reindeer

Did you try to use an external illuminator? Might be that the IR from the illuminator is strong enough to give you a clear image. I

Does this add on have an integrated IR source or do you use an external illuminator?

Apart from engraving and grip, are there any structural differences between a 101 XTR lightweight with raised panels and the 5500, 6500 and 8500 line of models?

I own a Miroku 7000 and a Winnie 101 lightweight, both about 40 years old. The Miroku may be a little more versatile because of the Invector chokes. In 45 years of gun ownership I have handled a lot of shotguns and the 101 with fixed chokes is my all time favourite. I know of no other gun with similar or better handling qualities.

I bought a leather rifle sling from them. Good quality product, less than half price than through a webshop over here.

The 3800 for sure has no steel proof fleur the lis mark and the MK38 probably not aswell if it has some age. For 3” shells you need 3” chambers obviously. It is however safe to shoot HP steel shot through Browning/Miroku barrels with the Invector+ choke system. This rules out de 3800. Fact is that I have shot thousands of Gamebore Black Gold HP in 12/70 nr. 4 through my 7000 invector barrels without bulging or other structural damage to the gun, other than a little bit of faint scoring, due to the first poor quality steel shot cartridges some 25 years ago.

Well, in my experience they do have a (slight) advantage. My Miroku 7000 barrels, which are not chrome lined, show some faint scoring directly in front of the chambers from shooting (early) steel shot cartridges, nothing to worry about, but it is there, where as my chrome lined Winny 101 barrels are without any signs of shooting steel shot through them. Over here in the Netherlands we have been banned from shooting lead shot since 1994. So older shotguns over here have been fed steel shot for more than 25 years now and I believe that is the more than enough proof of the pudding.

3800 is the predecessor of MK38. The differences are that 3800 barrels are chopper lump joined, so chamber and barrel of each tube are manufactured in one piece and the two tubes are then soldered together. MK 38 barrels are monoblock, wich means both chambers and barrel hooks are machined from one solid piece of steel in which the tubes are soldered. If you look carefully you can see the joint in the barrels. Most shotgun manufacturors try to hide this joint by making it extra visible through some or other way of punching or engraving. Miroku and Browning have mastered the art of making this joint nearly invisible. There is no difference in strenghth or quality between chopper lump and monoblock. Chopper lump is classic and still the method of choice for most high end gun makers, whereas monoblock is cheaper to produce. The other difference is that from the MK series of shotguns onwards, Miroku gunbarrels are chromelined, making them better suited for the use of steel shot. A well kept 3800 is as good as a well kept MK38

👌 A comment on that went through my mind but unfortunately it is not fit for sharing 😁

WD40 resolves most types of barrel fouling. Leave it overnight and clean it out with a cleansing pad on top of a spiral wire brush. For that have a look at you wife’s dressing table 😊

Google for UF 2002 VCSEL. They are the best available right now and not expensive.

That is very easy to accomplish. Clean the area you want to fill with a degreaser. Then cover it completely with a black permanent felt tip marker. Allow to dry and wipe off the surface with a piece of cloth, sligtly damp with degreaser. I did this with my Winny 101 and it really makes the engraving stand out. It also proves to be very durable. You can try without any risk of harm done to your gun. If you don’t like the result, just wipe it off completely.

I see more benefits to this barrel technology. Anything made out of one solid piece of material is bound to be structurally stronger than when two pieces are joined together with a bonding material. The only other gunmaker I know of who does not braze or solder tubes together to produce a shotgun barrel is Ivo Fabbri. He joins his tubes by Tig welding an I-beam shaped mid rib between them. So they also become one solid piece of steel. Fabbri is regarded to be one of the, if not the world’s most technically advanced gunmaker at present so I guess he knows what he is doing. He once proved how strong his barrels are by firing a 12 bore barrel with a 20 bore shell lodged into it without any damage to the barrel. The shell gave way instead of the barrel. This of course has as much to do with his choice of barrel steel than with the way he joins his tubes. The only possible disadvantage that I can think of in the Longthorne barrel production method is that the tubes cannot be regulated because they are not joined. Without doubt Longthorne has mastered this when setting up their drilling and milling processes.

