Re: an original 1885 High Wall, Thinside, XXX s/n.

This gun is chambered for .32WCF or 32-20, a fairly anemic load. I see that High Walls were chambered all the way up to 50-110's.

Were all these guns built on the same action? Could the 32-20 be safely rebored to a larger cartridge?

Thanks, Rob

Rob,
You have a 3-digit serial number and you want to rebore it? Please think twice about that. If the bore is shot out, it can easily be relined.

How did you happen across such an oldie? Does it have an octagon receiver top?

Just as easily, you can rebarrel it in whatever caliber you like within reason and save the old barrel to stay with the gun. However, it is really quite difficult to do rimless cartridges (they did make this in .30-06 but only a few). If you need a new extractor for a different cartridge head, you can get one from www.ballardrifles.com

Mine is a .38-55 - relined. It is a fine rifle.

Brent

Brent, I don't have it yet. It's for sale and I'm trying to figure out what I want to put in to it. Always wanted one of these.

I don't know much about these guns and am trying to learn fast.
It has a 27" bbl that's .750" at the muzzle, the front sight is dovetailed in, the rear is a ladder sight.

The wood is very good, some dings and dents but that's all.

It has no blue left, some freckilng, a few dents in the barrel by the breech, the rifling looks OK, bore is dark.

There is a screw missing from the top of the tang, closest to the breech, is this the hole for a tang sight?
Also the tang screw that goes all the way through is not correct. Other screw seem a bit buggered.

Finally, the gun won't cock.

The cartridge is a small game cartridge and I like to use guns but that's an aside. You're right, probably better to keep it original.

I believe the forend has an ebony tip, other than that it's a plain gun.

Any ideas of value?

The 32-20 is a pretty good target round. The .32-40 being the favorite schuetzen caliber however.

The ebony tipped forarm is on all 1885s. There may be another ebony insert in the pistol grip if it has one. I will guess, however, that this one is straight stocked and has the crecent shaped butt plate with no cheek piece. This would be a standard sporting rifle.

The barrel's dimension is listed as a single digit, 1,2,3,4... right at the tip of the forearm on the barrel's underside. From the sound of it, I would guess it's a #2, can't recall the dimensions exactly for a #2 at the muzzle but that will be close.

If the gun is unaltered, the leading edge of the front sight dovetail should be 0.75" from the muzzle face.

You can get replacement screws from www.ballardrifles.com - the rear tang screw is a VERY special screw. It is tapered slightly and anything not exactly right will result in a loose or cracked buttstock. Yes, the other screw holes in the wrist are for tang sights.

That ladder rear sight surprises me. I think there were put on muskets, but not on plain sporting rifles. I must be missing something there.

I presume there is only one trigger - but did you look close. There are four trigger set ups for the 1885. The wide double set you would not mistake, but the close-coupled double set appears to be one trigger, but it's not. There is also a single set trigger that is identifiable in that it has a screw hole behind the trigger shoe that adjusts for the pull. sometimes these triggers were put on plain single trigger guns, but try pushing the trigger forward. If it clicks, now try cycling the action or cocking the hammer. It may work suddenly.

What's it worth? Always a crap shoot. That it may be broken and need screws is part of the factor. The bore condition is pretty important too. But I bought a used/reblued but somewhat pitted plain sporter with a rotted barrel that needed relining for $850 about 5 yrs ago. That was considered a VERY good deal and many folks tried to buy it off of me before I could even get it back to the truck. (I bought it prearranged in a gun show parking lot - it never even made it inside). I would say that it could be worth $1k easily and perhaps $1.5k depending on how much local demand there is, how much original condition it has, and what is really broken, and in need of repair.

I'm also assuming that this is truly a highwall, and not a low wall.

Brent

Thanks for that good stuff. I looked for the barrel number at the forearm but it must have worn off, nothing to see. I'll try to get back to check the trigger situation.

You are correct about the stock configuration though.

Rob