Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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Despite the complexity of the 88, it remained competitively priced with its competition, the new Remington 760 pump action and Winchester Model 70 bolt action rifle. To achieve this feat, the Winchester engineers relied on numerous clever cost-saving measures, most obvious being the commonality of parts between the 88 and the later-introduced Winchester 100 autoloading rifle. In an era when parts were machined with jigs and fixtures and subsequently inventoried, this commonality greatly reduced production cost. Furthermore, the majority of these parts were components which could be easily manufactured from sheet metal or with simple lathe technology. With the exception of the magazine’s spring, for example, all were simple wire springs that were not only cheaper to manufacture but significantly less prone to breakage than a flat spring.

With its front locking, rotating bolt and one-piece stock, the 88 should have been as accurate as a conventional bolt action rifle and it generally was – but isn’t. To understand that statement you need to remember that today’s accurate out-of-the-box bolt action rifles are the combination of many independent technologies that more or less coalesced after the end of production of the 88. As with other rifles with one-piece stocks, the 88 often responded to tinkering and tuning of the bedding. Overall, the 88 is inherently as accurate as a bolt action rifle. Perhaps the biggest thing that contributed to the accuracy of the Model 88 by 1950s and ‘60s standards was its adaptability to the use of telescopic sights. In addition to the side ejection, the solid top receiver was actually pre-tapped for scope mounting.