Bob

Here is a bad shot of the 1950's brand.  

Or just read this.  https://www.peelerranch.com/history/

Based on what I've observed,  buyers seem to want a 44 caliber Model 92 far more than any other, even though it was the most commonly produced.  I suppose we could call  that the desirability factor. 

I do wonder if that translates to the baby carbines?  

If desirability depends on volume of history or putative history a/k/a "stories" -- I would think a baby 44 would come up aces high. 

A trapper in the wilderness values lightness but also needs something for self-defense and edible game. While a 25 or 32 might spare hides better,  I'm guessing the 44 would be the popular choice.

The hottest story for the babies is how many went South to arm the praetorean guards of various banana republics. Surely those were mostly 44 caliber, perhaps except for an Ulrich engraved 25 for El Presidente's nieto favorito. 

Condition for condition, I bet a donut that a Model 92 44 caliber baby carbine will draw top money over the same carbine in 25 or 32. 

All proofs to the contrary will be graciously received. 

THREEDFLYER said
Looking to see what the Model 1892 Trapper's have been selling for lately based on caliber?
I realize that the .44 is the most desirable and the .25 not as much....but then again, I am not sure just how many Trappers were made in .25?
We have a 14" with NFA paperwork that was built in 1919 chambered in .25-20 in well used condition and will be putting it up for sale at some point in the near future. 
Thanks in advance,
  

Hello Tom,

Here is a small portion of a larger forum thread that I started a few months ago that addresses the number of trapper which were manufactured.  Suffice it to say that there were most likely close to 8000 to 9000 of them.  From the ledger research that I have done the most popular lengths were 16 inch, then 15 inch and then 14 inch in descending order.  The 25-20 was the least used in ANY length.  

"This all got started with a question as to how rare a certain trapper configuration was.  I gave my reply based on my inspection of 288,000 factory ledgers combined with the current status of my survey.  Madis states in his books that 2 out of 3 guns were rifles.  Therefore 33% of production were carbines.  Then he notes that 1 of 325 (.0031%) carbines had shorter than 20 inch barrels.  If you run the math that works out to 985,000 (excluding Model 53 and 65 rifles in the 1892/92 SN sequence) x .33 = 325,050 carbines x .0031 = 1,007 carbines with barrels less than 20 inches.  Pirkle states that carbines with 14 to 19 inch barrels make up 1200 samples.

To date I have examined the written factory production letters for the first 288,000 Model 1892’s that were produced and transferred all of that information into a huge excel spreadsheet.  This represents the first 29% of the total production of the Model 1892/92’s.  Within just this portion of production there are already a total of 5,387 proven/known short barreled carbines. Beyond SN 288,000 I have cataloged an additional 508 individual carbines with short barrels within the balance of the rifles that I have surveyed.  Between SN 944970 to SN 945056 (86 SN’s) I have  6 SRC’s and each of them has a 16 inch barrel.  That suggests that ALL 86 of those SN’s are trappers.  There is another batch of 4,543 serial numbers in the 954,000 range where I have 92 samples.  All are SRC’s and 22 of those (24%) are short barreled.  Mostly 16” and a few 14” examples.  If you gross that up for just that interval it suggests that another 1090 short barreled carbines were produced in that single interval alone.  Add these numbers up and it totals:  5,387 + 508 + 86 + 1068 (extrapolated addition in the 954,000 range) = 7,049 short barrel carbines were produced.  There are several additional runs of SRC’s that show similar concentrations of short barrels and I still have another 100,000 production ledgers to compile plus listings from the BATF that are not included yet."

With regard to possible values your rifle will possibly be valued higher because of the rarity of the 25-20 caliber but condition will also be VERY important.  To date, I have only found 8 14 inch SRC's out of almost 22,000 Model 1892 rifles.  Can I get some photos of the rifle and the serial number so that I can add it into my research?  Here is one that sold on RIA back in 2020.  https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1035/2006/winchester-model-1892-14-inch-barrel-trapper-carbine

Michael

I realize that the .44 is the most desirable and the .25 not as much....but then again, I am not sure just how many Trappers were made in .25?

We have a 14" with NFA paperwork that was built in 1919 chambered in .25-20 in well used condition and will be putting it up for sale at some point in the near future. 

Thanks in advance,

I agree with you, as we never get tired of seeing Burt's art work right there!

Tony

Bob

Burt Humphrey said
As those with a keen interest in the Model 1892 already know, a checkered variation which is original, correct, has condition and letters is a rare speciman. They are not as hard to find as a deluxe 53 or 55 but the good one's have been tucked away in collections.

PURE BEAUTY RIGHT THERE!

I don't see how people can pay big dollars on art, such as paintings, when items like this exist.  As I said, pure beauty.

Burt - you collected some really find rifles over the years.  I always enjoy seeing them.  Always nearly unbearable eye candy.  There's this sin out there called envy, and I am surely not free of it.

Mike

Tony

IMHO Kevin made a wise choice sending this special project your way. If anyone can pull it off, you can. 

Mike

kevindpm61 said
I got great news from Wyoming Armory today. The barrel arrived last week and the preliminary assessment is that it is correct for the rifle!
  

Ha! It's certainly been a process having that barrel blank made.  Of course no barrel maker on God's green earth had a profile for an extra length 28" Hotchkiss sporting rifle barrel - or a standard length for that matter.  Because Kevin's had a non-original replacement barrel installed, we didn't have an original barrel to measure the profile.  It took us months to track down original Hotchkiss sporting rifles that owners would let us measure profiles.  Then we had to extrapolate the profile of the extra barrel length and compare it to the barrel channel in the original stock to make sure it matched.

Next, not a single barrel blank maker who offers the correct land & bore dimensions & twist rate in a 6-groove barrel would make that "one-off" profile for us.  We ended up having to commit to a large volume purchase of 1-in-22 twist 45 caliber barrels from a maker in Montana so that he would commit to buy the tooling for this one special order barrel.  After a long wait, we received the barrel and it had been made too short. Because it's such a special profile, we just had to absorb the cost of that blank. After another long wait, we just received the replacement and it appears to be correct.

Kevin's been faithful about updating the progress, but I think it's given the impression that we take an abnormally long time to rebarrel a rifle.  Usually we can have a blank in a standard configuration made in 4-6 weeks.  One-off special profiles can take dramatically longer.  

After a recent similar experience with having a 1894 22" extra light, 1/2 octagon blank made in 38-55, we're a little gun shy about taking on projects with very special order barre profiles, at least until we finish putting together the equipment needed to start profiling our own barrel blanks.  Mark 

Type: Rifle
Caliber: 45/60
Barrel Type: Octagon
Barrel Length: 26 inches
Trigger: Plain
Received in warehouse on January 06, 1882
Shipped from warehouse on January 14, 1882, Order number 30868

See Maverick's comments above...it would have been brand new.

This rifle is not known to exist today.