1876 Winchester Modified

[Dirty Brass]

I'll probably get some negative comments on this, but my reason for doing it is the fact that I hunt mainly in wooded areas, and that long heavy45/75  28" BBL and full mag tube were just an annoyance to carry.

I made the plunge and cut down the barrel to carbine length - 19.5", and shortened the mag-tube to hold 4 rounds. I formed the end cap with J-B weld and rounded it off slightly. Turning the BBL to half round was a little labor intensive, as I do not have any type of metal lathe, but my 65 year old Shop Smith did suffice. I actually drilled out the base of a cartridge case and epoxy glued a steel dowel for inserting into the chamber and a drill chuck. I left the slightest amount of glue around the base, so it gripped pretty well when turning. Then it was just a angle grinder (with lots of cooling time), and then a good file and some sessions with various sandpaper. I didn't crown the muzzle, but it was reamed slightly and polished inside - we'll see if it needs crowning after I shoot it again. Re-blued with BlueWonder products.

I still need to mill in a front sight, but thought I'd get my story out there. I'll post up some progress pics later today - I need to find my camera and charge the battery I think.  

Here are a couple of pics so far - I'm going to shorten the tube another 1/4" after looking at it closer....gotta get to work on that front sight now!  





Well, I finished milling for the front sight, and the tube is done. Guess all that's left now is a shooting session Anyhow - I think it will be a lot easier to carry next year, not to mention just plain plinking with it during the next 11 months......Here is the finished rifle....

[Hobie]

Neat.  I'm not hot on JB Weld but am using it myself for the front sight on the SRC.  BTW, the SRC was my choice for the same reasons you cut yours down.  It just happens to be the same length (and about the same weight loaded) as my TC New Englander .54, my 1895 Browning .30-40 and my Browning 1886 SRC .45-70.  Thanks for the pics.

Oh, one "negative" comment.  I think I would have put a shotgun butt on that gun.   

[Dirty Brass]

That SG butt might be in the future Hobie - gonna look at that later down the line. I have another barrel shortening project inline right now for a Model 798 Remington .375 H&H 

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[Hobie]

I think it is a neat thing. 

[Grizzly Adams]

I think it is a neat thing. 

Me too!

[Dirty Brass]

Thanks - I'm pretty pleased with the results. Not perfect, but pretty OK. I may take a little more off the mag tube - it just looks a little long protruding underneath. One thing I would have liked to do is shorten the forearm, but I wasn't sure how to solve the dovetail cutout issue, so I left it alone. Pretty sure I'll do as Hobie suggested, and change the butt plate to a SG version. It's what winter is for here in Wisc. - no lawn care or vehicle maintenance to do right now! 

Should be shooting this '76 next week while upnorth.

[StrawHat]

How much weight was removed?  I find that length is less important to me than weight.  I have hunted with 42 inch barreld flintlocks and as long as they were light enough to carry all day they were not a problem.  A 32 inch Hawken often became a pain by days end.

[Dirty Brass]

Well, I can't really tell you pounds and ounces, but I can tell you it is a LOT lighter than it was at 28" and full octagon bbl. Reducing the mag capacity also helps keep it light while hunting. More important to me though is the improvement in handling while hunting. There are lots of trees and underbrush that always seems to get in the way where I hunt, and I also hunt out of elevated enclosed stands. The shorter configuration makes it much easier to swing around from one window to another inside the enclosure.

My guess would be maybe 1 1/2  - 2 llbs reduction - possibly a little more....

[larryo_1]

Dirty Brass:

Looks good.  Sounds to me as though you have wound up with about an 8 to 8½ pound rifle there.  I have to agree with Hobie on that butt plate idea.  I have an 8 pound .33 Winchester take-down and it does get a wee bit feisty on the back-end.  Were you to go to a BP load such as what I use in my '76 that, weighs 10 pounds, which is 76 grains of Swiss 1½, I think it would let you know about it at 22 ft pounds of recoil.  But then again if that was what the Mounties were using in their carbines, it is okay.  Again that looks good.

[Dirty Brass]

I'm already pulling out some butt plates from a storage bin and looking them over. I will definitely do that yet this winter. I'm sure it will "bark" a little with my 350 gr. bullets loaded with T7, but heck -  I shoot the 405gr with full house loads in my TD Carbine, so this won't be much different. (Not ALL the time though!:))

Do you shoot BP in the 33 Win loads too? I know it was designed as a Smokeless round, but........it IS bottle necked

[larryo_1]

Dirty Brass:

Nope that is a smokeless cartridge.  I have never tried BP in it.  I make my cases out of 45-70 brass and that works great.  One has to take care to not use too much lube or those cases will crinkle.  Just a little bit goes a long ways.

[Dirty Brass]

yup, I understand about the case forming - I ran into the same thing forming 45/70 from .348 Win. Lot's of steps and not too much lube. Never shot a 33 Winchester - I'm guessing it is a very capable cartridge.....

I did finish my butt plate today on the '76 - ended up using an old one off of a M48 Mauser(I think?). Decided to keep the original Uberti crescent in tact, so I fabricated a metal bloc to fill in the top of the stock where it was cutout for the crescent one. Not great, but it will suffice I guess. Unfortunately, I lost my cleaning rod compartment now
Here it is all done - I'm closing the book on this project (for now anyhow)

[Hobie]

What is the pitch and length of pull on that?  I like it. 

[Forty Rod]

Cool looking piece.  Let us know how it works for you over time.

[Dirty Brass]

What is the pitch and length of pull on that?  I like it.  

LOP is at "12.75 as it sits. Only came down "1/4 from original.

Pitch? Not sure how to measure, but it is 7 degrees over a straight 90 degrees, measured square off of the barrel, if that helps Hobie. Might be a little sharp - I'll know when I shoot it

[Hobie]

12.75" LOP would be pretty good for me.  Don't know about the pitch.  Perhaps the photo has me a bit confused, the angle or something. 

[Dirty Brass]

12.75" LOP would be pretty good for me.  Don't know about the pitch.  Perhaps the photo has me a bit confused, the angle or something.  

I posted a better pic showing the pitch ........

[Hobie]

You know, you now have to tell us all about the engraved sideplate... 

[Dirty Brass]

Golly - I had that done a couple of years ago. I just liked Tom Selleck's NWMP gun so much in  I had to do both of mine! a friend of mine in Minnesota (kinda) did them for me.

Here's a link to the post back then....

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,20493.0.html

[Griff]

Very nice!  I like crescent buttplats, although I understand why some don't.  Looks nicely balanced, which I feel aids carrying in the hand.