Not meant to make purists angry!@

[proud American]

One of my favorite rifles for the longest time has been the 1885 Winchester Lo-Wall. In recent years I've acquired a couple of the copies made by Miroku,and I have one fully restored early original that sits in the safe because it is just too beautiful to take out and run the chance of marring it in some way. It looks like a Turnbull job. The Mirokus are not EXACT copies they look identical and shoot very well.
My next romance will be with a totally original Lo-Wall that I want to shoot. But since it was originally built in the now worthless/obsolete 25RF caliber, I'm going to revive its usefulness by having the barrel lined in .38-Special and having the action modified to CF.
I think the majority of the 1855 lovers are going to agree and approve my plans. I/m doing nothing with the cosmetics for now. I
just want a perfectly functional original to enjoy.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

Since it's a rimfire. Why not .22 LR it can be a rabbit and squirel rifle
probably cost less to rebarrel

 

[mike mccormick]

If you went 22LR, you could just have the barrel sleeved

 

[ShtrRdy]

I don't have any sort of 1885 but I could see me enjoying one of those. A friend of mine has a Winchester in 6mm Creedmoor that shoots quite well.

 

[jackieschmidt]

We had a shooter in our Gun Club, who passed away a few years ago, who was a real 1885 LW aficionado.

He had several originals, but his favorite to hunt with was a beautiful Miroku chambered in 30/30.

I had watched him check his sight ins before deer season, and it looked like it kicked pretty darned hard.

 

[proud American]

Since it's a rimfire. Why not .22 LR it can be a rabbit and squirel rifle
probably cost less to rebarrel

I've got as many .22 LRs as I need and want. I'd like something with a little more "smack"~!

 

[209jones]

Love the MIroku 1885's. Want to change cartridge, run a reamer in it or change the barrel and mod the extractor. Trigger isn't the best, can't have everything though. People complain about taking it apart and reassembly, I did it often enough over a few yrs that all I needed was a pin punch and a flat blade screwdriver, did it in my lap watching TV, had to do it at the range a few times too, spilt powder in it.. Biggest trick was getting the springs back in, sometimes got it 1st try, sometimes 4-5 tries. Haven't needed to do that for 20+ yrs, may take a few tries now, certainly not scared of it though. They always shot good out of the box, swing beautifully offhand and are heavy enough to shoot nice with harder recoiling cartridges, have one in 300H&H, no issues, nice to shoot.
For an original low wall, in an RF ctge, just put a barrel on it and don't worry about it, can always put the old bbl back on if you go to sell it. Not sure about how hard extractors are to find for the old ones, sure they are around though.

 

[ISS]

I went thru the "Purist" thing forty years ago. I wanted to get started in Schuetzen. I looked at several original ones, High Walls and Stevens. All priced out of my range. I finally met Dean Miller at Coors, and he built me a Miller. We had discussed his 32 Miller shooting equivalent accuracy to the 32-40, but not any better. I had been the Super Shoot at Kelblys range that Spring and saw the 6PPC at work. A key is the 100% loading density. He asked my opinion on something else and I suggested just cutting 1/4" off his 1.520" length. It became the 32 Miller Short and is doing rather well these days.
Just put a new 22LR barrel on it and go happy. Want more, fit a 32-30 barrel. CPA builds the modern 44 1/2 and knows the business.