I have an 1890 and a 1906. The 1890 is a basket case I will eventually rebuild. The 1906 is a fun rifle to shoot but the stock is too short for me. It may get a longer one at some point.
That 1890 I show is also a basket case. Oh, it functions fine, but the barrel is pretty much shot out. It won't group worth a darn compared to the little '06.
There is actually a funny story attached to my Dad's old Model '06. One day when I was around 15 years old or so I found a box in the basement that I had never seen before. I reached in and pulled out the little '06. I went upstairs and asked my Dad, 'What is this?'. He said, 'Well, I guess that's yours now.'
Unbeknownst to him I set up a little shooting range in the basement. I took a little wooden box, filled it with sand, and found a piece of plate steel someplace. I rigged up the piece of steel at a 45 degree angle over the box to act as a bullet stop. Then I rode my bicycle up to a local sporting good store and bought some 22 Shorts.
So when nobody was home I would take the little rifle down to the basement and shoot it. It was pretty quiet with the 22 shorts. I doubt if I used any ear protection.
My neighbor across the street heard about my new Winchester and called me over to his house. He showed me a beautiful Model 1890 mounted on a wooden rack. A few days later the neighbor called me over again and handed me a beautiful walnut rack just like his that he had made for my rifle. I kept my little '06 mounted in my bedroom until I went away to college.
So, the funny story is, my Dad had expressed to his Dad that he would like a 22 target rifle. My grandfather knew nothing about firearms, but he worked in Manhattan, and there was a huge Abercrombie and Fitch store on Madison Avenue. This was long before Abercrombie and Fitch became the yuppie clothing chain it is today. Abercrombie and Fitch was a huge sporting goods store. They occupied all 12 floors of the building on Madison Avenue and there was an entire floor devoted to firearms. There was even a shooting range in the basement.
Anyway, my grandfather came home that day with the little Model '06. But it wasn't what my Dad really wanted, he wanted a target rifle, and the '06 was a little gallery gun. I don't think he ever had the heart to tell his Dad that he didn't really like the rifle.
Yes, the '06 is really a boy's rifle, the stock is very short. Turns out my Dad had set up a little shooting range in his basement when he was a kid pretty much like I did. I don't think my grandmother much appreciated it though. My Dad had thoroughly greased up the rifle before he put it in storage, so after I degreased it it shot great. There isn't a whole lot of blue left on it, but the bore still looks like it just left the factory and it can shoot rings around that 1890.
