1885 Low Wall

[ChrisWilson]

I've got a low wall I picked up cause I thought it was a 22 Long, the barrel is marked 22 long and its the original markings, rifle was made in 1896. Problem is its not 22 Long, 22 LR, 22 Mag or 22 Hornet, the bore is 22 but its been rechambered at some point in its life to something I can't figure out what. Did a chamber casting of it and its nothing I can find. Spoke on the phone and emailed pics to Steve Baldwin at Mechanical Accuracy Inc. in Jones and he's curious to get a look at it. I'm going to have him put a liner in it and chamber it for 22 LR or Mag, haven't made my mind up yet, probably 22 LR so I can use it for 22 BPCR shoots but we'll see. The casting pic has a 22 Mag case that I fired in it after shaving the bullet down so it would seat, it swelled out pretty good where the brass is thin.

​

 

[Shinneryfarmer]

Only thing I can think of is a 22 extra long, which production was stopped in 1935. Which would explain a 22 mag being to long.

 

[ChrisWilson]

Only thing I can think of is a 22 extra long, which production was stopped in 1935. Which would explain a 22 mag being to long.

Yes but the rim is a shade over .300, which is a little larger than any of the 22s and if you look at the casting its straight walled but has a slight taper from the rim down to the bore. The casting was done just even with bore opening, so basically its a picture of the case without the rim on it, and a little of the bore although the old rifling is hard to see. With the extra long having a rim of .275 the extractor wouldn't come close to grabbing it.

 

[Okie4570]

.22 Win Auto and .22 Rem Auto are too short also. It is for sure a .22 cal barrel?

 

[Kid Glock]

Is .22WRF (Winchester Rimfire) same as .22 extra long?

 

[ChrisWilson]

yes the bore is for a 22 caliber, when I take it to Baldwin I'll have him figure out what it is and post back on here, just for curiosity's sake. if it wasn't for the extractor fitting the opening perfectly I'd assume its just worn out and as for the WRF question I've no ideal, Mr. Baldwin is an expert on these old winchester lowwalls and highwalls so I'll let him figure it out. I'll have to pull out the calipers an mic it again for the measurements that may help someone figure it out but I couldn't find anything that matched, best guess is some old wildcat someone came up with but who knows.

 

[Okie4570]

Is .22WRF (Winchester Rimfire) same as .22 extra long?

The extra long case is shorter than the WRF

 

[Okie4570]

yes the bore is for a 22 caliber, when I take it to Baldwin I'll have him figure out what it is and post back on here, just for curiosity's sake. if it wasn't for the extractor fitting the opening perfectly I'd assume its just worn out and as for the WRF question I've no ideal, Mr. Baldwin is an expert on these old winchester lowwalls and highwalls so I'll let him figure it out. I'll have to pull out the calipers an mic it again for the measurements that may help someone figure it out but I couldn't find anything that matched, best guess is some old wildcat someone came up with but who knows.

Rimfire cases are hard to wildcat, especially back in the day. Curious to see what you find out.

 

[ChrisWilson]

I'm curious to. Really like to know what it is. Wish they'd of marked it somewhere what exactly it is, could of done it under the forearm or next to the long but it only has original markings on barrel.

 

[turkeyrun]

The casting makes me think of .22 Hornet. Has firing pin been modified?

.22 WRF was my first thought.

A rimfire would about have to be from some existing cartridge, now obsolete.

The hunt is now on. Good luck.