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Century Arms PW-87


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Just don't. 

 

Save some money($600-$800) and find an IAC or save even more money and get a Chiappa($1000-$1200).

 

The PW87 are junk. Lassiter can make them run, but he's about the only one and I believe he'll charge you extra. I've talked to a couple of other 87 Smith's and they won't mess with them at all.

 They don't feed well and eject even worse.

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I have one I bought last fall and it works fine so far.  It’s fun to play with at the range but I won’t use it for competing.  

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I bought one a few years back in the winter.  I would describe it as a collection of crudely cast parts forced together into an assembled kit.  I enjoyed endless hours of polishing,  reshaping parts and twinkling extractor and studying and asking question, watching videos and trying different loads. I finally got got it to actually function some of the time.  I shot it in one match and it was a train wreck every stage. 

 

I offered it for sale at the next match and got my money back.  That guy was tickled pink with it. He shot it in the match right after he bought it and it malfunctioned on him also but it didn't bother him at all.

 

I've looked at a couple of new ones in the local gunshops and they look better fitted than the one I had but still butt ugly. 

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"I would describe it as a collection of crudely cast parts forced together into an assembled kit.  I enjoyed endless hours of polishing,  reshaping parts and twinkling extractor and studying and asking question, watching videos and trying different loads. I finally got got it to actually function some of the time "

 

LOL!

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Take it from someone that shoots an 87 as his main match shotgun,  If you are going to buy an 87 for this game buy it from Lassiter. A properly tuned 87 is an absolute joy to shoot. Those that have glitches will frustrate yo so much you will want to wrap it around a tree.

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1333936151_Winchester1887Sept2018.jpg.900b14e271c825a43bd30642d6b3a5c6.jpg

 

Here is an original 87 Wallhanger that I tinkered with and got it running.   It does its part when I do my part.  It fun to shoot the 87. I shot it in two marches just because it's fun.  I keep slipping back into the notion of getting another 87 to shoot in matches - one that I don't have to back up two steps to move to next station.  This one will only fit on loading table at an angel.  

 

599a26c255358_CoyoteCap1887April2017.jpg.e3b438c5271e076c07121b51bc88ed5c.jpg

 

Here is a Coyote Cap 87 I ran across and was compelled to buy because of price and condition.   Never shot it in a match.  Traided it off quickly.  

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I have a PW87. I had to put many hours into it to get it to work. It would not extract or eject. Most of the time the last shell would hang on the extractors. I have never handled a firearm that is more difficult to get shells into the magazine tube. Mine does not have a load two mod so it is not fast to operate. It makes a great single shot and looks cool in the gun cart next to the Taurus Thunderbolt.

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My 87 was made by some company called "Winchester."   When I got it, it had some problems; it would not feed from the magazine was the biggest problem.

 

Sent it to Coyote Cap and he got it running just about perfect.   Love the fact that it has a 30" barrel.

 

Someone once said to me that the 87 was designed for 2-1/2" shells.  Even though the modern made replicas have 2-3/4" chambers, (and although the chamber on my original has been lengthened) the fellow who told me this said that the rest of the innards were just like the originals, and that the longer modern shells have a tendency to not cycle properly.   For that reason, he told me he only runs 2 and a halfs in his gun, and many of the problems he had when using the longer shells went away.   Don't know how universal this "feature" is to all the reproductions on the market, but it is something to consider.

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18 hours ago, Warden Callaway said:

If a guy could change out the guides to make some kind of tray that one shell could be tossed onto and lever closed, it would be an efficient single shot - provided it ejected reliably.

 

Heh heh.   

 

And like the 97, I believe that stoking on the clock of the magazine should be allowed all the time.  :)

 

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1 hour ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

My 87 was made by some company called "Winchester."   When I got it, it had some problems; it would not feed from the magazine was the biggest problem.

 

Sent it to Coyote Cap and he got it running just about perfect.   Love the fact that it has a 30" barrel.

