I just picked up a Winchester 1890 this weekend as a late birthday present for myself. $639 out the door with tax and PICS. Chambered in 22 long. 1911 production I think. It's a little rough around the edges, showing wear from plenty of use. I really like the way it points. The drop stock with the deeply curved butt plate sets the sights securely right in front of my eyes. The take-down is a nice feature. Might have to make a case for it to travel with.

I'd like to make a few changes since my plan is for this to be a shooter. Despite how good it'd look hanging on my wall. I want to clean up the finish on the stock and remove the varnish a PO put over everything including the butt plate. Thinking about a tang sight too. Marble Arms and Lyman both make them. Any recommendations?
Also thinking of rechambering to 22lr just for ammo availability. Long and LR have the same case dimensions but the bullet is longer on the LR. It engages the lands too soon as I understand it. I tried just dropping a LR round into the chamber and it stopped about 1/8" short of the rim on the chamber face. Don't think I'll force it unless someone else has experience with these.
The other option I thought of is to reload some LR with shorter bullets. Long seems to be non-existent these days. 22lrreloader.com has a kit for reloading LR that includes a mold for 25 grain bullets. That might be an option if I absolutely can't find anything else.

Thanks

Make sure the elevator will work w/ LR before you ream the chamber.  Chop to 16", thread for suppressor, scope.  

I'd really like an antique one.  I may already have a receiver, have to clean it up to see.

An 1890 is a great rifle. There can be problems punching them out to LR because of the rate of twist. The twist rate for the 22 Long was the same as the 22 Short, 1:20. The twist rate for the 22 Long Rifle was 1:16. They don't always shoot LR great.

There's a fella w/ a ton of 1890 parts, I just have to find the Gun Digest I put his listing in.

Where in PA? I’ll look to see if I have any .22 Long laying around. Shoot me a PM if you don’t want to post here.

I checked the carrier last night. A round will feed from the magazine tube into the carrier but gets stuck there. The tip of the bullet sticks out too far and won't let the carrier tip up. Time to get the belt sander out and make some flat nose 22lr?
I found a site called homesteadparts.com that has a bunch of 1890 parts including carriers. I had the wild idea to get one and mill out the base a bit to let an LR round sit back far enough to clear while tipping up. But for $97 a piece for an original part that seems steep.

Buy a Rossi copy of the round bbl follow-on & shoot that?

As mentioned the twist rate from a short or long barrel will not stabilize the heavier long rifle bullet- sort of like trying to shoot heavy bu.lets out of an M16A1 with the 1-12 twist rate.
Don’t butcher it just find long ammo ( most likely to find in normal times is the cci cb long, also every company makes runs of longs now and then. Stock up when you find them.

If anything you might be better off finding the proper feeding parts for 22 short and stock up on those which at least in normal times are easier to find than longs

from a nostalgic view... it would be a shame to cut down an octagonal M90 barrel... mine was a 12th birthday present, 61 years ago.... it is a former gallery gun from an Uncle that lived in Gibsonton, Fla (Ringling Brothers winter home) in .22short... with so much muzzle wear that complete projectile can be inserted without much effort, in addition to having a bulge in the barrel... I deepened the carrier depth with a hand drill (as a kid)so that it can actually cycle a .22lr...it will be the last rifle to be sold off by me.... regards

Well I lucked into some 22 long this week and had the old rifle out to the range yesterday. I tried single loading 22lr and it works but isn't ideal. No idea of accuracy. The Long worked perfectly. I was mainly just testing function but it worked well. Fed from the magazine to the carrier to the chamber perfect. Now I gotta get it sighted in on a less windy day. I could barely get 50% of my hits on an 8.5x11 paper at 50 yards. When I get some time I'll break it down and give everything a good cleaning including the barrel. But I'd call it all money well spent.

Had my Ruger Wrangler out with it for some fun too. Having the old (and old style) guns on the range is a great way to relax.

the model 90 I commented on has a Lyman tang sight, though, I'm pretty sure it is aftermarket

Nice old rifle.
I was given a Lyman tang sight for my Taurus 62.  Excellent sight, and gives you damn near 30" of sight radius  with a 23" barrel.
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