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I just acquired a 1894 Winchester Rifle with an octagonal barrel. The features on the rifle that do not fit the what seems to be normal, as this rifle has the 20″ barrel.
In addition, the rear site of the rifle appears to be located relatively close to the receiver. It’s a 30-30 so nothing unique as far as the caliber is concerned. I am looking for a little guidance on this. Research indicates this one was made in 1907. I purchased a “Red Book” based upon recommendations in another topic in this forum. Cannot find any mention of a 1894 Rifle with this barrel length in the “Red Book”
I have seen other posts in Winchester Collector on “Short Rifles”. Don’t know much about this one, so would rather avoid speculation. I saw a reference to “Armax” in the another topic in this forum.
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What I have learned is…..
it should have an 8 3/8 forearm( it could have the 9 3/8, but if I remember correctly most 20 inch have the shorter)
rear dovetail should be 4 inches from receiver instead of the usual 5
front dovetail should be an inch
mag tube should have rounded cap instead of flat.
a better picture of the muzzle will help everyone tell if it’s a factory or non factory work
add a few pictures of the caliber and any other stamping on the barrel and that should help verify too
January 26, 2011
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Other than the hammer replacement with a much later one (as Bill mentioned), it looks like a fairly common configuration of an 1894 short rifle. Can you confirm the fore-end length? Should be either 8 3/8″ or 9 3/8″. The shorter is more commonly found on the 20″ rifles. Rear sight dovetail should be 4″ or 5″ respectively and based on the wood length. Looks like shorter wood and dovetail to me but worth asking.
~Gary~
All – Thanks for the input! I don’t have the rifle yet. Won it in auction yesterday! Will keep all posted when it arrives!
I don’t understand why Mr. Hanzel would say the magazine plug would be rounded instead of flat? Unless it had a shorter 1/2 or 3/4 magazine tube. RDB
The one one on the right is a full mag short rifle with the rounded cap as opposed to the flat cap on the left. I was taught that short rifles with full length magazine had the rounded edge from the factory.
January 26, 2011
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rogertherelic said
I don’t understand why Mr. Hanzel would say the magazine plug would be rounded instead of flat? Unless it had a shorter 1/2 or 3/4 magazine tube. RDB
Agreed
Bill Hanzel said
The one one on the right is a full mag short rifle with the rounded cap as opposed to the flat cap on the left. I was taught that short rifles with full length magazine had the rounded edge from the factory.
Your picture shows two flat magazine caps. The rounded ones look much different and are found on shorter magazines (as Roger correctly stated). For full magazine short rifles, I’ve never heard of anything different. Thats new to me.
~Gary~
Well it turns out I was taught right, but I understood it wrong,I am glad I posted and learned I was thinking the wrong thing, hopefully it I didn’t cause the original poster any confusion or trouble….
January 26, 2011
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Bill
No harm, no foul and I can also see what you are observing with regards to the flat cap bevel. There seems to be various styles of those caps over the years, and some are certainly more rounded on the edges than others. I don’t believe it had anything to do with barrel length, but rather the machining of that time period and possibly carbine vs. rifle caps.
I only own a few full length (non take-down) rifles to compare with. I’ll start paying more attention to see if there’s some sort of pattern.
~Gary~
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