I put one on layaway. I really don't know anything about them. I saw something about the firing pin. Anyone here own one or shot one before?

Cool rifle. Pre 64s are much more desirable, especially in 284 Win. I would love to find its lever action cousin, the M88 in 358 Win.

__________________
213th FBINA

This is a 1962.

You’ll be happy with that rifle.

My uncle hunted with one for years and years. Never a problem and he always had plenty of venison and elk.

Of course, he was a very good shot and he knew what he was doing in the mountains. Probably didn’t make much difference what rifle he used.

Nice guns when they work. Be sure you have the new firing pin and a call to Winchester will reveal if you need to send it in or they will send you a firing pin upon receipt of you current pin. It is quite a chore to disassemble the 100 for someone that is not gun mechanically minded. The 100 is not a target gun but a minute of deer gun. Factory 150 grain ammo is usually required for successful functioning. I have had a couple but personally demand better accuracy from my rifles but I still like the looks. I believe the 308 was most produced followed by 243 and 284. There were rifle and carbine length barrels. The carbine seems to bring more $$ and the 284 is the most sought after.

__________________
S&W factory revolver armorer

I had 3 m100s over the years, all early ones with no plastic. They aren’t target rifles but were much better guns than Rem 742s. I never had any problems with them. The 243 I didn’t shoot much, had no use for semi auto varmit gun. I don’t know about the later models. Browning BARs were nice rifles too, until the Bean Counters hit them.

I have a carbine length, made in '73 that takes .243. Beautiful little rifle. It had never had the firing pin replacement, but after going online I was able to verify that it had not been fixed. It was a government mandated safety recall so Winchester has to fix any submitted. They will either send you the part or they have a list of authorized in Smith's who will install, test fire and return the rifles ready to go. There are several Youtube videos of complete stipdowns but why not let a factory paid gunsmith do it.

Sent from my P01M using Tapatalk

I had one in 1968. 1/2" group at 100 yards with a Speer 110 grain JSN and a charge of 3031.

Purchased another one 1n 2020. 1" group at 100 yards with the same bullet and 3031 powder

I love mine. I got the replacement pin and gave up trying to put it in. It hasn’t gone full auto yet.

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Have replaced the firing pin in a .284 pre-64 and a .308 carbine. Winchester required the old firing pin sent in and returned a new firing pin along with a check for around $30.00. I am not a gunsmith, however the firing pin switch is not too bad with the help of you-tube.

Don't see M100's here in Montana very often.....however over the weekend a pawn shop in Bozeman had TWO in .308

Go figure.

Randy

Had a model 100 when I got out of the Navy, in .308, that I used on little Calif. black tail, in Napa county, in the St. Helena area.

It was a little big for caliber for those small deer but it did put them down in a hurry.

For its weight in .308, it also had a pretty good amount of recoil.

On a steep uphill shot, sitting down against the base of a tree, on one of my hunts, it took a small Buck but also gave me my first
"Half Moon" cut on my forehead, that gave me a headache for a while.

It is a slick looking auto, though.

I need to call the place and see if they know whether the FP has been replaced. Ill have to wait a bit to get this one. I don't have very many sporting rifles. Most are Milsurp, lever guns, and retro ARs.

My father was ambidextrous, he got opposing half moons. So it could be worse.

IIRC, the replacement will be evident by a rivet in the bottom of the bolt. I had 2 of them and when you loaded them single shot, they were 1" guns @ 100 yds with my handloads. With a full magazine they went full auto, so check the function with a full mag.

BTW, don't take that gun apart unless you are very proficient and familiar with them. A watch doesn't have as many parts!

I've had several come and go through my hands. Finally I acquired a near mint one. I took the nice oak motif stock off and put on an earlier beefier one since it sat better in my hands and I'd heard about splitting on the lighter profile stocks. I installed a recoil pad, had the firing pin replacement done, and commenced load development. I think it's one of the most elegant of all the commercial semi autos out there and I love mine. It's not the most accurate rifle I own, but it shoots in minute-of-deer with 150gr. on top of Accurate 2495. True, it takes a little mechanical know how to take it down and ensure the gas system is clean, but if you're moderately tool handy, it's not too bad.

Attached Images

DSCN1428.jpg (27.5 KB, 24 views)

So true. I can reassemble a 1918 BAR with no problem and take pretty much anything apart down to the frame & reassemble. But the M100 and the M88 drove me nuts. Slave pins are a must.

Terrible trigger pull on each but otherwise great rifles. Each of mine wears the Pachmayr "swing lo" scope base & rings and Redfield 2 to 7X scope.

I asked the place I'm buying it from to check with Winchester if the recall had been done. They said records indicate it was done in April 2003. I watched some videos on disassembly/reassembly. Ugh.

I had a Model 88 in 308 when they first came out and I glass bedded the stock since they used a pressure point on the barrel.

I got better accuracy with the glass bedding and shot lots of ground hogs.