 

Someone once said to me that the 87 was designed for 2-1/2" shells.  Even though the modern made replicas have 2-3/4" chambers, (and although the chamber on my original has been lengthened) the fellow who told me this said that the rest of the innards were just like the originals, and that the longer modern shells have a tendency to not cycle properly.   For that reason, he told me he only runs 2 and a halfs in his gun, and many of the problems he had when using the longer shells went away.   Don't know how universal this "feature" is to all the reproductions on the market, but it is something to consider.

 

the Chinese reproduction 1887 12 gauges are built to the general dimensions of the original 10 gauge frame. They shoot modern 2 3/4" shells just fine. 

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I bought one several years ago because I thought it looked neat. Feeding and extracting were problematic. I took it apart recently and like Warden Calloway mentioned, I don't think I've ever seen a more crudely finished firearm. I have mine now where it will reliably feed and extract single rounds, and mostly reliably feed/extract 2. I have kept it as a back up for CC and as a novelty. I wouldn't recommend it as much more than that.

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I bought a PW-87 and it worked fine right out of the box.  Sent it to Lassiter for an action job ( I don't think I had to pay extra because it was a PW-87 ) and now it works great.  

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1 minute ago, Jeb Stuart #65654 said:

I bought a PW-87 and it worked fine right out of the box.  Sent it to Lassiter for an action job ( I don't think I had to pay extra because it was a PW-87 ) and now it works great.  

 

You should buy a lottery ticket.

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6 hours ago, Jeb Stuart #65654 said:

I bought a PW-87 and it worked fine right out of the box.  Sent it to Lassiter for an action job ( I don't think I had to pay extra because it was a PW-87 ) and now it works great.  

 

I mentioned earlier that the couple I've handled in gun shops recently seem to function much better than the one I had.  

 

 

This guy has some 10 videos of working on his PW87.  

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As everyone already stated JUNK !

But Yes Lassiter Can Make Them Run .

I made this bad mistake myself .

I could NOT run the gun stock out of the box at all .

Lassiter  can fix it for about as much as your going to pay for the gun itself 

Just sayin 

Rooster 

Screenshot_20180330-211637.thumb.png.3b89b2fe6fb5dfd985ef56e4391a287b.png

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1 minute ago, Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129 said:

How do the Chiappa's work out of the box ???

Do they need a lot of work ??

 

Jabez Cowboy

 

50/50 in my opinion. I had one that ran fine out of the box, the other needed some attention; both fast load versions.

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33 minutes ago, Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129 said:

Thanks Pard :

Any other Thoughts ...

 

Jabez Cowboy

I prefer the IAC. They are a little lighter and handle better for me. They are getting harder to find and therefore the value keeps going up. The IAC need a Lassiter style Load Two* added, unless you are lucky enough to find one already done.

 

I like the Chiappas.

The non Fast Load models really need to go to an 87' smith that can add a Lassiter style Load Two*.

 

The Fast Load models have the Load Two built in though differently than what he and other do to them. You can probably get by with the plain Fast Load model but as usual some polishing and tuning of the extractors really helps. The second one I mentioned earlier had a fatal flaw where the tab under the right extractor was getting pinched behind the carrier and locking the gun up completely; Lassiter made a permanent fix when I sent it to him.

 

In my opinion it really is worth the extra $100 to get the "Fast Load" model; I believe he worked directly with Chiappa to create them.

 

 

*Lassiter's Load Two requires welding on the carrier and machining the lever.

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I had a local shop order in a pw-87 for me. When I went to pick it up I worked the action and the guts fell out on the floor. The shop owner packed it back up and sent it in for a replacement. the second one came in about a week later. It functioned like it should but was rough as all get out on the inside. It cleaned up easily with a couple files and a stone. Not as smooth as a professional smith could make it but it's doable for me. I played with it all winter and enjoyed shooting it but without the drop 2 feature you cant be very competitive with it. But i'm not fast on any level so I just go for the cool factor. I run brass hulls with black powder in mine. So it's sitting with Lassiter now waiting to work his magic on it. He quoted me $250 for the drop 2 feature and clean up the action. So I have $364 out the door. $21 shipping to lassiter. $250 in work. and another $21 return shipping. $656 in it. I'll let you know how it runs when I get it back. 

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