Winchester M-88 To float this barrel?

**DavidTM** · July 10th, 2013, 05:13 PM

I am the original owner of this .308 rifle that was manufactured in 1972...and that was the year I bought it. So, this year I've done some "fixing" to some previous fixing attempt, and now I'm looking at the rifle like I would look at all of my latest rifles. Hmmmm.....should I do this or that?

First off, if you know nothing about the 88, it's a great little rifle to shoot. But, Winchester designed it kind of ass-backwards from what we see today as a "traditional" rifle. I'd say it's designed more like a WW-II M-1 Carbine as both the Carbine and the 88 have a hook breech style of attaching the barreled receiver, and neither have a recoil lug but rely on the hook breach to spread the recoil to the stock.

Except on the M-1, when you hook the receiver into the screwed in breech ...Um....thing, the M-1 barrel will show some "spring" and not seat completely into the wood. The 88.....not so much. It will go into the wood where it's held there by one screw that is threaded from thru the stock and into a tapped gizmo (like that word?) that is beveled in the bottom of the barrel.

Now, to float this I either have to mess with some type of washer or shim on the one-screw part. But to do this I can't put too thick of a shim in here as the breach hook up has to come together snuggly.

The other option would be to remove wood from the stock under the barrel, but then, that looks like a fair amount of wood....and I'm unsure if that's a good idea.

The rifle will shoot MOA or a bit over for 3 shots. And that's fine as it's a hunting rifle....not a bench rifle. But, I was thinking of using it for some possible 400 or 500 yard shots.....which is why I was thinking of the float.

So, has anyone out there ever done a Win 88 barrel float? Or should I just let an old dog lye and kill those whitetails at 200 with it??

Thanks.

Dave

**cdi** · July 10th, 2013, 05:23 PM

I have glass bedded and free floated a few of those rifles. They are a royal pain in the ass to do.
You may see some improvement in accuracy, but it will not likely be worth the cost and aggravation.
Free floating the barrel, bedding or altering the gun will decrease its value-for some reason, those guns are sought after.
I don't know why because design wise they are horrible.

**DavidTM** · July 10th, 2013, 06:10 PM

Yeah.....your confirming my thinking.

The rifle has killed everything I have pointed it at and pulled the trigger....so perhaps I'll just leave it as is and put my energies into other projects.

Thanks, for you answer and your expertise!!

Dave

**ihunt49** · July 10th, 2013, 08:31 PM

I have an 88 made in 1961. It will shoot any ammo in one inch, three shot groups all day long. I love this rifle, especially since I only paid $50 for it bacxck in the mid '80s. :-)

I wouldn't do anything to your rifle. I would buy a nice bolt action for your longer range shooting.

**Boyd Sponaugle** · July 10th, 2013, 08:41 PM

I have always been curious about the 88 and I know where one in 308 is for sale for around $800. What I do not know if that is a fair price or not? Looks as if it is in good shape but I have not really examined it.

**DavidTM** · July 11th, 2013, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by Boyd Sponaugle

I have always been curious about the 88 and I know where one in 308 is for sale for around $800. What I do not know if that is a fair price or not? Looks as if it is in good shape but I have not really examined it.

That's probably about market price. If you do a search on GunBroker you will find that the usual .308 pre-64 and post '64's will hover around that price. Most will be just a bit above it. But I look at GunBroker as always being just above what my local market price is.

If you look at the Gun Library at Cabela's the M-88's are all pretty much pristine but they are asking $1,300 or more for each one.