Its often been a curiosity of mine when I see Winchesters bearing a ranch brand.  They may occur on other models but most I have seen are on 1873 or 1876 models, maybe an 1885, not so much so on the other later models.  When it comes to branding irons, the earlier branding irons were much larger than what we find today.  The livestock branding here in the States was borrowed from our Spanish/Mexican neighbors to the south, and also by way of European influences.  The Spanish were notorious for using large sized brands on their cattle herds.  Regardless of where they came from they were meant to show “ownership” of the item on which they are found.  As cattle hides became worth more for the leather, cattle brands trended to become smaller, taking up a smaller portion of the cattle hide.  Back then, as they are today, most cattle are branded on the hip to give you more usable hide, the meat packers dont like cattle branded on the side, like our “fire brand” across the left rib area, because that is a particular pricey leather cut and it limits what you can do with that portion of the cattle hide.  

I dont know how many of you have ever tried to brand the wood stock on your rifle or carbine but there isnt really a lot of real estate on that wood to get the job done with modern branding irons, at least our ranch’s fire brand.  Our cattle brand measures 4″ tall by 4.5″ wide.  Some ranch brands out there are a tad smaller.  When I decided to brand the 1894 carbine I use for hunting and just all around truck gun, I found there was no way to fit that cattle brand on one side of the stock–so I branded half of the “fire brand” on the right side and the other half on the left.  It reads as a “3” and a “reversed tumbling 3” the best I can tell insofar as its reading or interpretation.  I have no idea how it was derived other than finding doodles in my dads note pad from college back in the late 1950’s.  Maybe it was my grandfathers brand as well–he was a cattleman but I never got to know him past my age of 7 years. 

This got me to thinking about the Winchesters we see with a brand burned into their stocks.  They seem to fit the wood size-wise fairly well (as in the 1876 featured in the Fall 2014 WACA magazine–that brand was likely 3’x 3 1/2″ in size).  So, I got to thinking about the different scenarios that could explain the features of the branding irons used to mark the ownership of these branded Winchesters:

• The ranch brand was small enough to fit within the limits of the buttstock wood.
• The ranch brand used was one that would have been used on smaller stock–when you brand, with a smaller sized branding iron, say on a calf, that branding scar will grow as the beef grows.  You wouldnt want to use a large cattle brand on a small calf because the brand scar will grow and potentially become illegible as an adult beef.  So maybe they were intended for smaller stock.  
• Branded Winchesters may have been branded with a smaller iron used to mark the ownership of saddles, tack, wood buckets, whatever the case, to keep them from walking off at the owners expense.  Maybe a ranch brand was made up to put your mark on everything you had so there was no question regarding who it belonged.
•   Also, ever notice that branded Winchesters give you an idea of how they were carried.  Most cattle are traditionally branded on the left side, could be why many branded Winchesters you see are branded on the left side.  Some are branded where legible when viewed rightside up–maybe when viewed riding across the saddle horn or just possibly the product of human nature in terms of orientation.  Or, notice the ones that have the brand burned into the wood upside down–so the brand was viewed as rightside up on the buttstock when rifle or carbine was otherwise carried in the saddle scabbard upside down–and the brand visible to all?     

Branded Winchesters have always been a curiosity to me, and I guess they could carry a little premium when one is able to connect an old Winchester with its past.  Was just wondering if you folks had any thoughts on the subject–or to maybe give you something to ponder.