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Early Winchester 1894 optional sights

Douglas1911
I bought a '94 yesterday with serial 114,164 (1898). I was wondering if the sights were original, or correct for that period and what they are exactly. Tang sight is marked "Marble Gladstone Mich." I was wondering if the "V" in the rear fold down sight had been modified as well.

Should be able to see four pictures here.
Thanks
http://img687.imageshack.us/i/dscn0111kn.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/i/tmp5120.jpg
http://img714.imageshack.us/i/dscn0110i.jpg
http://img190.imageshack.us/i/dscn0109i.jpg
dscn0109i.jpg
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Comments

4 comments

Date Votes
  • drl50
    The Tang sight is a "Marbles Automatic Flexible Joint Rear Sight". For this rifle it is probably stamped W1 or W2 on the underside depending on caliber.
    The folding rear looks like a Lyman No. 6 Folding Leaf sight which is period correct and was offered by Winchester as an option for that gun.
    The front sight is more difficult to narrow down but looks like it too, could be a Lyman ivory bead hunting sight. Lyman did offer them that early. I am not entirely sure that this one was designed for the 1894 as it looks a little wide and it does have peening marks.That is not serious though as you can freely replace it inexpensively with a period correct front sight if that is the case. The rear sights are good on that rifle and considered collectable in themselves. They add legitimate value to the rifle.
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  • Bert H.
    For starters, your Model 1894 Sporting Rifle was manufactured in May of 1901 versus 1898. If you want to know the exact date, contact the Cody Firearms Musuem research office and for a nominal fee they can provide you with a factory letter for that rifle.

    The front sight is a Lyman No. 3 ivory bead, the barrel mounted rear sight is a No. 6. The Marbles tang sight is very unlikely to be original to that rifle. More than likely it originally had a Lyman No. 1 or No. 2 tang sight on it that has since been hi-graded. The factory letter should provide the answer.

    Overall it is a nice looking old Model 1894 Sporting Rifle.
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  • the yooper
    That's a nice rifle! The half round barrel is pretty rare, especially combined with the full length mag. With special order features, the sights could well be factory. If you're interested, it's in the proper SN range to get a factory letter from Cody which would possibly tell you if the sights were original.
    yooper
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  • Douglas1911
    Thanks for the information guys. Those are the specifics I was looking for.

    Thanks Yooper, I was at the Allentown Gun Show yesterday and spotted a guy trying to sell it to one of the dealers. When he walked away with the gun, I approached him and bought it. Lucky I got there first because some other guys had the same idea. He said he had 30 of his grandfather's guns to sell, so I'll be giving him a call.
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