I have an early sn 3396xx Winchester M92 .25-20 that seems shorter than the M92's that I've seen in the collector rooms at Cabela's. That 21 3/4" barrel is measured from the front of the receiver with a 40" oal from a steel crescent butt plate. Do I have a special shortened version or was grandpa really good with a hacksaw? The magazine tube is pinned to the barrel with a steel band and the tube itself is about 1/2" shorter than the length of the barrel. The front sight is dovetailed into the barrel and the rear buckhorn sight is correct for the period. If that barrel length is not correct, grandpa went to a lot of trouble to dovetail in that front sight. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

if it's grandpa's gun it wouldn't matter to me, I got my dads 94 Winchester in 25/35 that had a bad chamber it was 26'' barrel but to correct, it we set the barrel back and cleaned up chamber. then to make it more of a hunting rifle I had my brother who is a machinist shorten the barrel to 21.5'' long and did half octagon and round couture barrel, also added a saddle ring to it. one of my boys or a grandson will get it and if they don't want it it will go to my brother who did the work. i guess what I'm saying is enjoy it for what it is, it has history.

One can get a factory letter for a M92 with that serial#....

I could go that route I guess, but I figured that you guys might know too. Do those letters come direct through Winchester or do they come from the Cody Firearms Museum? Actually the rifle belonged to my step dad's father, so it does not have any sentimental value to me there as they are both gone now. I don't think that a .25-20 is very useful as a cartridge to begin with. Oh it is fun to shoot, but then lots of rifles are.

I was just looking around on the Internet and it seems that what I have might be a 1892 Sporting Rifle. By the serial number it looks like it was made in 1905. The barrel length when measured from the back of the barrel with the action open is now 22 1/2". There is no saddle ring and the magazine tube is 1/4" short of the barrel end. There is no full around the barrel band, just the magazine pinned on to the bottom of the barrel. Do you think what I have is all original?

No, if I'm visualizing what you're describing correctly, your rifle originally had a longer barrel that has been cut off. All sporting rifles would have the magazine hanger. Your rifle was probably a 26 inch barrel gun and the barrel was probably cut just in front of where the magazine hanger would have been. If you carefully examine the underside of the barrel, there might be some sign of where the hanger used to be.

The letter info comes from the Cody Firearms Museum. Unless there is something special about the gun, I don't know that I would invest in a letter. But, if you know anyone that is a member or the Museum, they can request the info and receive it in a fax or email.

Looking around some more on the net, it appears like I might have an octagon take down model. There is a screw slot at the end of the magazine tube. All those take down M1892's have that pinned magazine support instead of the around the barrel band. If it is a take down, it might be more rare than I thought.

It is pretty easy to determine if it is a takedown. Compare the receiver to one of the takedowns on Gunbroker. The takedown extension directly forward of the receiver should be obvious. Small caliber 92 takedowns are more valuable than solid frame guns but they are not necessarily rare or highly valuable. If you'd like, if you email me some photos and I can give you a better idea of what you've got. But, it is HIGHLY unlikely that it came from Winchester without a magazine tube hanger.