Lately I have rekindled my love for older, classic firearms, in particular, the Winchester model 1886 rifle. While looking at all the different arms manufacturers who still make this rifle, I have found that there are plenty of them out there, it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend to get one. But the one that really trips my trigger, is the one chambered in the 50-110 caliber. Yes, I truly am a firm believer in ‘bigger is better’!
Winchester offered a variety of special features, and through remaining factory records, most custom features can be documented. This .50-110 Deluxe rifle, made in 1891, was one of only 280 Model 1886 rifles offered with stock checkering and one of 501 produced with special higher-grade wood. The three-leaf express barrel sight was an option incorporated by only 1,631 rifles.
The . 50-110 Express cartridge was introduced in 1887 in the Model 1886 Winchester rifle and was considered by the factory to be the finest cartridge available at that time for big and dangerous game. While discontinued in 1919, this chambering was the most powerful ever offered in the Model 1886 rifle, or carbine.
In his book, The Winchester Lever Legacy, Clyde Williamson discusses the awesome power of this cartridge. He quotes a Canadian hunting guide who shot a charging thousand-pound bear at a range of 15 yards with a 450-grain bullet. The guide stated that the animal was “thrown for two back flips, shot through and through the long way, and instant dead, without a head shot.” The same bullet was recovered eighty yards downhill after it had passed through a six-inch jackpine and lodged in a second tree.
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Now sit back and watch the video below to see just what this cartridge is capable of .