Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Special order M1892 .44/40 SRC

Here's one I've been custodian of for a good while. I am grateful to the past custodians who have also cared for it and not altered it in any way. It shows mellow use and I'm sure it has a few stories to tell. The bore is in excellent plus shape - a good indicator of how well it has been cared for. M1892's with special order features (i.e. 2/3 magazine) are not real common and this feature adds to aesthetics for me. I think if I were ordering this rifle over 100 years ago I would have ordered it with this length magazine.

I like Winchester's in this condition - nice but I'm not frightened to take it out of the safe.

Very nice, by geez, that's damn near as pretty as anything I've seen here.

Interesting '92 boltman. Have you had it lettered to confirm its special order status? I'm not inferring it isn't, but with all the put together '92s I've seen it would increase it's sell-ability and value if it were verified.

boltman

Thank you for posting this gun and the write up. It looks like a nice 1892. I mostly read the Savage forum but today I've read a lot of interesting posts on this one.

The most desirable old guns to me are those that were used, but well taken care of. I look at your gun and see the wood isn't beat up. It also has a really good bore. Some other things I like to see on a gun are clean screw heads and barrel dovetails and sights that aren't hammered on. My favorite guns meet all those simple criteria. Caliber or this or that special option aren't as important to me as those basics.

One of the 1894 rifles I have came out of southern MN. Octagon barrel and rifle butt. 30 WCF. It has the normal carry wear on the receiver and a bit of the original wood finish is worn off too. The bore is great. I like to think some farmer carried it for many years deer hunting. Maybe he was one of those guys who got his deer every year; one of the guys I used to hear about who didn't fire off a lot of shots, but when he shot there was always a dead deer laying there. And when he brought the gun back home he took care of it. Those are the hard guns to find in my book. Thanks for posting a picture of one of them.

The serial is after 380,000... so like nearly two-thirds of the Model 92's out there, there is no factory ledger information available. On this one, the only special order feature is the 2/3 magazine. Had it been altered (i.e. from full magazine), there would be signs of this on the barrel. The finish wear also "adds up" so I don't think anyone looking at it would have concern that it wasn't shipped this way.

I have seen a lot of put together 92's and 94's.

Brad - thanks for the compliment on my carbine. During the near 11 years I have been on the campfire, I have primarily hung out on the Savage forum.

That .30 WCF you describe - the original owner probably got a deer every year but was also likely able to make a box of cartridges last 20 years

I agree with what you like in rifles. For me, dings in the metal (and sometimes the wood) in the area of the rear sight is a turn-off.

I also collect Marlin levers. One of the blasted problems with the (rare) take-down variation is so many are dinged up on the underside of the receive near the take-down lever I have passed on many of these for that factor alone.

What a gorgeous '92! You seldom see them with that amount of finish. Like you, I love the short-mag versions. They carry and point SOOOO nice and just look amazing IMHO. I was going to try for a "Grand Slam" (short mag '94's in each caliber) until I got looking at what 32-40's were going for! Here's my '94's. They're clean honest guns but without the condition of yours.



yooper

Yooper - good to hear from a kindred soul. Here is a pair of .32 spl. carbines. Magazine's are not as short as yours, one being 2/3 and the other 3/4. By the way, I really enjoy special order features on SRC's. Checkered pistol grip stocks fit that desire for me Oh, and the Lyman long receiver sight is also a favorite.

This is like "show'n'tell"! Neat. I wish I could invite you over to see the rest of the herd.



I also wish I had good photo's like yours. This one is in 38-55. It's too "new" to letter, but I haven't lettered many anyway due to the cost. Most are plain-jane's.
yooper

Wow - any .38/55 in a carbine is neat - rare to see one with pistol grip stock and of course, it has that sight I like - a lot. Very neat piece. Love the original swivels. Looks like a heck of a deep woods deer killer.

I love the look of the 2/3 magazine also. Just out of curiosity, how many rounds does the magazine hold. I'm also curious on how the magazine is held in place.