I am looking at buying an early Winchester Model 88 Lever Action (the one with the "clover leaf" tang). The gun is all original except that a recoil pad was added. I would like to restore the gun to the original configuration. What type of buttplate did these have. Additionally, if anyone could post or e-mail me a picture of one I would appreciate it.

Dave

Dave, did they cut the stock when applying the recoil pad? If so you will need a new butt stock. Sorry I don't have the information for you but you can get it from www.gunpartscorp.com

Check the length from the end of the wood where the buttplate goes, to the front of the wood in the inletting at the trigger housing's rear. It should be 12 7/8" for an original.

The buttplate was black plastic, shaped exactly like the pre-64 model 70's, checkered & a diamond point at top & with another diamond at the bottom screw. Overall length is 5 3/16", Winchester part #2188.

You might contact parts@gunpartsspecialist.com, it is possible he may have some original buttplates left from when the factory closed out parts.

Scott, You are right We who make our liveing on the ocean in little boats are not very politically correct. We are real dumb asses in a quaint old fashioned way in that we still kick and holler when we get ripped off and pissed when we pay good money for a product that don't work. We also don't have the proper reverence for the self-styled and self-appointed "EXPERTS' like J Belk WHO REALLY KNOW what is good for us. Scott, I cycled this bolt once thirty times with out a failure. That would be about enough to give a false reading on the rifles functioning properly. I went to the local gun store and pawn shop and went through every bolt rifle in Juneau from brand new to old clunkers and not one came close to as loose a fit of the bolt sleeve as what I got from MRC. An old 1938 M70 was a dream and a 1948 m70 with a new barrel because the rifle was sunk in a fishing boat in salt water for several months, was as slick as glass. Original stock action and bolt, every old part as good as new. No they have designed and built bolt actions for more than a hundred years, and there's no way they can "spin & explain away shipping a barrelled action in which some of the parts fit so poorly as this. w alex

PS Scott J Belk may have real expertise, I don't know him. If he does he most likely has only been allowed to see the best examples of this action. 18 to 20 yrs ago i invented, pattented and helped to design an automatic hook handling and baiting machine for longlines which is like a trotline. rope with a leader and a circular type cod hook every 3 to 5 feet. I received a patent royalty from the largest fishing and fish boatmanufacture concerns in the world based in Seattle. I received many 100s of thousands of $ from this, the last large sale of 4 units $900,000 worth were installed on Russian Sidetrawlers in a Shipyard in Pusan Korea, and were paid for by a Japanese fishing co. For many years I worked the booth at the Fisheries Exposition. The stuf on the exhibit was carefully chosen and not ordinary run of the mill coming out of the shipping dept. of any of the many cos. there cutaway gear box displays were painted inside and the exposed gears were chromed and polished. I don' think MRC would have taken my action to the SHOTT SHOW or sent it to J Belk for testing. Walex

walex---

I've never seen a hand picked Montana action, but I did get one that was unpolished last year. I normally get them from customers that send them to be barrelled, polished, engraved, altered or other work. That's my business.....in fact I barrelled one today. It was better made, better desiged, better finished and operates better than the new M-70 done yesterday that took surface grinding to make right.

"Expert" is a term like 'custom'. It means different things to different people. In my case it's used as it is in state and federal courts...including Alaska. It's their definition, not mine.

It's VERY clear you have no clue how to analyze what might be wrong with your action. I've agreed to examine it at NO cost to you and let you and MRC what I find.

Dan has offered to make it right..... so I really don't see why you persist in bad mouthing the product......unless you just enjoy it.

I seem to remember was a "gunsmith" somewhere in Alaska that severely critisized the action before he'd ever even SEEN one. (Though he said he had seen, it hated it, and returned it).

I sense an agenda, but I can't figure out *why*.