Make: Winchester Repeating Arms
Model: 1892 Rifle
Serial Number: 54080
Year of Manufacture: 1896, Antique
Caliber: .38-40 W.C.F.
Action Type: Lever Action, Full-Length Tubular Magazine Fed
Barrel Length: 24" Nominal, 24 1/4" Measured, Octagonal
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade dovetailed and screw set to the barrel. The rear sight is a V-notch elevator semi-buckhorn sight dovetailed to the barrel; the notch is fine-adjustable for elevation. The tang is drilled, tapped, and filled for a tang sight, none present.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two piece wood with straight grip, straight comb, crescent buttplate, and capped forend. There are scattered scratches, nicks, and compressions. There is a filled sling stud hole in the belly of the buttstock. The bottom of the nosecap shows a nicely repaired sling stud hole that has been finished over. There are no chips or cracks. The LOP measures 12 3/4" from the front of the trigger to the rear of the buttplate. The case hardened buttplate has some remaining figuring with muting around the edges and intermittent oxidation. Overall, the stocks rate in Excellent condition as refinished Antique.
Type of Finish: Blued, Case Color Hammer, Lever, and Buttplate
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is bright and the rifling is sharp. There is no erosion in the bore outside of some faintly present in the muzzle. In this writer's opinion the bore rates 9/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 87% of its metal finish. The balance of the finish is surprisingly strong. All parts retain a high amount of their original finish. There is gentle muting on the cased parts, but there is strong and vibrant figuring present, especially in the protected areas. There are a few minor handling marks and minor operational wear. The fire blue on the loading plate is strong. Most of the finish loss is isolated to the upper tang and bottom of the lever. There is thinning on the leading edges and some minor scattered finish loss on the right side of the receiver. There is minor intermittent oxidation. The screw heads range from sharp to tool marked with usable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle is in Excellent condition as Antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety position. 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: This rifle includes a factory letter confirming its configuration, a received in warehouse date of February 1, 1896, and a shipped from warehouse date of August 18, 1896. Order number 16298.
Our Assessment: John M. Browning designed the Winchester Model 1892 as a compact, lighter counterpart to his formidable Model 1886 and as Winchester’s modern replacement for the Model 1873. Chambered for the familiar revolver-length cartridges of the frontier era, the Model 1892 combined dual vertical locking blocks with a remarkably smooth, fast-handling action and became one of Winchester’s most successful and recognizable lever rifles. This antique .38 W.C.F. example has the quintessential sporting-rifle configuration: a 24" octagonal barrel, full-length magazine, straight-grip walnut stocks, crescent buttplate, and early case-colored furniture. Its accompanying factory letter confirms the configuration and records its receipt in the warehouse on February 1, 1896, and shipment on August 18, 1896, under order number 16298. Winchester factory records are available for this serial range, making the letter an especially meaningful component of the rifle’s provenance.
What elevates this rifle well beyond the typical surviving Model 1892 is its exceptional state of preservation. It retains about 87% of its original metal finish, including strong barrel and receiver blue, vivid case-color figuring on the hammer, lever, and buttplate, and substantial fire blue on the loading gate—finishes that are particularly vulnerable to more than a century of handling and use. The stocks remain in Excellent condition, the bright bore has sharp rifling without erosion and rates 9/10, and the action functions correctly with a crisp trigger. The filled sling-stud holes and limited localized finish loss are minor considerations against an otherwise outstanding, factory-documented antique Winchester. Early Model 1892 rifles are inherently desirable, but an original 1896 octagon-barreled .38 W.C.F. retaining this degree of finish and case color is the kind of rifle around which a serious Winchester collection is built.
