Winchester – the original Winchester – is a company with a grand history. Over the decades, they produced such iconic pieces as the 1873, 1886, 1892, and 1894 lever guns; the famous Model 70 bolt gun, the “Rifleman’s Rifle,” and the Model 12 pump shotgun, the “Perfect Repeater.”
They were a company of tradition, of great designs built for many decades, and when you look at the list and realize that so many of those great sporting guns sprang from the mind of people like John Browning and T.C. Johnson, it’s hardly a surprise. But in the mid-20th century, the company tried something new: a pair of guns, built using some of the same parts, one a lever-action gun and the other a semi-automatic. Those would be called the Model 88 – the lever gun – and the Model 100 – the autoloader.
The Winchester 88
In 1955, Winchester, long renowned for its lever guns, introduced the Model 88, an unusual lever-action firearm. Unlike most of Winchester’s previous lever guns, excepting the Model 1895, this gun was fed by a detachable box magazine. Unlike even the 1895, the Model 88 had a one-piece walnut stock. The result was a sleek, good-looking, modern lever gun.
The Model 88 was also chambered in four modern, high-velocity cartridges: The .243 Winchester, the .284 Winchester, the .308 Winchester, and the .358 Winchester. All of these, we should note, excepting the .284, were basically the same case – the .308 Winchester – necked up or down to take larger or smaller diameter bullets.
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The Winchester 100
Then, in 1961, Winchester tried something else new. The Model 100 shared many of its components with the Model 88, and most of the chamberings; for some reason, Winchester didn’t offer the .358 Winchester in the semi-auto. Why that is, is unclear. I've seen unconfirmed reports that a prototype of the Model 100 in .358 was made, but I’ve never seen confirmed photos. The best reference work ever written on the company and its products, George Madis’s “The Winchester Book,” makes no mention of such an experiment. There are reports that the Model 88 in .358 was a bit of a handful and didn’t sell well, although I’ve never been able to confirm that.
A Matched Set?Both guns used the same magazines. The stocks were similar but not identical, as the Model 100 had a larger forearm to accommodate the semi-auto action. But while the guns shared a lineage, only a few parts outside the magazine were interchangeable, and some even then were only interchangeable with some minor modification.
But side by side, the two guns clearly shared the same design vision. They make a good-looking set. They have similar handling characteristics, other than the manual vs. semi-automatic action. It was a bold move by Winchester, and it worked, for a while.
Some Experimental Ideas
There are two things I’ve always wanted to try with a Winchester 100, if I found one in a condition that I felt like messing around with.
First: A Winchester 100 in .358 Winchester.
This doesn’t seem like it would be a tough job. I can think of two ways to get my desired short-range moose-buster. First, you could have the original barrel rebored, and the caliber stamp revised to reflect the new chambering. Or, the second way, assuming the threading and so forth is the same, and from what I’ve read, they are, one could put a Model 88 barrel on the Model 100 – but there are adaptations necessary to accommodate the gas operation of the semi-auto, and when Winchester replaced barrels at the factory, the barrel and receiver were generally replaced as a unit. When I examined that possibility some years ago, I learned that it wasn’t as practical an option as I’d thought. So that opinion may not work out so well – so if I want a gun like this, reboring will be how to do it.
The .358 Winchester is one of the best short-to-medium range big game rounds available. A short, handy semi-auto with 5 rounds of .358 loads would be a great short-range thumper for big, aggressive beasts.
But the second experiment? That would be a little more complicated.
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Second: A Winchester 100 bullpup.
A bullpup, for the few of you who may not be familiar with the term, is a long gun wherein the action is to the rear of the firing hand’s position on the pistol grip and trigger. This results in a short, handy weapon, although the bullpup designs I’ve handled are oddly balanced when you’re used to traditional long guns. But it would be a fun project to make a bullpup sporting rifle with a nice-looking wood stock and a mount for a traditional scope. The Model 100 seems like an interesting test bed for such a project.
That would require solving a few problems.
The stock would be easy enough. Setting the action back in the stock would require a sharp reduction of the height of the wood just before the magazine well to allow for loading the gun. A pistol grip could easily enough be mounted on what would have been the forearm.
The trigger – that’s the catch. The trigger itself would have to be connected by some kind of linkage to the firing mechanism. I considered a mechanical linkage, a cable arrangement like those used in old-fashioned camera remote triggers, and even an electric trigger. Just making the setup work was one thing; setting it up to have a crisp, clean trigger pull is the trick.
I confess I never figured out how to make that work. Not yet, at any rate. Wouldn’t such a gun be fun, though? Short, light, handy, and fast, packing a big wallop in a small package.
Other guns would have served for such an experiment, but the Model 100 would be my first choice.
What Happened Then
In the infamous Winchester 1964 reorganization, both the Model 88 and the Model 100 suffered the same fate as other Winchester pieces, including the famous Model 70. The stocks had rolled imprints in the stock rather than cut checkering. The metal finish wasn’t as bright. Winchester in general started using more stamped parts and fewer forged ones, and other manufacturing shortcuts. The Model 70 survived the reorganization and recovered, regaining some of its former fit and finish.
But not the Models 88 and 100. In 1973, both guns were discontinued. In all, 284,000 Model 88s and a little over 262,000 Model 100s were completed and sold.
It was a gamble on Winchester’s part. Two revolutionary guns, similar in appearance but dissimilar in subtle ways inside. A lever gun and a short, handy semi-auto that managed tough, powerful rounds. They were modestly successful for a few years.
You can still find them in the used-gun market today. And I may yet try one of my project guns. Time will tell.
