Wednesday, July 21, 2004

The Roosevelt's Secret Catalog

I asked Winchester to send me the owner's manual for the Winchester Model 25 Hammerless Repeating Shotgun which I inherited from my brother-in-law. When I got it, I was sure it was a notice telling me the manual was no longer available. Owner's manuals have certainly gotten thicker over the years.

The Model 25 was manufactured in between 1948 and 1954, if I recall correctly. The owner's manual is one sheet, printed front and back, with two columns on each page in large print. The last column is blank. There is nary a diagram nor a picture to be found, unless you count the Winchester logo. My current owner's manual for my Ruger Model 10/22 carbine is fifty-one pages, and littered with pictures and diagrams. Since my ignorance of pump shotguns is profound, I am rendered helpless by such timeless prose as this:
TO DISMOUNT PARTS ATTACHED TO BARREL - Remove magazine band screw and slide forward on barrel, remove Magazine Lock and screw in face of receiver, unscrew Magazine with action slide handle from receiver. Unscrew magazine plug screw and remove magazine plug-spring and follower. Unscrew action slide sleeve screw cap and pull off handle, slide magazine out of sleeve, be sure action slide spring is on rear side of stop collar on magazine. Assemble in reverse order.
Imagine my surprise about a week later when Winchester also sent me a copy of The Roosevelt's Secret Winchester 2004 Catalog, complete with diagrams of bullet drop and oodles of full color pictures, including the naughty bits like a close up of the Controlled Round Push Feed Bolt. My mouth is starting to water just writing about it...