Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

312 страница из 495

Although old and used hard by a previous owner, with rust outside and inside, our test Model 88 still had some life left in it. Co-author George Dvorchak fired two groups at 100 yards. The first shot was low, then with a few clicks up and left, three shots with Winchester 168-gr. BS ammo printed a 1.25-inch group. The second group fired with Remington 180-gr. CLPSP ammo grouped two inches with two shots touching each other. For a once rusted-up old rifle, it still shoots well!

Shown is some of the increased complexity which greatly contributed to the manufacturing cost of the model 88.

The original Model 88 with its hand-cut checkering but topped with a modern scope, a Buris 3X-9X Fullfield II and Millett ScopeSite rings.

Back in the mid-’50s, shooters were also showing an increasing preference for bolt-action rifles that were not only ideally suited for high pressure cartridges with pointed bullets but were also readily adaptable to the use of scopes. This was also the era when scope sights were becoming increasingly popular since they were now better made and affordable. The management at Winchester must have anticipated that the generation who just witnessed the development of the jet plane and atomic bomb would be ready for a rifle that was every bit as powerful and streamlined as the new high performance cars that were selling in ever-increasing numbers. Certainly the public would want something more advanced than the already half-century-old lever action designs then available. To maintain their dominance of the lever action market, Winchester would fashion a compact rifle that included just about every new feature available.