Thread: Anyone farmiliar with the winchester 190? Wanting to rebuild this.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Muzza's advice is spot on. If this Winchester 190 is a family legacy piece, by all means do it up. But if not I wouldn't spend too much time on it. They are not a well regarded 22LR - not the 190/290 or the 150/250 series etc. The earlier Winny pumps in good condition may be worth something, as are the later 94/22 levers. The contemporary Remington 22LRs are much more worth while eg the model 552 Speedmaster and the 572 Speedmaster.

Gundoc's advice also on the button for me. I have used cold blueing on dozens of rifles and had very good effect - do them carefully and the blueing does not wear off by next Tuesday. And spraying the 190's receiver probably the easiest way to make it presentable.

Funny how many say they are not a well regarded firearm.
They seem popular in the US, although I get that winchesters quality dropped off around that time.

Anyway I tried it out last night and despite the neglect this thing has had and the fact that it is in need of a clean, the thing is cycling perfectly even with the crummy old subsonic ammo I tested it with.

Grouping looked good too, so the barrel must be ok.
I think its worth tidying it up. The most work is going to be in cleaning up the barrel and polishing out the pitting from the rust.
I have some Birchwood Casey bluing on hand, I believe this is one of the better brands of the stuff.
Kinda ironic it's more reliable than my german made rifle of similar age, which was also a far more expensive gun, but often has poor primer strike.