. for about $100 (barrel reline)you can get a good shooter.

nononsense

MBK,

I know this is a contradiction with regard to centerfire rifle but lots of .22 Rimfire rifles shoot better dirty... Over-cleaning or cleaning too frequently can reduce accuracy significantly.

The answer might be more apparent if you would use a borescope to assess the rifling quality under magnification. Then look at the crown under magnification to see if their could be some improvement made there.

"...if I take the step of doing a barrel insert..."

I hope you mean relining as opposed to using a chamber or barrel insert. That's what the thread title states anyway.

Relining the barrel will destroy any value that the rifle might have as far as originality is concerned. But it will restore the potential for accuracy that is lacking right now.

Best.

Bert H.

Winchester manufactured more than 700,000 Model 1906 rifles... as such, and the fact that yours is in less then "collectable" condition, you are not going to hurt it any by having it relined, and you should gain a lot of accuracy out of it. I would much rather see an old, well used, Winchester .22 rifle relined than butchered for parts.

Fatstrat

I just had an 1890 relined. While I'm no Winchester collector expert, I agree w/Bert.

dandak1

I have relined a stevens favorite, a Rem 1912 pump, and 2 1890 winchesters for my own use so far, and as you know the 1906 is basically the same gun. It has been my experience that they obviously shoot much much better than the bore that looks like a sewer pipe, but not as good as a gun with a good bore but w/o lining. I test all my 22's at 50 yards. You get 5" at 25 so that is 10" at 50 yards...not even plinking ability let alone hunting accuracy. Lining would probably easily get you 3" at 50, maybe even 2" at 50 yards. The collectors value is already gone, it is strictly a shooter. I know what I would do. My squirrel gun for the last 5 years has been a 1906 Winny I picked up for 125$ that had a broken stock and ZERO finish on the metal. The bore has a very very slight bulge just under the front sight otherwise the bore was mirror bright. Made a new stock for it, reblued the metal, put a tang sight on it, and boy is it a fun gun! The barrel bulge doesnt affect it at all. You have yourself a really fun gun if you can get it shooting, and for that you need to have it relined.
If you decide to do it, keep in mind most people use epoxy to hold the liners in now instead of solder. If you are kicking over rebluing remember that the hot immersion blue may break down the epoxy, so reblue should be done before lining...just something to keep in mind and ask your gunsmith about.

cbyerly

Brownell's has all the tools and liners. It is not brain surgery to do it yourself. You will need a chamber reamer to finish the job and headspace the liner.

aap2

If the rifle has no collector value then relining it won't hurt much. Properly installed liners in 22's can easily restore the accuracy and you still retain the original markings and finish (or lck thereof). One option: replace the barrel with one of the Gun Parts corp replacement 1906 barrels; they were completely finished, blues for about $90 and I think that they still have them. You then retain the original "bad" barrel....