Fine Tuned The Wincheser 88

[COSteve]

Deleted

[Old Savage]

Very nice work. Mine will do about as well with factory Federal 150s.

[M. M. Wright]

That's some good shootin' Steve and a good shootin' rifle. What caliber?

[Borregos]

Looks like you got that dialed in OK

[gak]

Steve, outstanding! For a rifle I do not own, one of my favorites for years. If I can act before someone else, I may buy my friend's Pre 64 .308 88 I helped him locate in the first place (masochist that I am, always finding him guns I want!)

[COSteve]

That's some good shootin' Steve and a good shootin' rifle. What caliber?

My favorite, .308.

[Charles]

The Winchester 88 was the high water mark of levergun development and they would shoot as well as any bolt gun of the day. My only issue with this is the drop of the butt stock that makes them a bear to shoot off a bench recoil wise. But, they handle like a dream in the field, which is where they were designed to be used.

I have two of them in .308. One wears an El Paso made Weaver 1.4 - 5 variable and the other a Lyman 66 receiver sight.

[Blaine]

I"m impressed I hope my .284 can do somewhere close to that

[damienph]

That's great! That is a very good looking setup.

[COSteve]

Thanks Blaine but as I said, that's absolutely the best shooting I can do. I'm afraid that I got lucky at the range. However, I've got to admit that I am surprised at how well it groups after hearing that the light weight barrel didn't do that well. If I could only shoot like that all the time.

[Old Savage]

First of all, you didn't get lucky that is good shooting. How they are off the bench depends on your shooting position. I find it like any other 308 but my brother who is 5" taller at 6:2" does think it is a bear.

[COSteve]

When I fine tuned it as discussed above, it was on the 100yd range because the 200/300yds range had a match on it. So, I got back out to the range yesterday morning to check how the scope actually worked at 200 and 300yds. Good news is that it only needed 1 click lower elevation (1/4moa) to get right on at 200yds and then using the BDC 300yd aim point (bottom of the circle) it was right on at 300yds too. I'm very happy with this scope and the rifle is great. Some friends came over and commented that every time I fired I broke out in this huge smile. That's what happens when you finally realize a 20 year quest.

I brought out my M1A to compare recoil as I was under the impression that the 88's felt recoil was significant. To my surprise, the 7.5lb 88 with the Winchester recoil pad felt the same to me as my 11lb M1A (with full mag). Neither has excessive recoil; more than an AR but just a respectable amount to let you know you're firing a large caliber round. In fact, a friend was out at the range with his beautiful 1934 Win 94 30-30 (inherited from his grandpa) and for the heck of it we both fired one round from my 88 and then one from his 94 and we both agreed that the recoil impulse from the 94 felt sharper. I don't get the hype that the 88 has an excessive recoil cause mine doesn't feel that way.

[Nath]

Nice shootin' steve

N.