1054

RARE FIRST YEAR PRODUCTION WINCHESTER MODEL 1894 LEVER ACTION RIFLE WITH COLOR CASE HARDENED FRAME.

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
RARE FIRST YEAR PRODUCTION WINCHESTER MODEL 1894 LEVER ACTION RIFLE WITH COLOR CASE HARDENED FRAME.
SN 7984. Cal. 38-55. Standard grade rifle, 2nd type with 26" oct bbl, full magazine, Lyman ivory bead hunting front sight, semi-buckhorn rear sight and Lyman combination tang sight. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain American walnut with straight stock and smooth steel shotgun buttplate. Buttstock is made without a recess under the buttplate and has the assembly number "20" on the rear face with matching number inside the buttplate. Receiver, lever, hammer & forend cap are all color case hardened. Buttplate is blued. Of the several million model 1894 rifles and carbines, only very few were ever special ordered color case hardened and of those, extremely few are identifiable as such today. Most of them have had their colors faded and disappeared. These early '94 rifles have a low survivability rate with any orig finish. They were the working man's tool on horseback or in wagons and buggies which usually caused them to show wear very quickly and today few are found with orig finish. PROVENANCE: Woody Frey Collection. CONDITION: Fine to very fine. Bbl and magazine tube retain about 95% strong, orig blue with only light sharp edge wear and dulling. Receiver retains about 50% orig case colors, strong in sheltered areas, fading and turning silver elsewhere. Hammer retains strong but faded case colors. Lever shows spots of bright color on the sides, faded elsewhere. Wood is sound with nicks, dings & scratches and has a restored finish on the buttstock and a handworn patina on the forearm. Mechanics are stiff otherwise are fine, probably just in need of a good cleaning. Bright shiny bore. 4-48443 JR207