IAC 87W - My first shotgun, second Levergun

[following2dp]

I'm pretty excited about this one so far. I havn't seen one of these before today besides the internet, but once I could see it in person, I knew I had to have it.

I've always been more of an AR/military rifle kind of person with a few handguns here and there. I've owned a Henry for Plinking since I turned 18 years ago, but this is the first levergun I've had with some power.
I was checking Gunbroker, when I noticed that there was one located in Indiana, and within driving distance (about an hour away from my house). It came from a smalltown shop in Galveston Indiana called Down By The Tracks. The people there were very helpful, and quite friendly at that. That had a rather large selection of goods on their shelf.

Hopefully I will be able to shoot it this weekend.

(excuse the bathroom, it has the most lights in the house)

It's very easy to load, you just open the action and pop a shell in the action and one in the tube and close the action. Then you have two quick shots. You can also load the tube up to 4 loads.

The action is beyond crisco smooth, and if you barely touch the lever, it springs open and the lifter spits the shell out. If you do the action slow you can control when you eject the shell by opening what feels like all the way, then pulling just a little bit further til the lifter kicks up.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1705/12133535/22028718/364253213.jpg

Can't wait to see how it performs.

 

[22lr]

Very nice piece there. Ive wanted one for a while but just cant justify another fun gun at the moment. Enjoy it.

 

[Seancass]

I'm not going to lie, I'm a HUGE fan of these and i've never even shot one! I held one at the 1500 and barely managed to put it down. Congrats on the purchase!

 

[RelicHound]

that is sweet! my dad had an old 10ga like that {think it was a S&W} he had it tapped for chokes and used it to turkey hunt with but that was years ago and I dont think he owns it anymore.

if ya dont mind me asking...how much was she? also can they be plugged to limit the shell capacity? how many does she hold? I can see that quickly becoming a great gun for upland game/rabbits not to mention cowboy shoots.

 

[following2dp]

I'm not going to lie, I'm a HUGE fan of these and i've never even shot one! I held one at the 1500 and barely managed to put it down. Congrats on the purchase!

I know the feeling, I couldn't wipe the cheesy smile from face as soon as I had 'er in my hands.

First time I've seen one.

that is sweet! my dad had an old 10ga like that {think it was a S&W} he had it tapped for chokes and used it to turkey hunt with but that was years ago and I dont think he owns it anymore.

if ya dont mind me asking...how much was she? also can they be plugged to limit the shell capacity? how many does she hold? I can see that quickly becoming a great gun for upland game/rabbits not to mention cowboy shoots.

Sounds to me like your dad had the original Winchester, there is a good video of it on Youtube from midwayusa. In the video he mentions plugging the tube as well. I'm sure it could be done, however, being my first shotgun, I wouldn't know where to begin. I am interested in seeing how well of a bunny gun it will be as my friend just started running his dogs last year and it sounds fun.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE9WD9Fihks&feature=related[/ame]

Note that the IAC is a 20 inch barrel instead of the 28. The Winchester in the video one of the early models before the pivoting lever, which the IAC has. The rear part of the loop pivots and locks into the rear. When you flick the rear of the lever and release it from a hook on the underside on the grip, it sends the action flying open.


I can fit 7 shells in the shotgun. The manual says 5 to be carried safely (all in the tube), however I can load 5 in the tube, one down in the action, and one down the pipe for a total of 7.

For quick shots you can throw one in the action and let one ride in the pipe for a fast two shots.

Check this guy out to better see what I mean:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvAakEHsTcw[/ame]
The cash price we agreed on over the phone was 450 which translated to roughly 480 with tax out the door.

 

[Revelations]

What a beauty!

Ive always wanted a lever action shotgun.

 

[RelicHound]

I know the feeling, I couldn't wipe the cheesy smile from face as soon as I had 'er in my hands.

First time I've seen one.



Sounds to me like your dad had the original Winchester, there is a good video of it on Youtube from midwayusa. In the video he mentions plugging the tube as well. I'm sure it could be done, however, being my first shotgun, I wouldn't know where to begin. I am interested in seeing how well of a bunny gun it will be as my friend just started running his dogs last year and it sounds fun.

YouTube - The Winchester Model 1887 Lever Action Shotgun

Note that the IAC is a 20 inch barrel instead of the 28. The Winchester in the video one of the early models before the pivoting lever, which the IAC has. The rear part of the loop pivots and locks into the rear. When you flick the rear of the lever and release it from a hook on the underside on the grip, it sends the action flying open.


I can fit 7 shells in the shotgun. The manual says 5 to be carried safely (all in the tube), however I can load 5 in the tube, one down in the action, and one down the pipe for a total of 7.

For quick shots you can throw one in the action and let one ride in the pipe for a fast two shots.

Check this guy out to better see what I mean:
YouTube - IAC 1887 shotgun
The cash price we agreed on over the phone was 450 which translated to roughly 480 with tax out the door.

thanks for the info!

I was thinking...even if it doesnt come with a "plug" and as long as its like a normal tube fed shotgun you could pretty much use anything to plug it for 2 in the chamber and 1 ready to go with just a dowel rod or something.
also if ya have one "in the action" how ya gonna eject your spent shell?
looks like it make a great bunny gun. when Im hunting the thick stuff either with beagles or just bustin brush I use a stoeger coach gun which is a side by side with 20" barrels and it makes a great bunny gun and works well on birds too,I have the supreme which allows choke tubes,I usually hunt with a mod or imroved mod choke.

 

[following2dp]

thanks for the info!

