Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors 1926 1894

Probably 20 years or so ago, my wonderful non-shooting brother in law inherited three Winchesters from his grandfather. The grandfather lived in Minneapolis, worked for NSP all his life. At his death he had a M12, a M61 which is pretty cool, and an 1894 in .30WCF with pistol grip/shotgun butt, octagon barrel, half magazine and a tang sight, which is pretty nifty. I remarked at the time how special that gun was. I could just see the old guy back in his youth sitting on a stump somewhere north of Chisholm in a red and black mackinaw waiting for a buck to walk by.

Flash forward to this weekend, my in laws are downsizing and moving, and we stopped to check on them. He comes out with the rifle and says essentially "this isn't a big deal to me but I remember that it was to you, so here you go." I think I'll plan to be the care taker until his baby grandson is old enough to have it, if he wants it.

Anyway I'll put some pics up soon. Its in great original shape, the receiver is silvered but the barrel is quite blue still. Wood is fantastic. There's some kind of aftermarket but period correct front sight, and there's a plate mounted on the receiver for a scope. I think I'll take that off and take it up to the range.

That's a nice score, can't wait to see pics.

Awesome! Waiting for pictures.

It’s always great to hear this outcome.
Looking forward to the pictures.

BKinSD: Good for you on that acquisition.
Enjoy.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

When is "Soon"?

I purchased this Model 55 Winchester in 30wcf this summer. It is a 1927 model. I am pretty pleased because I knew the chief who hunted with it when I was young.

Bring it back up here and sit on a stump with it!

What are the hole and the slot on the barrel underside for?

It appears as though the gun originally had a full length magazine tube under its barrel that was later swapped for a shorter one. The hole and dovetail would receive the screw and tube ring that secured the longer magazine’s muzzle end to the underside of the barrel. Similar to this photo:


Regardless, very neat rifle and even better story!

That looks like a Model 64 with a non-original barrel.

Interesting gun for sure. I never met the owner. So I don't know for sure how he obtained and used it.

It doesn't serial number into the M64 range, its several years too early for that.

Darn, now I have to learn more about Winchesters...I just hate when that happens!

Yes, it is early for the M64 range, but that pistol grip and butt plate are M64. Where are you checking the guns s/n?

IDK it says 990xxx on the bottom of the receiver. That makes it years ahead of the M64. I'm ruling that out.

FYI I'm looking at my Winchester collector calendar on the wall which November page shows an SRC with a pistol grip but curved buttplate and a S/N in the 400,000 range.

I’m inclined to agree with pokonojack. I would guess it’s a 1926 M94 barreled receiver combined with 64 parts (stock, lower tang, lever & maybe mag tube). Not to denigrate it, the value is in the family provenance which outweighs anything else. Cherish it for that and maybe (hopefully) it can be passed to another generation.

The front sight, looks like a Beechs sight, spelling may be wrong!

Would it be rude of me to suggest, like so many guns pushing a hundred years old, more than enough time to 'mix 'n match'? Proportionate to age, guns seem to fall heir to such machinations. Typically most such were decades ago performed and with intent simply to adapt them to needs or as repairs to shooter status achieved. Just pointed at making a rifle more functional!

Just my 'heads up to possibilities' input!
Best!
Ju=ohn

Thanks for the pix! Interesting rifle!
Best!
John

So... The consensus is maybe... perhaps... Not original?

Good Luck!
John