Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Help with 1895 30 Gov't-06

Going to be auctioning some rifles and shotguns for an elderly gentleman and would appreciate establishing a value for some.

This is an 1895 30 GOV'T-06 in very good mechanical shape but with obvious finish loss and handling marks on the wood. I can't see any pitting and no cracks in the wood but it was obviously carried around a lot. It has a nice Redfield receiver sight and comes with an older leather and canvas soft case. Serial number is 4160xx, there is a B on the lower tang.

Google-fu shows the DOM to be 1924 and I was wondering what would be a fair price to ask at auction? I'm not trying to hold out for the last penny we can get from this and want to sell it but want to get him a decent price if I can. I have lots more pictures but just showing the overall condition here.

TIA





The current owner is in his 80's and this was his father's rifle - C. C. Kemp - so that gives an indication of how long he's had it.

A good value for your rifle would be in the range of $1800-$2200.00.

Rifle was not factory d&t for a receiver sight....

If you're going to be auctioning it off, it will find it's own price. Take many high quality detailed pictures, describe it the best you can and run it for a minimum 7 days with the auction ending on a weekend afternoon. If you can get a letter of provenance from the owner as to it's history it might pique some interest, and don't forget the case. If you can stomach it, start it out low with no reserve to get people bidding on it. These aren't scarce and Gunbroker has many that sit there week after week because their starting bid it at the high end or overpriced. Personally I'd say you might get $1300 to $1800 depending if a bidding war breaks out.

Guys if that gun could only talk! What a nice family piece. The sights were added for ' FINE' work.....The Teddy factor makes me think it will bust 2K. That is work gun that has seen some great hunts ,that I am willing to bet. If it were mine I would start it at one penny for 10 days max and let the big dogs eat!! very best WinPoor

Thanks for those tips. I'm guessing this was carried in a saddle scabbard, the worst wear on the wood is near the toe where it is chewed up a bit, like a rifle carried upside down with something bouncing against the exposed stock. Plus the most metal finish wear is on the top front of the receiver, like it was rubbed against leather as it was put in and pulled out of a scabbard.

I just met the owner today, he is a neighbor of a friend at work who recommended that I help him sell off his "old guns". He has some well worn Model 12 shotguns and a Remington 760 but when he pulled this one out my eyes lit up, it's something you can recognize from a long way away. The action is solid, the whole rifle is solid - all milled steel and wood. I was almost tempted to make him an offer on it then and there.

Here are some more pics just for the heck of it.



This is the worst damage to the wood - the rest of the stock and forend maintain the original finish but with the usual knocks and dings.





It has some heavy packing grease on the bolt and areas of the exterior. The moving parts of the action show a little wear but with most of the finish loss on the receiver top/front I'm thinking it was carried many miles in a scabbard. It would be fun to hear about all the places that rifle has been.

What a cool rifle! I hope it finds a good home!

Eric

You're a stronger man than I. I'd be makin him an offer and write down what he remembers about it's history and keep that and the case with it. In accumulating old Winchesters, rarely do you get the opportunity to get a connection with the original owner.

Jim - where/when will the auction be? My folks are out that way.

It will be listed on www.gunbroker.com. I may list it today or maybe next weekend.

One question to the group - as seen in the pics it has some heavy grease on it and there are some little flecks of yellow and red paint, who knows where those came from. I only had a short time to take pictures in front of the owner's house yesterday so I was thinking of bringing it to my house to clean that grease up and get a better look at the bore.

The question would be whether that might hurt any collector interest. I'm guessing not - I sure wouldn't damage the finish or wood but just try to make it a bit more presentable.

I think the extra holes would have more of an impact on the collector interest....

One other thing not mentioned is barrel length.
Longer special order barrels may have a huge impact on collector value.

This is a standard 24" barrel. I'm going to call the fellow today to see if he might write a letter about whatever history of the rifle he might know - when his father bought it, where, where he lived and hunted, was his father the only owner and so forth, and sign and hopefully notarize it. If you guys can think of anything else of interest to put in the letter I'm all ears.

It will. The only add-ons that don't seem to hurt their value much is the Lyman 21/38, mostly because it was also a factory option.

Cleaning the grease and paint flecks off won't hurt anything

Just talked to the owner again and brought the firearms back home to clean up, check out the bores and such. The owner will write a notarized letter for this Model 95 stating his father owned it. They lived in Spokane, WA and North Idaho and he used it to hunt in Canada in the 1940's where he took an elk, a moose and a mountain goat.

My percentage for handling his gun sales will probably come to a whopping $8-$10 an hour for my time and effort but I'm having a great time with these old firearms. Researching them, cleaning and handling them and hearing about their history is all pretty neat.

As regards the condition of your rifle's receiver, the bluing process that Winchester used during the time your rifle was manufactured was not known to hold up very well. It would do what Winchester collectors call flake off, judging from the condition of the rest of your rifle I would say this is the reason why a lot of the receiver has a patina finish rather than the same blue the barrel has. I have owned several M/95's over the years and it is an exception to find one with a high percentage of blue on the receiver. I agree with what tmitch says regarding the Lyman 21/38 (climbin Lyman) sight, however don't let anyone beat you up about the Redfield sight. While it did require two tapped holes to be drilled, the 21/38 required a hole to be drilled to mount it. There are collectors out there that do not look down there noses at the addition of a vintage sight. After all it was a hunting rifle, the addition of the receiver sight improved the sight radius making the rifle easier to shoot accurately more so than with the barrel mounted sight.