Then it should have chopper lump barrels, so no joint between chambers and barrels. If it is an MK version of later date, it will have a monobloc construction and there will be a (difficult to make out) joint vissible. And ‘Millenium’ isn’t engraved on the receiver without reason I think. It could be the number 1 of a special Millenium edition of total 300 guns.

Yes, apply as little as possible, just a few drops on your fingertip will be enough. Spread it out on the stock and buff it in with the palm of your hand. Let it dry for a day and apply another few drops. You don’t want a layer of oil on top of the wood so if your stock feels sticky after a day or two, you applied too much. You can repeat this until the wood does not take anymore oil or you have aquired the desired finish.

That really is the best way to clean up a barrel face. Use fine, 1000 grit paper with a little oil, wrapped around a flat surface like a file. This is to make sure you keep the edges flat and square. IMHO the real Winchester 101 series are one of the best handling o/u guns of the past.

The engraving style and the pistol grip cap indicate it is of Austrian origine, possibly Ferlach. For a Ferlach made gun it is not very high grade though.

Keeping blued barrels blue in a salty environment is an almost lost battle. You could spray them with WD40 directly after use to prevent rusting to start. Then at home rinse them with fresh water to remove the salt, dry them, then give them another WD40 spray to disperse any remaining moisture and wax them the next day is the best you can do to prevent rust. I have done coastal shooting and saw guns of which the barrels and stocks had matching brown colors. The owners didn’t mind a bit about that.

The stains on the receiver are caused by salt in sweaty hands. They can be easily removed with any metal polish and even tooth paste will work. They will be back next time you handle the gun in similar conditions though. I own an old Miroku 7000 from the eighties and this receiver does not stain at all. My former Miroku MK10 turned black every time I handled it in hot weather, so it must also have something to do with the kind or thickness of the metal finish. Judging from te pictures of your barrels I doubt weather this is rust or just handling marks that disappear after a good wipe off with an oily pice of cloth.

Never leave a damp or wet gun in a leather gun slip overnight, unless it is lined with a synthetic fabric. The chemicals that were used for tanning are known to damage blueing and some will even cause corrosion to the barrels.

You might have used a little too much oil so it has built a layer on top of the wood instead of being worked in completely. The trick is to apply as little oil as possible and repeat this a few times, allowing each layer to cure for a few days. You can remove surplus, sticky oil with… CCL itself. Just put some on a piece of clean white cloth and wipe it off. If done the right way, a CCL stock treatment needs about a week to cure completely after the final layer. You can speed up the curing by exposing your stock to bright sunlight.

In about 45 years of gun owning I have shot quite a number of japanese built Miroku and Browning shotguns. Although they are good quality guns, they lack the superior handling and balance of the Winchester 101.

I own a ‘new’ one, that was in a gun collection until a few years ago. It is a Supergrade model with ventilated side ribs and raised action panels, so similar to the 6500 and 8500 models, which were the final models in production back in the late eighties. When I bought it it was NIB, and seemed unfired, which can be judged from the jewelling on the barrel flats and face. From the first shot fired, the gun opens without any friction or need to wear in and the top lever is in central position on a closed gun. Even with the forend off, the barrels sit tight in the action, without any play.

True Winchester 101 series shotguns, of which the 6500 was one of the last models, were designed and built to open and close with minimal or no friction at all. So they did not need to wear in. This is completely different from the ‘feeling’ we became used to when handling new Browning and Miroku shotguns. Another feature we forgot about is that the top lever in 101 guns is in central position when closed, even in a new gun. So this position cannot be read as a sign of wear or the action not closing tight. To find out if a Winnie action is loose, just blacken the barrel slot in which the locking plate engages with a black marker. Then open and close the gun a few times. Now you will be able to see how far the locking plate engages in de barrel slot. If the black is only partly removed from the slots, the action is not loose and needs no tightening. By design it is almost impossible for the forend to shoot loose on these guns. Compare a 101 forend to that of a Browning or a Miroku and you will see why.