[Cush]

I was given this old Winchester model 1906. I thought it might be a good first .22 for the boys to learn on, but it's got a corroded chamber. It will eject live .22 LR cartridges all day long, but as soon as you shoot and the brass expands it becomes a single shot...brass stays stuck in the chamber. I've tried shooting .22 shorts out of it (per suggestion of Drew) and while performance is better, ejection becomes spotty.

Part of me wants to get the barrel relined and then refinish the wood...to make it a true project gun. The other part of me wants to just move along. The gun was free. Any money spent on this old girl takes away from other projects. So I am asking for the opinions of my forum friends. What would you all do?

 

[Forester]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

If it were me and the gun came to me free, I would be willing to put some money in to making it a dependable shooter. Especially since it is such an old classic.

 

[kritter]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

give Gunparts.inc a call.. they have replacement barrels there for something like 80 bucks..... they are 1890 barrels ( new) but they fit as a replacement.. not exactly correct but brings it back as a shooter

 

[toroflow]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

give Gunparts.inc a call.. they have replacement barrels there for something like 80 bucks..... they are 1890 barrels ( new) but they fit as a replacement.. not exactly correct but brings it back as a shooter

Good suggestion. Barring that, I would hang it up on the wall and enjoy it that way.

 

[Daveht]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

OK send it my way with that 5906 jhs;h; oifNGF

 

[Hunter]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

My cousin gave me a rifle to fix for him that had a pretty messed up chamber and the shells got stuck. It was a freebie also, so if it got ruined he didn't care. I took a dowel and sized it with a piece of x-fine emery cloth glued to it to just be snug in the chamber and went at it with a variable speed drill at the slowest speed. I was very carefully to keep it square and sure enough it worked.

 

[Gizamo]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

Attempt to fix it on your own...it will be a fun project. Chamber brush it for a while, with plenty of solvents to cut the corrosion that is built up. The pitting shouldn't really matter...


giz

 

[xtimberman]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

Attempt to fix it on your own...it will be a fun project. Chamber brush it for a while, with plenty of solvents to cut the corrosion that is built up. The pitting shouldn't really matter...
giz

That's what I would do. Remove the bolt and chuck a short section of a .22 cleaning rod into your hand drill and yo-yo a tight-fitting bronze brush liberally doused with solvent in the chamber area for awhile. (Wear safety glasses and gloves!)

Also, with the bolt removed, take a good look at the hook on the extractor to make sure it hasn't rounded and doesn't latch onto the rims properly. Check out the extractor spring and replace that if it seems weak.

xtm

 

[Bob K]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

XTM, Sounds to me like you've been doin' some plannin'. As was suggested, you could clean it up, and use it as wall hanger, if it doesn't work out too well. Bob

 

[daytime dave]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

I'd hang it on the wall and move on. It would be a nice conversation piece. Get something the boys can really appreciate. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Sebago Son]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

The 1906 makes a fine packbasket gun. It's worth relining as I suggested, even if it takes you a few years to get around to it.

 

[DaveWW]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

You can burnish that chamber with some 600 grit emory soaked in oil(Hoppe's works fine or, Kroil). Like what was said,cut a slot in a small wooden dowel, say 1/8th." Slide a small piece of the emorycloth in it, hit it with the oil and slowly in a VS drill at around 100rpms, keeping it centered, run it in and out of the chamber about four times. Clean out the chamber and check it with a borelight. If you still see some corrosion, hit it again.

 

[Swgunner]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

Cush,

Where, at this point you have nothing invested, you have to hang onto it. i once did the home resurection thing to an old 1890 that was originally chambered for .22 short. I had the barrel relined, drawfiled and re-blue the barreled action and refinished the wood. The gunsmith that did the lining didn't have a reamer for 22 short, so he chambered it for LR and gave me a LR carrier. It turned out very nice and after a few years I made a few bucks on a trade at KTP! They are sweet old rifles. In the meantime, try some of the chamber polishing tricks and see if you can get it running. If your so inclined to try relining yourself, there is a fine article in one of the "Gunsmith Kinks" books from Brownells that gives very detailed instruction on how to do it. Good luck, but don't let it get away!

Dave

 

[Smithfan]

Re: What to do with this old Winchester...

Include me with the "try cleaning her first" crowd, and try xtm's advice and procedures first. You don't have much to lose but your time.

Bill

 

[Cush]

Well, I've tried cleaning/polishing the chamber as much as I can. I called the local gunsmith (a guy that I trust and that SWgunner used for his Winchester) and it turns out that he could reline the barrel...to the tune of $150 to $200. Simply put, this 1906 is not worth it. I'll hang on to this old piece and if anyone runs across a used 1906 barrel please let me know. Otherwise it will be a wall hanger above the reloading bench.

 

[kritter]

this post got me to haul mine out,, just shooting tonight in the basement (aguila .22 super colibri's..and i NEED to get more ) dime size groups at 40 feet offhand..

sure beats hanging on a wall...

 

[mytyace]

are you sure it is not a shell problem. i have one with an octogon barrel that does the same thing it does not take standerd 22 shells winchester reissued ammo for it in the late 80s and it shot perfectly. might be worth looking into. good luck

 

[phonejack]

have gunsmith clean the crud out of the chamber with a chamber reamer. then leave it as is! recently a cousin of mine inherited our grandfathers 1906(62a).he took it to a gunsmith for the same problem. the gunsmith offered him $900 on the spot. it was about the same shape as yours. naturally he declined. you have a classic treasure.