Winchester Model 1885

The purchase of the design rights to a then-new single shot rifle by a Winchester manager in 1883 was the beginning of a legendary partnership and the birth of the legend of John Moses Browning. When Thomas Bennett, Vice-President and General Manager of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, traveled to Ogden, Utah and negotiated the purchase of Browning’s single-shot rifle design destined to become the Winchester Model 1885 it was the first collaboration between the two icons.

Here is how I renovated a used and abused example. In 1883, a Winchester salesman discovered a used single shot rifle for sale. The barrel was marked "Browning Bros. Ogden, Utah U. S. A." and he was so intrigued with it that he sent it in to the Winchester factory. The folks at Winchester took one look at it and were so impressed that Bennett himself was soon on a train heading out to Ogden determined to buy the rights to the rifle.

He met with an obscure inventor and gunmaker named John Browning, concluded a deal for the rifle, and was back on the train headed home the same day. It was the start of a business relationship that was to last for many years and produce some of the most iconic firearms ever invented. What became the Winchester Model 1885 single shot rifle was John Browning’s first design. He was producing and selling it out of his shop before Winchester came calling.

The rifle was available in both High Wall and Low Wall configurations with the Low Wall chambered for the less powerful cartridges and the High Wall for the more powerful. In all, the rifle was chambered for over 30 calibers from the 22 Short to the 50/90 Sharps. I recently acquired a very well used and run-down Winchester 1885 Low Wall single shot rifle chambered in 25-20 Single Shot that was in desperate need of a loving hand. Looking down the barrel was like looking down a sewer pipe.

There were dings and gouges in the metal, the bluing was gone, and the stock was split. In other words, it had been trashed. I ordered a replacement stock from Macon Gunstocks (Macon- GunStocks.com, and while waiting for the stock I made the decision to convert the gun from 25-20 Single Shot to 25- 20 Winchester because 25-20 Single Shot is obsolete and difficult to find brass and reloading dies for.

Once the barrel liner was installed it would have to be chambered anyway and a call to Dave Manson at Manson Precision Reamers (MansonReamers.com, had a to me the next day. I also ordered a .25 caliber barrel liner and drill from Brownells. The metal work was straightforward and we have covered it in detail previously: draw filing the receiver sides, spinning the barrel

to remove the pitting, drilling the barrel and installing the liner, chambering the barrel, and rebluing was the order of the day. The one thing that made this project unique was that the gun came with the extractor missing. I managed to find one at Wyoming Armory (WyomingArmory.com, but it, of course, required fitting.

This turned out to be one of those time-consuming jobs that requires assembly and disassembly of the firearm over and over as you try to get the extractor exactly the correct length, width, and thickness to perfectly fit the extractor cut in the barrel. Once that is accomplished you still have the CM on the lower end to fit so the extractor and extracts the fired case. It is entirely a cut-and-try operation.

With the metal work completed I thought I would add a personal touch to the gun by creating a Schnabel tip on the forearm. The Schnabel or "beak" on the tip of a firearm’s forend has always been associated with European firearms in my mind, and it may well have originated there, but it has been embraced by American shooters for many years. Much like highly figured walnut, the Schnabel doesn’t really have any practical use except for perhaps the longest armed of us who I have heard call it a hand stop.

Personally, my arms are far too short to reach out where the Schnabel is on any firearm I own. However, if all you are looking for in a firearm is functionality rather than classic good looks, synthetic stocks are probably right down your Far alley. Personally, I like my guns to be unique and have some personality and beauty along with accuracy and reliability.

So, I thought I would show you how to add a little style to the design by adding a Schnabel tip to the forearm rather than just repairing and refinishing the stock. My first thought was to graft a larger piece of wood to the tip of the forearm but I rejected that idea just because I didn’t think the slim forend would balance well with a bulbous tip. Stock work is one place in gun work where mechanics meets artistry and pleasing the eye is as important as mechanical function.

I took my cues for the Schnabel design from a 1950s era Savage that had a tip I liked very much. I used a drafting circle template to determine the approximate radii of the tip in both the horizontal and vertical axis as well as the curve blending the tip back to the forearm. There are no hard and fast diameters to these curves but match-

The material will be removed from the ejector to fit the barrel. Always work on the cheaper part. ing the curves of an example you like is an easy place to start. After sketching in the rough outline of the tip, the next step is to file a groove all the way around the three Bottom: The forend is repaired by squaring off the area of the missing piece. A groove is filed around the end to start forming a Schnabel tip. American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.

sides of the forearm just behind the tip and isolating it from the rest of the forearm. Now you get to show your skill and artistic ability in the actual sculpting of the tip. Keep your first attempts classic and simple. Get a feel for the blending of the curves and the undercut of the very tip. It takes some time, patience, and trial and error. The center of the vertical arc should be the bottom of the barrel channel. The curve then continues up to the top of the forend and smoothly down to the bottom of the hook.

It all comes down to uninterrupted curves that blend together and meet at the point of the hook. The coves on the left and right sides of the hook are the hardest part of the project for me. On your first attempt, it is probably best to start with wood carving tools. Then, as you get close to your final Schnabel contours, change to sanding using small bits of sandpaper backed with something like a baby spoon. This is the tip we will try to copy.

Try to keep the edges sharp and resist the temptation to "blend" the edges. The final part of the woodwork before finishing is to taper the entire forearm from where it meets the receiver to the base of the Schnabel on all sides of the forend. I use a straight edge to be positive I have a straight taper from the receiver to the base of the Schnabel. All should be smooth curves and straight lines.

Since this is more art than science it is not necessary that your finished Schnabel look like mine, Savage’s, or anyone else’s. It is only necessary that it pleases you or your customer. It goes without saying that you should keep your sculpting within the realm of good taste and artistry, I have seen Schnabels take the form of certain body parts; while it might provide a good laugh among the guys at deer camp it is never appreciated at any shoot where there are women and children attending.

It also devalues the gun as few people will want to buy something they have to hide from the wife and kids. With the forend complete I turned to the buttstock and removed the nails, pieced it together, and glued it back to some semblance of its former glory. It was a fix that I expect will last through my lifetime, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. All the work was completed by the time the replacement buttstock arrived which was fitted and finished to complete the project.

The final result is a refurbished classic Winchester 1885 Low Wall in a currently-available caliber with a personal touch. AG