Winchester 100 Opinions Please

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GodblessAmerica

New member
I have been looking for a small / med cal. rifle to teach my 11 yr. old daughter to shoot rifle with. She's about 4'6 and around 68 lbs, very proficient with pellet/bb and ok with .22lr in a medium sized pistol. I thought Ruger 10/22 since they come highly recommended but the forestock on it is too wide for her hand (and a little heavy also). A good friend of mine has a Win. model 100 in .243 in 99% that he is willing to trade for one of my pistols, so I'm thinking seriously about it. It is not the carbine, so it is the basketweave checkered model with a 22" barrel I think. Do you think .243 in this platform would be ok for this purpose? I have never shot this caliber so I have no reference point to it from .22, .223, .308 etc. that I have shot before. Should recoil and muzzle noize be manageable for someone her size, using good ear protection of course? Does anyone have one of these that can give us some input? I'd be trading my only 9mm, a Smith and Wesson 6906 for this. Sound reasonable? Any input is appreciated. Thanks
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C

Crosshair

New member
There is one (.308) at the local gunshop. It seems to be a nice rifle. The only concern, and reason I havn't tried to negotiate the price lower, is the complete lack of spare magazines for this rifle. :( I have seen them go for $50+ :eek:
 
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HSMITH

New member
That would be a good rifle for her. I would trade a 6906 for a M100 in a heartbeat if the M100 was in good condition and had at least 2 magazines.
 
4

44-40

New member
I own two model 100 winchesters, one in 243 and another in 284.I think they are a fine rifle, my wife and daughter both hunt with 243's.Your daughter may need to grow into it, I'm sure the model 100 has a wider forearm and is heavier than a 10/22.I first let my daughter use the win.because that was the only 243 I had,I later gave her a lever 243 for safety concerns,I'm alittle spooked with kids and semi-autos.
 
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dgludwig

New member
Winchester Model 100 rifle

Several years ago I recall that Winchester issued a safety warning regarding a failure of the firing pin in that it "may break due to use and metal fatigue and become lodged in the breech bolt face. If this occurs, the firearm may fire before the action is locked causing severe damage to the firearm and possible injury or death to the shooter and bystander." This warning applied to all Model 100s produced and at the time (around 1990), Winchester advised that due to the age of the Model 100 (introduced in 1960 and discontinued in 1973), "parts and service are no longer available" and, additionally, "an authorized replacement firing pin to safely fix the firearm is not currently available." Winchester(not USRA) noted that they were"reviewing possible alternatives to remedy this situation" and projected a three to six month time period to come up with a solution.
 
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GodblessAmerica

New member
Thanks, I have come to rely heavily on the expert information here. My friend had mentioned that the magazines run around $50.00, fortunately it has two with it. He also told me about the safety recall and has had this one long enough that he owned it during that time frame. This rifle was involved in the recall, so Winchester promptly corrected it. So, based on the input here and those two things, we're going to look seriously at it next week. I'll let you know how it comes out. Thanks again!
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J

Johnny Guest

Moderator in Memoriam
Hey - - Let's go back to the original question:

I have been looking for a small / med cal. rifle to teach my 11 yr. old daughter to shoot rifle with.
Click to expand...
It's not about whether or not the M100 is a decent rifle for what it is.

GodblessAmerica, teach the lass to shoot with a .22. She needs to learn sight alignment and trigger control, NOT recoil tolerance and muzzle blast endurance. Time enough for that later on. She also needs to become comfortable with managing a firearm, and this means doing bit of shooting. Difficult to accomplish when you're spending 50 cents to a dollar per shot - - Economy will be in someone's mind, in most families.

I believe a bolt action is the best training rifle for a youngster, but the 10/22 does bear some similarities to the Win 100. Weight is a good deal less than the M100. If she's not large enough to manage a 10/22, she will NOT be able to handle the M100. The .243 cartridge is a very good one for smaller shooters, though.

If I were starting such a project, and economics was a consideration, I might very well consider obtaining a New England Firearms single shot in .243, and ordering a .22 rimfire barrel for it. I'd teach her with the .22 and then later install the .243 barrel.

One granddad's opinion. :)
Johnny
 
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