I was thinking...even if it doesnt come with a "plug" and as long as its like a normal tube fed shotgun you could pretty much use anything to plug it for 2 in the chamber and 1 ready to go with just a dowel rod or something.
also if ya have one "in the action" how ya gonna eject your spent shell?
looks like it make a great bunny gun. when Im hunting the thick stuff either with beagles or just bustin brush I use a stoeger coach gun which is a side by side with 20" barrels and it makes a great bunny gun and works well on birds too,I have the supreme which allows choke tubes,I usually hunt with a mod or imroved mod choke.

I was wondering this too when I heard it mentioned online, however once you see how the gun works it makes sense. The best way I can explain it is that if you load the tube with 5 shots and close it, you can hear the shells spring to the back of the receiver. By putting one in place of where it would normally spring to, then you have one outside of the tube, and then load the next one in the chamber. When you throw the lever, it sends the shell thats outside of the tube up causing the spent shell to expel. It all makes sense if you see it working.

I have been very close to buying a stoeger coach gun on different occasions over the years, Dicks had a "Special" on one about two years ago for under 300, and I thought about it for awhile. If I didn't get this Lever, I probably would have ended up with a Stoeger, they seem like well built side by sides.

 

[RelicHound]

I was wondering this too when I heard it mentioned online, however once you see how the gun works it makes sense. The best way I can explain it is that if you load the tube with 5 shots and close it, you can hear the shells spring to the back of the receiver. By putting one in place of where it would normally spring to, then you have one outside of the tube, and then load the next one in the chamber. When you throw the lever, it sends the shell thats outside of the tube up causing the spent shell to expel. It all makes sense if you see it working.

I have been very close to buying a stoeger coach gun on different occasions over the years, Dicks had a "Special" on one about two years ago for under 300, and I thought about it for awhile. If I didn't get this Lever, I probably would have ended up with a Stoeger, they seem like well built side by sides.

ah I see...makes since I reckon. I guess the action just works so quickly that by the time the "new" round is ready to be chambered the spent round is already ejected.
Id like to get another stoeger just for target shooting...was thinking the nickel finished coach gun sure is pretty..mine has a nickel reciever and blued barrels. have shot a few thousand rounds from mine and she's never missed a beat.

 

[r6vr6]

Very cool now you just need to get a fatboy and a flattop hair cut. I'd love to take that out and put some shells through it.

 

[Seancass]

I didn't even know all that about how the action worked, although i did know you could do the quick two shot deal. Had i not bought a semi-auto 12ga shortly before the 1500 i'd be one very happy lever action owner! And ya know, no ones stopping you from posting more pics!

 

[wtfd661]

Great now I have another to put on my must buy list. That looks awesome, congrats.

 

[mospeada]

The cowboy action shooters that compete with these typically have a modification done to the action to make it easier to drop two in and not have the carrier nose-dive. If the carrier drops down, the second round won't align with the chamber making it difficult to close the action. I'm not sure exactly how to do the mod myself, but there's gunsmiths out there that can do it. Some also take the spring out of the lever and replace it with drill rod to make it rigid and give more positive ejection and slightly shorter stroke.

 

[following2dp]

The cowboy action shooters that compete with these typically have a modification done to the action to make it easier to drop two in and not have the carrier nose-dive. If the carrier drops down, the second round won't align with the chamber making it difficult to close the action. I'm not sure exactly how to do the mod myself, but there's gunsmiths out there that can do it. Some also take the spring out of the lever and replace it with drill rod to make it rigid and give more positive ejection and slightly shorter stroke.

This mod would be awsome. Apparently, according to a man known as Coyote Cap, the IAC was orgininally designed for the carrier to only go 3/4's of the way down, so that when you throw two shells in, one would go in the chamber and would would fit in the mag. Unfortunatley, they were getting complaints from people who did not understand the benefit, and thus having a large number of people believing their firearm to be defective return it for warrenty. So they "fixed" the problem by making the carrier drop down completely and calling it the One Shot Feeding System. Thats what its called in my owners manual. If there is a way to get it back to a two shot feed system that would be amazing. Right now, if I throw two down in the reciever, and keep my pinky on the underside of the lifter, I can still load two at a time, however I wouldn't mind not having to baby it as much.

More Pictures on the way.

 

[rambone]

Take it to the range yet? How is it?

 

[following2dp]

Take it to the range yet? How is it?

I have been pleasantly surprised by this shotgun. The only other 12ga I have shot had a recoil pad on it, and I was expecting this one to tenderized my shoulder after a day of shooting, but it really doesn't have a whole lot of kick unless using slugs (which I was able to shoot fairly acurate).

I can hit clays better with this one than my buddies remmington, however the pump is a faster. The action is a bit long, and it can be difficult to take two quick shots while controling where I aim.

Being my first 12ga, I didn't realized until I went shopping for ammo how "cheap" 12ga ammo is. Shooting AR's, 40's, and 9's mostly, to see 100 rounds of 12ga at wally world for 20 bucks cought my off guard saying how much of a punch you get for the price.

Did you see the pictures I posted in the Shotgun porn thread?
https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/long_guns/32283-shotgun_porn-6.html
I'll have to take a real camera to the range next time, the cell phone pics don't seem to be working for me.

We were standing about 20 feet from the target when these shots were taken.
I emptied the tube as fast as I could from the hip, which can be seen from the big hole in the center. The other holes are from my friend and I having fun with the rest of the ammo.

 

[doglb]

I have looked at that shotgun a thousand times, looks like a whole bunch of fun, may have to pick one up now!

Awesome shotgun! Just because its lever action!

 

[mospeada]

If you're interested in getting the drop-2 mod done, this fella can definitely modify it so that the drop-2 works. He's in Greenfield, IN.

Thunder & Lightning Action Works
Tim "Vaquero Hays" Miller
vkhayes1@verizon.net
812-662-7799