As much as I might hate to admit it, there is nothing like the relentless creep of advancing age to increase your “humility factor.” In my youth, I was about as close to bulletproof as they came; today I’m nursing a knee that has decided to eat itself from within while I impatiently await a surgical date. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that I have grown so fond of fooling with some of the old-timer rifles and cartridges over the past several years. Like me, we’re showing the inevitable signs of use and, occasionally, abuse. We’re blue-worn in places and the collection of scratches, dents and dings are more the rule than the exception…

A couple of years ago, I came into possession of a vintage Winchester Model 90. Another design of the great John Browning, it was originally patented in 1888 and was chambered in the .22 Short, Long and Long Rifle cartridges, as well as the .22 Winchester Rim Fire (WRF). These slide-actioned, exposed-hammer little rifles are easily recognizable as the “gallery guns” used by so many carnival shooting galleries over the decades. Winchester produced well over ¾ of a million of these pieces between 1888 and 1932, when the Model 90 was replaced by the more-often-seen-today version, the Model 62.



According to a serial number search, “my” 24 inch barreled Model 90 was produced toward the end of that run, coming off the line in 1929 and chambered for the now virtually obsolete .22 WRF. The cartridge is often mistaken for the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) but the “.22 Magnum” didn’t appear until 1959, and there’s quite a bit of real estate between the performance of the two rounds. The modern WMR round launches a 40 grain slug at close to 1900 fps out of a rifle length barrel; the WRF manages only about 1300 fps with the 45 grain bullet. Since modern “hot” .22 LR loads like the CCI Velocitor launch a 40 grain slug at close to 150 fps faster than the WRF, it’s easy to see how the cartridge has become one that nobody much misses…





So, the shooting world has largely left the Model 90/.22 WRF to molder in the closets of the past…does that mean that the rifle is really only good for use as a tomato stake these days? I don’t think so…at least not for this one because it still remembers how! When the rifle first came to me, I’d cleaned it up a bit and test fired it for function and confirmed that it shot where I looked but that was pretty much the extent of things. On a whim I pulled the old veteran from the vault a couple of days ago and got a bit more serious about accuracy evaluation. It rode across my lap as I drove the UTV down to the range, with a partial box of ammo rattling on the seat beside us. The shade of some post oaks about 50 yards from my pistol backstop and one of my 2/3 sized steel pistol silhouettes would serve to get started. Cycling a round under the hammer, I took a rest against the roll bar and lined up on the center of the steel. A bright “ding” followed the crack of the shot and when I squinted, I could make out where the round had hit: dead center and right under the sights. A second shot doubled the first. Shifting to an 8” swinger 80-something yards away, I held at 12 o’clock and dinked it with all my next three shots. A later session on the bench confirmed that the old gal could still deliver (despite a trigger that is about twice as heavy as it ought to be!).



L to R: .22 LR, .22 WRF, .22 WMR

So, I’ve got yet another project for the winter…resurrecting this piece similar to what I did with an equally old Winchester Model 67. I foresee a new buttstock and butt plate, likely a new forend. The metal will stay original for the moment. I’m thinking the addition of a Marble’s tang sight and something like a Lyman/Beech #5 for the front ought to really set this rig off! Man, I wish MY parts were as easy to upgrade…

Best of luck with your project. Seems like time well spent and a fun way to pass the time. My step Dad has one in 22 short. I send him ammo when I find it. He’s 85 now and mostly sticks with 22 and the occasional .32 SW or .38 SW.

Keep us posted.

Back in the shortage of 2012 I bought some WRF ammo for my Marlin 25MN and my Ruger Single Six because it was available and WMR was not.

That's one way to solve the problem!

If you had any of that WRF ammo left and wanted to sell it, I'd happily add it to my stash...

Yeah I probably sold it long ago but I will look.

What Gasguzzler said. I was working at a Sportsman's Warehouse in Medford ,Oregon, that tumultuous election year, and we were astonished that, while you could hardly buy a single round of .22 LR or .22 WMR, we started getting a steady trickle of cases of that WRF ammunition. Still scratching my head over that one.

Love it !!!
Great story and please post up some pics of the restoration along the way.

Good stuff. I had the opportunity to restore one while in gunsmithing school.

No dice. Gone around the time I sold two full boxes of OEM .32-20 ammo. Haven't seen that one the shelf in a decade (I have dies, brass, and a mold so I'm good).

Well, thanks for looking anyway! I've got a fair amount squirreled away, but a rifle without ammo really IS just a tomato stake!

Cool story and gun. I just inherited the same rifle from my Dad that was his Dad's rifle. Not sure I'll ever shoot it but it may become a wall piece I can look at every day.

Patience, Grasshopper...

I received the Black Walnut buttstock and buttplate from Homestead Parts and have gotten started the fitting work. Man, that admonition about patience needs to apply to ME...

LOTS of extra wood to be removed, both with the buttplate and the inletting for the upper and lower tangs. Still, the wood looks to have a bit of fiddleback to it (I'll know more once it's whittled down to its final dimensions).

Buffalo Arms has a Marble's tang sight enroute.

Everything old is new again!

Original versus new



All I gotta do is make these match!



Getting closer...

that will take a bit of work but be worth it

I found my Model 90 at an Estate sale for $30.00 back in the mid '80s.
Shoots shorts only.
Traced the serial # to 1907.

Fun gun to shoot. Taught lots of kids to shoot with it.

Here's the little beauty I found for $50 that's been waiting to be refurbish for 5 years now. The story was it was sitting in the corner of an old barn for 50+ years. With a little oiling I got it shucking & it shoots! Bore doesn't look too good.

So when you say that it shoots, does it merely go bang or will it still group?

I worked with a severely abused Savage 340 in .222 years ago that would still hold MOA despite having a bad spot in the bore that felt like driving over a cattle guard. Thankfully, the damage wasn't any closer to the muzzle!

Mark

I shot it at 20' using the open sights, standing holding the forend against the door frame of my shop. Seemed to keep a 2" group.

Luckily there are several YT's on disassembly of the model 1906. Once I break it all down I'll give the bore a good cleaning & re-evaluate. Restoration will be a cold-bluing challenge!