Thanks. I thought so but wanted to check.

 

I thought gallery guns all used 22 shorts. Am I missing something?

 

This is the rifle in question:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1890

If this article is correct (and I have no reason to think it is not), these rifles would only accommodate and fire the caliber listed on the barrel.

The Model 1890 will only feed the round specific to that gun (e.g. a Model 1890 stamped ".22 Short" on the barrel will not feed .22 Long, .22 Long Rifle, or .22 WRF; despite there being other 1890s chambered in those calibers). The .22 Long Rifle version was added in 1919.

I am sorely tempted to buy the one I saw, but absent a steady and reliable source of .22WRF ammo, it would be a safe queen.

 

I would think a WRF carrier would be different than a S, L or LR carrier, it may have feeding problems when using anything other than WRF rounds?

 

There seems to be some confusion in terminology, and I get the impression that the OP's dealer may be calling all M1890s "gallery guns" which they certainly are not. In fact probably only 5% or less were true gallery guns, and like whiz-bang stated, all of these were chambered for .22 shorts only. I cannot imagine any gallery gun being chambered for .22 WRF, the forerunner of the .22 Winchester Magnum (in reality just a longer version of the .22 WRF with higher pressure).
Also, all M1890s were caliber specific, i.e. they could only work properly with either .22 short or .22 long or .22 WRF, or after 1919, .22 long rifle and never interchangeably. Since the .22WRF uses a larger diameter case than the others, it's never a good idea to try to fire any of the others in a rifle chambered for it, although they will chamber.
The very similar M1906 would allow for cartridge interchangeability (.22 S,L, or LR) starting in 1907 and was the first Winchester model to be chambered for the long rifle cartridge.

 

The Winchester 1890 was built to handle the 32-20 cartridge but was never produced. Pressure wise, it will handle anything available today.

The gallery guns were all 22 short that fired a special graphite bullet that disingrated on impact. Very safe.

The WRF was too expensive for that market then, as the 22 Mag was severely overpriced when it came out. Long rifles were about 70 cents a box of 50, and the 22 mag was $2.50 for a box of 50. Which one are you gonna buy for your kid to go plinking with ?

 

I agree with Whiz...all gallery rifles that I have ever heard of were 22 shorts. For some reason, some people think all 1890's qualified as gallery guns, and they do not. Diamond

 

The term "gallery gun" came up while those of us who were in the shop at the time were discussing just what this rifle was. I'll take this point back to the shop tomorrow to correct any mistaken impression that this rifle was a "gallery gun".

 

I bought 500 rounds of .22 wrf ammo online not long ago so I could shoot my 1890. CCI and Winchester make runs of it every once in a while. If you are able to buy ammo online at all then I wouldn't worry about WRF ammo, it should be out there available sooner or later.

 

22 wrf

Guns chambered in 22 wrf will only use that cartridge. Not anything else, no shorts, no longs no LR
But, you can use them in 22 mag chambered firearms, where they act about like a standard velocity LR. But they are hard to find and about 3X the price.

 

I just checked and Midway has CCI brand .22 WRF ammo for around $.24 per round. A google search will take you there.

 

WRF is a slightly shorter 22 magnum. Doubt the gallery target ducks or pipes would live long with that constant pounding.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/22WRF.htm

 

The gunshop in Tontitown AR, Ozark Sportsmans Supply had some 22WRF in stock last Monday

www.ozarksportsman.com

ozarksportsmansupply@gmail.com

(479) 361-1200

 

I have a well used pump and you can manually load 22 LR, single shot, but it's time consuming and not very practical. Pay the price and buy WRFs when you can find them.

 

Funny you mention .22 WRF- I just brought a Pawn shop find Winchester 1890 in WRf back to life.

The WRF uses a larger bore diameter, which rules out simply re-sleveing the chamber area- if accuracy is required a complete relining of the barrel is called for. I bored the old rifling out (which was a criminal offence since it was in perfect shape!), and installed a Redman's sleeve and rechambered it in .22 Long Rifle. The rim of the .22lr is several thousands thinner than the WRF, so I left that much extra liner in order to get the headspace right.

The carrier on these guns is fitted specificly to to the length of the ammo, so I had to adjust that by making a .180" long brass plug and press it into the carrier so that the nose of the lr bullet would be in the right place. Making the O.D. of the plug about .003" oversized allowed it to be pressed in securely. The left side of the plug has to be filed down flush with the side of the carrier where it sticks through- no big thing- and the right side of the plug needs to be slotted slightly for the extractor to clear... again, no big thing.

The results? I now have a 100 year old rifle that's a joy to carry and shoot, and absolutely drives tacks! I never realized these old pumps were this accurate. Easily the equal of any of the Marlin M39's I've owned over the years.

Porosonik.

 

My LGS has the 50-rnd boxes of CCI WRF for $14.99.
I stocked up on it last year by watching Cabelas website...I was able to get all that I needed.
The 1890 in .22 wrf is a fine shooter ...I love mine.

 

My first rifle was one of those Winchester WRF rifles and shot great. The drawback was the ammo then cost $1.60 per box, far too expensive for the likes of me then. I had to part with it.

 

Have y'all had better luck with the Winchester 22wrf than the CCI in terms of accuracy? I know I know it's a hundred year old rifle just be happy and enjoy it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I don't have any CCI 22 WRF, but my experience with CCI is that it is way above average ammo. I can't say that about Winchester 22 ammo. Eagle

 

Shooting Gallery

Hey BIL
The only reason that the shooting gallery guns did not shoot straight was because the guy running the gallery would continually "Jimmy" the sights.:Blasting_

 

22wrf 1890

My first post A255dean: "Back in WW2" I was 12yrs old Dad gave me his Win1890 WRF. No WRF ammo available but some 22LR. I made cup a small Balsa wood filler for the back of the carrier. Worked like a charm!! Most cases came out split but I used it that way for about five years. It can be done!! I've since stocked up on WRF as available A255dean