Make: Winchester Repeating Arms

Model: 1894 

Serial Number: 408892

Year of Manufacture: 1907

Caliber: .30-30 Winchester Center Fire (WCF)

Action Type: Takedown Lever Action Rifle with a full-length tubular magazine.

Barrel Length: 26” Octagon

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a brass bead dovetailed to the barrel. The rear sight is a “U”-notch semi-buckhorn elevator sight dovetailed to the rear of the barrel. The top tang is drilled, tapped, and filled. 

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece smooth walnut with a capped forend, straight grip and comb, and a smooth steel crescent buttplate. The stocks have scattered compression marks. There are no chips or cracks. The LOP measures 13 1/8” from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The buttplate has worn to white with scattered wear and light surface oxidation. Overall, the stocks rate in about Fine Plus Condition.

Type of Finish: Blued, with a Case-hardened lever, hammer, and buttplate.

Finish Originality: Original

Bore Condition: The bore is mostly bright and the rifling is sharp. There is minor erosion throughout the bore. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates 7/10.

Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 90% of its metal finish. There is some thinning on the edges of the receiver and barrel. Most of the case color has muted but is visible in the protected areas. The barrel has generally strong finish with a few light scratches and scuffs. There are light scratches on the receiver, and there’s surface oxidation. Most of the finish loss is on the top of the bolt. The screw heads are sharp. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle is in Fine Condition.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety. The rifle is equipped with a lever safety, which is operational. The lever lock-ups properly and the trigger is crisp. We did not fire this rifle. As with all previously owned firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None 

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 Winchester Center Fire 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 relates in his reference book “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 Winchester Model 1894 Lever Action Rifle in .30 WCF was made in 1907 and is in Fine Condition. It features a 26” octagonal barrel, 90% of its original blued finish (most of the case coloring on the lever, hammer, and crescent buttplate have muted, but still remains visible in protected areas), elegant two-piece smooth walnut stocks with a beautiful grain (really a step up from standard grade walnut), and a mostly bright bore with sharp rifling (there’s minor erosion throughout), and is a scarce takedown model. .30-30 WCF is one of, if not the most popular deer hunting cartridges in America. This is a wonderful old Model 1894 Rifle, and would be a fine addition to any Winchester collection.