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platinum front site model 1894

rosie1
is it possible the front site on my model 1894 is a platinum inlay this gun was made in 1906
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7 comments

Date Votes
  • Bill DeShivs
    More likely, the sight is nickel silver.
    If the part in question is an inlaid band in the sight, it is probably white gold.
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  • Bert H.
    If your Model 1894 has a blued Rocky Mountain front sight, the vertical band in the front of the sight is platinum. The Winchester 3-leaf Express rear sights also used platinum inserts, as did several other sights. I disagree with the statement that "it is probably white gold". The sight listings in the original catalogs stated that the inlayed bands were platinum.

    This is a Rocky Mountain front sight with a platinum band insert...
    RockyMountainfront70597.jpeg

    This is a 3-leaf Express rear sight with platinum inserts...
    WinchesterExpressrear.jpeg
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  • Bill DeShivs
    Not being too familiar with older Winchesters, I didn't know that!
    My assumption was based on the fact that white gold is easier to inlay.
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  • perry shooter
    WOW thanks Bert another not so well known fact.
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  • Old-Colts
    Interesting, I've never seen one of the Rocky Mountain sights with the inlay at the rear edge!!

    I have owned several early 1894 rifles with the platinum lined 3-leaf express sight though.
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by Old-Colts
    Interesting, I've never seen one of the Rocky Mountain sights with the inlay at the rear edge!!

    I have owned several early 1894 rifles with the platinum lined 3-leaf express sight though.


    That is really odd... every single one of them I have seen (and own) on a Model 1885 with the blued steel blade has had the platinum insert. The Rocky Mountain front sight was the standard sight used on the centerfire high-wall rifles, but was a special order on the lever-action models. The blades can also be found in German silver, copper, brass, and ivory. Only those that were made of blued steel have the platinum insert.
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  • Old-Colts
    quote:Originally posted by Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by Old-Colts
    Interesting, I've never seen one of the Rocky Mountain sights with the inlay at the rear edge!!

    I have owned several early 1894 rifles with the platinum lined 3-leaf express sight though.That is really odd... every single one of them I have seen (and own) on a Model 1885 with the blued steel blade has had the platinum insert. The Rocky Mountain front sight was the standard sight used on the centerfire high-wall rifles, but was a special order on the lever-action models. The blades can also be found in German silver, copper, brass, and ivory. Only those that were made of blued steel have the platinum insert.Bert, I think that's the key! The 1885 wasn't my collecting preference, so I rarely examined them when I found one, and it sounds like the blued sights might have been more common to them. As I recall, most of the Rocky Mountain sights that I've encountered had what I remember as a silver or brass blade.
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