Matt
Active Member
After discussing Savage M99s a bit ago I spotted my little used and source of disappointment Winchester M88. I’ve never had any luck hunting with this rifle. Generally it made sure you did not see ANY deer or elk when hunting with it. I think I might have seen a cow elk once while carrying it. I bought it because a cousin of mine had a M88 in .243 that killed everything for him; deer, elk , coyotes. We thought the M88 would be perfect for a guided horseback hunt like Jack O’Connor and Elmer Kieth. I wanted a .243 but could never find one. Got a like new used .308 and mounted a Weaver 1.5x4.5 scope. With the 165 gr Speer bullets I loaded back then it was a solid 1.5 MOA rifle. My cousins .243 shot 1/2” 3 shot groups with the old 95 grain Nolser Partition. The fourth shot would be 2 inches out of the group, some times more depending on how hot the barrel was. Didn’t matter, he was an amazing hunter I never saw him shoot more than once at anything. Anyway I decided I would try the M88 with cast bullets. I loaded 60 rounds with the Ideal 308241 from my gang mold visually inspected. Sized to .311 with Ben’s Red and seated over 6 grains of Bullseye, primed with the last of my old Winchester 120 domed primers. Mixed military brass, no prep. The barrel had been cleaned and lightly oiled about a year ago. I pushed three dry patches through and off to the range. I had a heck of a time getting on paper and wasted 10 rounds getting zeroed at 50. I then began to shoot 10 shot groups without letting barrel cool. Not fast but a comfortable pace. First two 1.2 inches including some fliers and fighting the rifle on the bags. Third group of 10 had heat waves coming off the barrel and the group was a little over 1.5 inches. There was a little lube at the muzzle and the bore had what appeared to be a heavy wash of lead. Hopefully that shows up in the photo. Let the rifle cool 45 minutes and shot the last 10. First two shots very slightly low next 8 in a group of .416” all 10 were .964”. I was pretty impressed. This rifle has a Winchester pre-64 featherweight barrel contour, a dovetail cut for rear sight, dovetail cut for forearm screw (this screw is what holds the action in the stock. There is a metal “socket” screwed into the stock that the rear of the receiver fits into. These rifles shouldn’t shoot very well at all. I’m pleasantly 
surprised and will see what other cast it will shoot.
surprised and will see what other cast it will shoot.
