What can be done to trick out an 1885 and make it the most sophisticated rifle possible? I would like to hear your thoughts.

Best,

Bill

What's sophisticated ??? I wanted mine to be lighter and handier for hunting so I cut the barrel to 22" .No significant loss in velocity for the 45-70. Total weight ,rifle,scope strap is 8 1/2 lbs. The flat sided receiver cries out for engraving so I engraved a bison on one side and an eagle on the other .Shiney stinks so the metal was redone , 400 grit finish, and the gloss taken off the stock. Now it's about as perfect as can be !!

Put an MVA Vernier tang sight on it, and a Lyman 17A with Lee Shaver's crosswire inserts. Have Lee fix the trigger while you are at it.

Then strip the wood and refinish it.

I presume this is a .45-70 as anything else is a waste of time. But you may wish to consider having it rechambered to .45-90

Brent

well you could restock it with a nice piece of white pine, inlay some diamonds and rubys into it, gold plate the metal, rebarrel and chamber it to 601 winington manglum . you know - just use your imagination

Graceful simplicity is the essence of elegance.

Give or sell it to a good home, do us all a favor and get yourself a Remington 700 or a Ruger 10/22. ;-)

Seriously, the first question is High Wall or Low? That alone will give you some inspiraton. On a Browning of any sort, I'd take the shine off the stock and give it a nice satin oil finish. That will likely happen to my B-78 this winter along with a recoil pad that deletes the white line spacers.

The triggers are tough to work on and the recessed hammer prevents adding a spur to aid cocking.

Decide whether you are partial to a tang peep or glass and go from there.

It's a Highwall, and I agree that taking the shine off of it and putting a new pad is the best place to start.

I think due to my eyes it will have an elgantly simple, but good piece of glass. I put a different scope on it yesterday and managed to shoot about an inch and a half. Not too bad for an 06.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Bill