Make: Winchester Repeating Arms
Model: 1894 Solid Frame Rifle
Serial Number: 56575
Year of Manufacture: 1896 / Antique
Caliber: .30-30 Winchester Center Fire
Action Type: This rifle has a lever action with a full-length tubular magazine.
Barrel Length: 26", Round
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade dovetailed and screw set to the barrel. The rear sight is a v-notch elevator sight, dovetailed and screw set to the barrel. The elevator is smooth and not stepped. The tang is drilled, tapped, and filled for a tang sight, none present.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are 2-piece smooth walnut with capped forend, straight grip, straight comb, and steel crescent buttplate. The stocks display light handling wear with a few scratches, compressions, and nicks scattered about. There is a loss on the top left of the wrist and a repaired loss on the bottom left of the wrist, both at the receiver. The LOP measures 13" from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. Overall, the stocks are in about Very Good condition as refinished antique.
Type of Finish: Blue
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is bright and the rifling is well defined. There is light erosion throughout the bore. In this writer's opinion the bore rates 6/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 15% of its metal finish. The top of the barrel behind the rear sight is marked "BROWNING BROS. CO., SALT LAKE, U.". Most of the rifle, especially the barrel, shows signs of cleaning. Most of the finish is worn to white and taken to a mottled patina. The case color has muted with some faint figuring visible in the protected areas. The markings are clear. Worn areas may have been touched up with cold blue. Overall, this rifle is in about Very Good condition as antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety. The lever safety is functional. The trigger is crisp. We did not fire this rifle. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None.
Our Assessment: John M. Browning’s Model 1894 was engineered as a lighter, stronger sporting rifle capable of handling the new generation of smokeless-powder cartridges, including the .30 W.C.F. introduced in 1895. Browning Brothers of Ogden, Utah, maintained a close commercial relationship with Winchester and operated as one of the company’s authorized repair facilities in the western United States. The placement of this rifle’s Browning Brothers stamp behind the rear sight is significant: unlike markings placed ahead of the rear sight on firearms reportedly received as patent compensation, this location indicates that the rifle passed through the Browning shop for repair or service. That distinction gives this early 1896 Model 1894 a tangible association with the Browning family’s historic Ogden operation.
This antique solid-frame rifle retains about 15% of its original finish, with most of the metal cleaned to a mottled patina and faint case-color figuring surviving in protected areas. The walnut stocks remain in Very Good condition as antique, with scattered handling marks, localized wrist losses, and one repaired area. The bore is bright with well-defined rifling, light erosion, and a 6/10 rating, while the action, half-cock notch, lever safety, and crisp trigger function correctly. Combining an early .30 W.C.F. chambering, classic 26-inch rifle configuration, and a correctly located Browning Brothers repair-shop marking, this is a particularly interesting Winchester for collectors of John M. Browning, western arms history, and early Model 1894 rifles.
