Gentlemen, I came across this 1890 on a forum and seller was nice enough to send over some pics as well as the serial number.
What struck me first was the bluing, the gun appears to be too dark for its age, but that could be lighting/camera. On closer inspection it appears some of the blueing is chipping off?. The next piece of the puzzle is that the barrel stamp and serial number are out by approximately 10 years?
The serial number is 467677, putting around 1911/12. The “made in the USA” barrel stamp didn’t come around until aprox. 1923. What I think the seller has is a pieced together re-blued 1890 22 wrf, I care because this would be a collection piece and not a shooter.
I seek the council of higher powers!
Thanks
[email protected] said
I seek the council of higher powers!
Seems to me your powers of research & good sense have already answered the question!
Kristjan,
You have done a good job analyzing the rifle and have drawn the correct conclusion. Definitely refinished, the sling stud attachment in the stock is not original, the butt stock has been sanded, and the barrel is not original.
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
Once again this just posting shows how valuable this forum is to us Winchester collectors. I also looked seriously at buying this gun and was awaiting photos to arrive in email. They did arrive tonight and they are of this same gun. Thanks to everyone who examined the photos and established that it is a refinished and rebarrelled gun. I probably would have bought it had it not been for this forum.
November 7, 2015

I agree, Dave. The expert opinions and the recommendations for reference materials available here have helped me make several buying decisions. They’ve helped me identify sleepers and the occasional (and inevitable) bad buying decision. The number of “inaccurate” offerings never ceases to amaze me but very little gets past the experts that hang out here.
Mike
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