Winchester information, please!
Inherited a Winchester rifle a while back. I know little about lever action guns so would like any information you might have. I will be selling it as I don't need it for anything. It says on the top behind the hammer that it is a Model 1894 Winchester Pat. Aug. 21, 1894. Barrel is round and 20 inch length. It has a crescent shaped metal plate on the end of the stock. The wood has minor scratches and marks on it from being used somewhat but seems to have most of its finish. It has a flip up rear site that has a little bar that can be moved up and down. I took it to a pawn shop and they said it was probably worth a couple hundred dollars. Would $200 be a good price for it? It doesn't have a saddle ring and apparently wasn't made to have one according to the pawn shop person. It has most of the blue color with some of the edges showing some lighter color where it has rubbed off, but it looks really good. There are two little round eyelets on it. One on the front band that holds the front piece of wood on and one attached to the back stock. There is an old leather strip like a shoe lace making a sort of sling attached to the eyes. Gun is about 38 inchs long. The serial number has 5 numbers and starts with 362--. Anything anybody could tell me would help. Thanks.
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WHAT CAL??
I WOULD RATHER BE DUCK HUNTING.0 -
It has 30 W C.F marked on the top of the barrel behind the rear site. What else did I miss? 0 -
Sounds to Me like your Pawn Shop is trying to Hornswaggle You..!
Serial Numbers began at 14760 and ended at 44359 for the 1895 Production Run...Your Gun, Serial number 33755 was produced in 1895...and could be worth $1000.00 or better, as discribed......
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff0 -
Hello Judge, welcome to the forum! The only help I can give you is this website. http://www.oldguns.net There is a column down the side of the site that has manufacturing dates for Winchester. If you click that, it will ask the model, which you said is a model 1894 (94). I made up a ficticious (sp) 5 digit number starting with 362-- and the site said it was made in 1894!! That alone should make the gun worth more than, "a couple hundred bucks"! The pawn shop probably wanted something for nothing. What caliber is the rifle?? I don't know what the value may be, considering it is unseen, but I would definitely take it to someone in your local area who you really trust to be fair on the appraisal. Don't let a buyer set the price or you'll get nothing for it.
Good Luck0 -
I kind of thought maybe I wasn't getting a good deal at that pawn shop. I thank all who has answered so far. I have to get to work now but will check back later. I'm surprised at the age. That's over 100 years old. 0 -
Hello JRB...
A few things about the description of your Model 1894 are bothering me...
Specifically, this sounds like an early Carbine (based on the 20" round barrel and the rear sight)... and if so, it SHOULD be a Saddle Ring Carbine (SRC), and it should NOT have a crescent butt plate.
It is remotely possible that you have a special order "short" rifle (which would be proper with crescent butt plate), however, most of the Rifles (including the "short" rifles) have octagon shaped barrels.
How is the magazine tube attached to the barrel... with a figure 8 shaped band located right in front of the front sight, or with a ring band dovetailed to the bottom of the barrel approx. 3.5" from the muzzle? How is the front sight mounted to the barrel?
At this point, I suspect that you have a "put together" parts gun.
As for the DOM, it is most likely late 1895 (Winchester did not begin producing the Model 1894 in 30 W.C.F. or 25-35 W.C.F. until August of 1895. If you really want to know exactly when it was made, that information can be obtained from the Cody Firearms Museum - http://www.bbhc.org/firearms/index.cfm
Forgot to mention... if this is a "parts" gun, $200 is still a little on the low side. If it turns out to somehow be a legitimate piece, then the value will be significantly higher... depending upon the graded condition.
