Make: Winchester

Model: 1894 Deluxe Takedown Rifle

Serial Number: 134685

Year of Manufacture: 1898 (Winchester Serial Lookup pg. 9)

Caliber: .25-35 Winchester Center Fire (WCF)

Action Type: Lever Action Rifle with Side Loading Gate fed by Half-Length Tubular Magazine

Barrel Length: 26” Half Octagonal, Half Round

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade dovetailed to the barrel above the muzzle. The rear sight is a V-notch with flip-ups for different distances integral to a mount dovetailed to the top rear of the barrel.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece checkered walnut featuring a nose cap, a capped semi-pistol grip, a straight comb, and a curved metal buttplate. The wood shows light nicks, scratches, and compressions, as well as some minor handling and storage marks. There are some patches of darkening from age. The checkering is distinct with a few scattered defects. The LOP measures 13” from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The buttplate has significant finish wear and some mottled discoloration. The stocks are in Very Good overall condition.

Type of Finish: Blue

Finish Originality: Original

Bore Condition: The bore is gray and the rifling is well-defined. There is stubborn fouling and mild erosion in the bore. In this writer’s opinion, this bore rates an 8 or 9 out of 10.

Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 85% of its metal finish. The balance of the finish shows thinning and wear with some corresponding patina and surface oxidation forming. There are scattered nicks, scratches, and handling marks. The screw heads are sharp. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle is in Very Good condition.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety and the lever safety functions properly. We have not fired this rifle. As with all previously owned firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This rifle comes with a letter from the Cody Firearms Museum confirming this rifle’s configuration and original shipment date from the warehouse in December 1901.

Our Assessment: The Model 1894 was another Winchester lever action rifle designed by gunmaking genius John Moses Browning, and it became one of the most famous and popular hunting rifles of all time. It was the first commercial sporting rifle to sell over 7 million units, and was also the first commercial American repeating rifle built to be used with smokeless powder. It was introduced in 1894 in two black powder cartridges, the .32-40 and .38-55 Win. rounds, but by August 1895 Winchester had developed a different steel composition that could handle higher pressures, and the .25-35 and .30-30 WCF chamberings were introduced. As R.L. Wilson relays in his excellent reference work “Winchester An American Legend”, Winchester’s announcement of the Model 1894 in their November 1894 catalog certainly proved prophetic: “We believe that no repeating rifle system ever made will appeal to the eye and understanding of the riflemen as this will and that use will continue to warrant first impressions.”

This Antique Winchester Model 1894 Takedown Lever Action Rifle was made in 1898, and features deluxe checkered stocks with a pistol grip and half-length magazine tube, as well as a 26” half octagonal, half round barrel chambered in .25-35 Winchester. The metal has a wonderful patina, the checkering is still well defined, the grain is exceptional, and there are still areas of bluing. Additionally, the underside of the receiver is stamped in small font with the initials “H.A.M.” for noted Winchester collector Harold Argile McCallum (AKA Winchester Man). This deluxe takedown Model 1894 would add its luster into any Winchester collection.