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Would be interested in knowing what options some collectors prefer over others. My guns have options like pistol grip, shotgun butt, takedown, but inquisitive to see what others value more, or what is more valuable.
I’m also wondering does a 3 digit ser # model 1894 have more value than a 4 digit with take down, all other things equal.
AG
I’m fond of options or features that might be standard, but rarish. I particularly like those that deal with sights.
James
Thank you for replying James. I like sight options as well.
AG
Online
AG, I like full octagon barrels, full magazine, and crescent butt in rifles. Set trigger, case frames, takedown, pistol grip, fancy wood, checkered, tang sights, and Beach or windage front sights are all pluses. Factory engraved, gold or silver plating, heavy, long,or short barrels, and big calibers. Thing that I do not like (negative to value) round barrel, short magazine, shotgun butt, gum wood, nickel plating and small calibers in guns that they made with big calibers. I think other collectors feel the same and is reflected in the value of these guns. When a gun dealer tells me how rare this gun is because it has three special features, tapered round barrel, button magazine, and shotgun butt, I just roll my eyes. T/R
TR said
Thing that I do not like (negative to value) round barrel, short magazine, shotgun butt, gum wood, nickel plating and small calibers in guns that they made with big calibers.
Nobody likes gum wood, & few like nickel, but I’d pay extra for a (so-called) shotgun butt, even though the name itself is utterly stupid, because it’s the same kind of buttplate always applied to military muskets & rifles since the days of flintlocks. Special ordering one is the single MOST intelligent choice a gun buyer could have made.
Clarence,
There are collectors out there like you that like a shotgun butt but at least in the early Winchesters levers you are in the minority. I have been told this by collectors since I got into collecting and I found it first hand when I tried to sell them. A crescent butt will out sell a shotgun butt all else being equal. There are just more buyer for them. I just wish it was the other way around so I could buy the crescent butt guns at a discount.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Appreciate the info Bob. I’ve heard several collectors say they like the crescent, even tho they aren’t as comfortable to shoot as a shotgun butt, imo.
I have 5 crescent & 5 shotgun butt model 1894’s, all pre 1900. I’m not a seller, …….yet, but you’re probably right about crescent being wanted more than shotgun.
AG
1873man said
A crescent butt will out sell a shotgun butt all else being equal.
Bob,
That I don’t dispute. But the unreasonableness of that valuation is hard for me to swallow.
Henry, 66, 73, 86, 92, 94 (don’t like 76s or 95s), octagon barrel, full magazine, crescent butt, the darker the wood, the better (no gloss), the darker the patina, the better. I don’t mind some dings in the wood. I don’t mind “character” or period repairs that are pleasing to my subjective eye (copper or brass wire wraps, etc.). I like a standard or longer barrel.
The only thing I like that runs counter to all of that is a saddle ring. 
On that point, has anyone ever heard of Winchester putting a saddle ring on a rifle?
(I put one on my Uberti 66 short rifle because, well, because I felt like it! It’s also my user/saddle gun.)
Thanks to those for replying so far. Keep them coming. Like hearing everyone’s take on what they like or feel is most important.
AG
Huck Riley said
(I put one on my Uberti 66 short rifle because, well, because I felt like it! It’s also my user/saddle gun.)
So when carrying it on horseback, do you use the ring for the purpose it was originally installed on cavalry carbines, to be attached to a shoulder strap with a swivel?
I prefer long and short barrel rifles, and heavy barrel rifles. Unchecked pistol grip semi-deluxes with crescent butt. Half octagon barrels with full magazines, and full octagon with button magazine. Larger calibers definitely preferred. For utility, sling eyes are a major plus, especially on carbines.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
clarence said
So when carrying it on horseback, do you use the ring for the purpose it was originally installed on cavalry carbines, to be attached to a shoulder strap with a swivel?
No, I use a scabbard. I do have a swivel sewn on my fork for my canteen and it hold the rifle well, too. But swings too much. It’s (the ring) really just because I like the look.
November 7, 2015
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I guess I’ll always be a shooter first, collector second. I like receiver or tang sights, shotgun butts, pistol grips and wood with a bit (or more) of figure. The added value of deluxe and engraved guns is a given but quite honestly they don’t interest me.
Mike
TXGunNut said
I guess I’ll always be a shooter first, collector second. I like receiver or tang sights, shotgun butts, pistol grips and wood with a bit (or more) of figure. The added value of deluxe and engraved guns is a given but quite honestly they don’t interest me.
Mike
That pretty much sums up where I’m at with all this as well right now Mike.
Now if I was to win the lottery……
AG
1892takedown said
For utility, sling eyes are a major plus, especially on carbines.
As practical as shotgun-butts (so-called, absurdly), & even scarcer; and isn’t “utility” what most guns (other than elaborate presentation pieces) are made for? They’re as useful as saddle rings are useless. The “S” hooks used by WRA & other makers (which I’ve had installed on several of my hunting rifles) are every bit as handy & functional as modern QD swivels.
TXGunNut said
I guess I’ll always be a shooter first, collector second. I like receiver or tang sights, shotgun butts, pistol grips and wood with a bit (or more) of figure. The added value of deluxe and engraved guns is a given but quite honestly they don’t interest me.
Mike
That’s me also you’ve just described.
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