Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Winchester Model 54 30 WCF

Anybody have one of these? How do you like it? How much would you expect to pay for one that has some honest use, but in good, original condition, maybe with an aftermarket peep site installed.

There is one in a local gun shop. He want $1k for it; real worth is $850 +/-. The rear original sight is missing and it has a Lyman peep. Otherwise it is about 90-95% NRA.

My 'smith just picked one up. Talk about "old school cool"! I'd love one, myself.

I had one many,many years ago....very cool old rifle and chambering

[img]<a href="http://s1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa448/M1jhartman/?action=view&current=Model54002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa448/M1jhartman/Model54002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/img]

First time posting pictures...

Well, it oughta be easier on the ears than most stuff we use.....

That is a sweet old rifle! I had one in 30-06. Wish I still had it.

very cool old classic.

The one in our local gunshop just moved yesterday for full price, $1K.

The late Bearrr264 had a Winchester 54 30-30 that was converted to 30-40 Krag by G&H sometime pre-WW2 that was a pretty neat rifle. I never got to fire it, but it was 1 of Dave's favorites and was kitted out with a G&H stock, side-mount, and Lyman Alaskan, put a Lyman #48 receiver sight as an auxillary. The stock had a trapdoor buttplate with space to store the upper half of the receiver sight with the scope was mounted. IIRC, G&H reworked this rifle for Howard Palmer, who was either the president or chairman of the board of the New Haven Rail Road. I wonder where it is today?

JEff

Interesting

See 06 and 270 every now and then. 30-30 hardly ever,
according to Rules book on the M70 a small run of 54s were made
in 32 Special.

The oddest factory specs Winchester 54s that I have seen have been chambered in 7x57, 7.65x53, and 8x57.

JEff

I handled on in 250-3000 many years ago, it was beat to
death and priced high.

When I traded my Father's pre-'64 Winchester collection to Bearrr264, it includes 4 different, minty, 54s in 250-3000. The only 54s that I have seen outside of that collection have been beat, not original, and prices at least 3 to 5 times what I would ever consider paying for them.

JEff

Saw a source once that also said there was several uncataloged runs of the Model 54 in 25, 30, 32 and 35 Remington...

that is a cool rifle.. don't know if I would pay a grand for it...

what I should do is just have one of my Model 70s barreled for one, since I do switch barrels now on a couple of them...

not as cool as vintage... but a lot cheaper also...

I don't believe that any Winchester 54s were ever chambered in 25, 30, 32, or 35 Remington. There were a limited number of Winchester 70s were made in 35 Remington, but it was a cataloged offering, just not a popular cataloged offering. There were 3 NIB 70s in 35 Rem, 2 rifles and 1 carbine, in my Father's collection that went to Bearrr264.

JEff

Being a history buff, I would hate to wash away the stories of the past with a rebarrel or somehting of that nature. I view these weapons as more than just weapons. And on top of that, they just don't make em like they used to and this rifle will keep my interest and it's mystique for much longer than say a run of the mill 700.

Also, if you take a rifle and swapped, provided you arent' doing your own gunsmithing, won't you probably spend a K on that whole deal, at least?

At the end of the day, I check out this shop somewhat regularly and had never noticed this rifle before, so I came to the conclusion that it hadn't been there too long. All it would have taken was a someone a little nuttier about old Winchesters than me, and that rifle would have been gone. So I bought it, and if I ever needed to, I think I could get my money back out of it. So, I think the price was fair.

And one great feature is the box magazine. You can load spitzers in the 30-30 and not just flat point bullets for better longer range performance!