Making a Chiappa 1886 Winchester in 45-70 caliber "slicker"

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

I know the 1886 rifle caliber 45-70 is not a Main Match Rifle.  I just bought a Chiappa 1886 rifle 26" barrel in 45-70 caliber.  It is a good copy of JMB rifle that was patented in 1882 (I think).  As the rifle comes ROB... it levers like a tank and that is putting it mildly.  PLUS the rifle is a NIGHTMARE to disassemble and re-assemble.  JMB must have been born with 3 arms and hands with 7 or more fingers on ea hand.  This Chiappa copy does not have a coil main spring, it has a leaf spring (liken to the '73 family). The trigger pull (OOB) was in excess of 9 lbs. And it would take a gorilla to cock the hammer. I worked the main spring and that corrected the hammer pull and i weakened the trigger spring so that it is right at 2.5 lbs of pull. The carrier was rubbing agains the sides of the rifle frame and I corrected that. The breech bolt was rough on the sides and bottom side, that has been corrected. I did not change to a WEAKER EJECTOR SPRING.  I re-assembled the rifle. My work was in vain... except for correcting the trigger pull and hammer and the carrier rubbing against the sides and burrs on the bolt.  It still levers HARD and not smooth. I know there is no such thing as a Short Stroke kit for this rifle, that would serve no purpose... not a Main Match Rifle.  But I would like for the levering to be smoother.  Was WONDERING... If a weaker EJECTOR SPRING would help in making the levering smoother, as in the case of a '92. The secret to make a '92 smoother is in the springs.  Would appreciate any comments from those who have worked on their '86s to make them lever smoother.

[Abilene]

I have not worked on an '86.  But having handled some of the Chiappas that Cimarron sells, I agree that they are pretty stiff out of the box (much more so than the current Chiappa '92's which are much smoother than they used to be).  I would think that if the lever is hard to close for that last little bit then the ejector spring might be suspect.  As for disassembling and reassembling, if it goes the same as the '92 then I don't think it is too bad after you get used to it.  But just in case you didn't know, one of the triicks to reassembling and getting the lever back in place is to snap an empty cartridge case into place against the bolt face, which holds the ejector in place while installing the lever (again, if this works the same as the '92).

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

Abilene,

Yup I know all too well abt the '92 and using a cartridge ....  But the '86 is different than the '92 in the following way... the Carrier has a Carrier Hook that is attached to the upper portion of the finger lever and the bottom of the Carrier Hook goes in a slot that is channeled for it. So that when the firer levers, as the lever goes forward the Carrier hook slides forward and raises the Carrier with a new round. Talk about a NIGHTMARE when you re-assemble... the '86 makes the '92 look easy. JMB MUST have been born with THREE HANDS and 7 to 8 fingers on each hand. LOL.  Well the next time I get brave enough to disassemble the'86 I am going to put a lighter Ejector Spring in it to see if that helps to smooth out the levering... It is a beautiful rifle and based on pictures I have seen of a REAL 1886 Winchester, Chiappa did a good job of copy catting it. The Chiappa '86 is period correct and DOES NOT have ANY GOOFY looking safeties on it like you see on a lot of '92 Rossi's.  I have reasoned (common sence) that is the problem with this '86 in that it needs a  lighter or weaker Ejectior Spring. Having said that... I could be wrong, I am not a professional gunsmith.

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

For those interested in my solution to make the Chiappa '86 slicker. I have posted what I did under the Forum... The Winchester Model 1876.  The solution in making the '86 lever more smoothly is in the CARRIER and the CARRIER HOOK. I tell folks what I did and show some pictures of the items.  This project is not for the faint hearted.