Dad's old .22

[BMS52]

I'm new to this forum having bought my first Guardian about 2 weeks ago.   I love mouse guns and I expect the Guardian will be added to my regular carry rotation (currently Seecamp .32 and Rohrbaugh R9) as soon as I make a holster for it.  Although my son will probably beat me to it and claim it for his own.

Regardless of my love of Mouse guns I have a completely different favorite firearm.  It's the one I hope will stay in the family for all the generations to come.  It's a Winchester 1885 .22 short caliber Winder Musket.  (I still don't understand why it's a musket.) It has peep sights adjustable for windage and elevation and the single shot action is a dropping block.

My Dad, a WWII silver star precipitant who will turn 96 years old in December bought it when he was 13 years old (1933) for the whopping  sum of $10.   I  love all my guns but I treasure this one over all. 

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[To Old To Run]

I believe your Dad has a few stories to go along with the gun....That's what makes them Treasures.
I have a few guns like that also... that never will be sold.
Welcome to the forum.

[cfsharry]

Welcome.
Beautiful rifle and in excellent condition.
I believe it is referred to as a musket because of it's elongated forearm and barrel band.
Was the peep site a later add-on or purchased that way? I've seen tang mounted peeps on those beautiful Browning designed guns but never a side mount.
Thanks for the post and hi to your dad.

[BMS52]

From what I can find, I believe the Lyman peep sights were original to this gun which was made somewhere around 1917 - 1920.  If anybody here know much about these guns I'd love to find out more about it.   

Thanks for the welcome

Brian

[zburkett]

Welcome and if that wasn't your favorite gun there would be something wrong with you.  Great photo.

[OV-1D]

I'm new to this forum having bought my first Guardian about 2 weeks ago.   I love mouse guns and I expect the Guardian will be added to my regular carry rotation (currently Seecamp .32 and Rohrbaugh R9) as soon as I make a holster for it.  Although my son will probably beat me to it and claim it for his own.

Regardless of my love of Mouse guns I have a completely different favorite firearm.  It's the one I hope will stay in the family for all the generations to come.  It's a Winchester 1885 .22 short caliber Winder Musket.  (I still don't understand why it's a musket.) It has peep sights adjustable for windage and elevation and the single shot action is a dropping block.

My Dad, a WWII silver star precipitant who will turn 96 years old in December bought it when he was 13 years old (1933) for the whopping  sum of $10.   I  love all my guns but I treasure this one over all. 

[email protected]

  Rightly so , this would also be a family treasure for generations to come , PICK WISELY my friend of who this goes to and WHY .

[PaducahMichael]

Wow - I love the look of that old rifle. Congratulations for having such a discerning Dad. That's one beautiful heirloom.

[RogueTS1]

I'm new to this forum having bought my first Guardian about 2 weeks ago.   I love mouse guns and I expect the Guardian will be added to my regular carry rotation (currently Seecamp .32 and Rohrbaugh R9) as soon as I make a holster for it.  Although my son will probably beat me to it and claim it for his own.

Regardless of my love of Mouse guns I have a completely different favorite firearm.  It's the one I hope will stay in the family for all the generations to come.  It's a Winchester 1885 .22 short caliber Winder Musket.  (I still don't understand why it's a musket.) It has peep sights adjustable for windage and elevation and the single shot action is a dropping block.

My Dad, a WWII silver star precipitant who will turn 96 years old in December bought it when he was 13 years old (1933) for the whopping  sum of $10.   I  love all my guns but I treasure this one over all. 

[email protected]

  Rightly so , this would also be a family treasure for generations to come , PICK WISELY my friend of who this goes to and WHY .

............or it could end up gracing the wall of some pawn shop and then end up decorating the gallery of someone like me.

[grayelky]

I'll bet it still shoots pretty good. Tell your Dad hos service to our country is still appreciated!

[dbrn]

That is a treasure.    Beautiful firearm.     

[seaotter]

I was curious, so I looked it up on Wikipedia, and discovered that this is yet another Browning design. My grandfather was in WWI: I wonder if he trained on one. If so, it must have been tough, as he was left handed. Anyway:


Winder musket
Winder musket
Type   Musket
Place of origin   United States
Service history
Used by   Emblem of the United States Department of the Army.svg United States Army
Production history
Designed   1885
Specifications
Cartridge   .22 Short
.22 Long Rifle
Action   Falling block action
Feed system   Single Shot, breechloading
The Winder musket was a .22-caliber training rifle used by the US Army in the early 20th century.

Contents
History   Edit

The Winder musket was the brainchild of Colonel C. B. Winder, who advocated marksmanship training with a rifle of similar size and weight to a service rifle but chambered in .22 rimfire, which was both economical and suitable for indoor ranges. The Winder musket was based on the Winchester Model 1885 single-shot rifle.

Although it was never officially referred to as the Winder musket, the weapon was informally named in honor of Colonel C. B. Winder, and has since generally been referred to as the Winder musket.

Winder muskets were used for target and training purposes well into the early Twentieth Century. Many were purchased by the United States Ordnance and many were issued to American N.R.A. affiliated rifle clubs. The Winder musket was superseded by the 1922 Model bolt-action training rifle, and remaining Winder muskets were sold.

Design and Features   Edit

The action for the Winder musket was originally developed by Browning. Winchester bought the patent and manufacturing rights from Browning in 1883.

The Winder musket featured a full stock, and was chambered for .22 Short or .22 Long Rifle. It had a 28 inch barrel and an overall weight of 8.5 lbs.

Variants   Edit

The Winder musket was produced a "high wall" version and a "low wall" version, with the name referring to the height of the side walls of the action alongside the falling block and the hammer. There were two major high wall variants and one low wall variant.

The Winder musket was also produced in both military and civilian versions.

References   Edit

"The History of Winchester Firearms 1866-1992" By Thomas Henshaw
"Standard Catalog of Winchester Firearms" By Joseph Madden Cornell, Paul Goodwin

[BMS52]

Thanks Seaotter.

Some very good info there.  My Dad (A WWII vet and Silver Star recipient) turned 96 last December.  He gave me the gun when I refinished the stock in my early teens.  I'm a lefty and I used to shoot it on the rifle club in high school.  There was a shooting range under the auditorium. You couldn't stand up it, you had to shoot sitting or laying down.  It's a lot better rifle than I am a shot but once you get the peep sight adjusted the thing is dead on accurate.  Other shooters had scopes but I was always happy with my peeps.

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[boone123]

I could find a place for that. Awesome!

[zburkett]

Now that's a family treasure.  Please make sure the story of your father stays with it.