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
quote:Originally posted by brimickri
Hello Judge, welcome to the forum! The only help I can give you is this website. http://www.oldguns.net There is a column down the side of the site that has manufacturing dates for Winchester. If you click that, it will ask the model, which you said is a model 1894 (94). I made up a ficticious (sp) 5 digit number starting with 362-- and the site said it was made in 1894!! That alone should make the gun worth more than, "a couple hundred bucks"! The pawn shop probably wanted something for nothing. What caliber is the rifle?? I don't know what the value may be, considering it is unseen, but I would definitely take it to someone in your local area who you really trust to be fair on the appraisal. Don't let a buyer set the price or you'll get nothing for it.
Good Luck
I really wish you fellows would stop quoting DOMs from that website[V]. It is terribly inaccurate as it applies to Winchester made firearms, as are the serial number lists published by George Madis (and republished by other authors who did nothing more than copy Madis' less than accurate work). If you want to know what the true DOM is on ANY of the older Winchester Models, you will have to contact the Cody Firearms Museum, as they have all of the original & surviving factory ledgers - http://www.bbhc.org/firearms/index.cfm
I highly recommend to anyone who collects old Winchesters (or has a strong interest in them) to become a member of the Buffalo Bill Historical Society, and as such, you are entitled to free records searches on Winchester, Marlin, and L.C. Smith made firearms.
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
To Bert H.
Could the saddle ring have been taken off? Which side would it be on? There are two screws on the right side that are the same size, about 3/16 inch heads. The left side has a larger screw and a small one like the right side. The big one looks to be slightly more than 1/4 inch in size. Would a saddle ring fit into one of these?
There is a figure 8 band in front of the front site that holds the magazine tube. The front site is a blade like shiny silver piece with sort of a rounded tube shape top part that looks like a bead when you site the rifle. This blade piece is pinned into two square looking ear type pieces that seem to be a part of the barrel.
The only other markings which might mean something is the wording on top of the barrel in front of the rear site. It says in two lines, MANUFACTURED BY THE and then on the second line, it is -- WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO. NEW HAVEN CONN U S A --
On the left side of the barrel just beneath the rear site, there is two lines of letters stating, NICKEL STEEL BARREL on the first line and the second line says, ESPECIALLY FOR SMOKELESS POWDER.
The only other thing is the band that holds the front wood on is about 2 1/4 inchs from the front end of the wood and it has a screw that goes through it from side to side and that screw seems to go between the barrel and the magazine tube. That band has a swivel eye on the bottom where the leather thong is tied to it.
As I said before, I am not very familiar with this type of gun, but it has a rather old look to it when you look at it from either side. I can't see anything else that might help describe it. Thanks for the help everyone.0 -
JRB...
OK, you do indeed have a SRC (that has had the saddle ring & stud removed). The 1/4" screw hole on the left-rear side of the frame is where the saddle ring stud goes.
Does your SRC have a true crescent butt plate like this one - http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=18459728
or does it have a Carbine butt plate like this one - http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=18306767 (note the position of the saddle ring)?
The next thing to tackle is the actual condition of the original finish... I am not saying that this is the case with your SRC, but the vast majortiy of them were well used, and as such generally have very little original remaining bluing on the frame. If your SRC appears to have a lot of bluing left on it, the odds are better than 50% that it has been refinished at sometime in its nearly 100 year life span (which could help explain the missing saddle ring). A refinished Winchester is considered to have 0% finish by serious collectors, and the collector value will be significantly reduced. On the plus side, your SRC is a bonafide "Antique" and as such, it is treated as a non firearm by Federal regulations (it requires no special license to buy, sell, ship, or transfer it... except in a limited few states[:(!]).
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
I looked at these two guns and my gun looks like the second one but doesn't have a saddle ring on mine. The butt of the stock is exactly like mine so I guess that is the carbine type. The wood on my gun is a little more dinged up than on that gun and is slightly darker color, but the metal on mine has a lot more blue color but shows the edges with wear and there are some marks and rubs but it is nicer looking overall than the second gun's picture. Thanks for the help and information. I will take it to a gun show when there is one here and will see if I can get some more information. I don't think I will take it back to that pawn shop. I appreciate everyone's help and thanks again! 0
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