Jeremy P said
Welcome to the forums! To answer your original question, the commems haven't carried big dollars up to now, except for a fewer rarer ones. You do you, if you like a safe queen find the nicest you can and store it up! If you need to shoot them based on the restrictions you mentioned, then find a nice one and then SHOOT, CLEAN, DISPLAY, REPEAT. 🙂
  

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/235454429_winchester-model-94-30-30-wells-fargo-commemorative-lever-rifle-sn-wfc16485-carthage-in

well, Not big dollars but one heck of a return for whoever consigned it! someone overpaid by a lot for that Commemorative. I would sell all mine today if I could get that margin. They sell everyday on GB for less than half that and you gotta add the 20% BP to that already too high of a price. I’m thinking someone paid 3x what it is actually worth! Holy cow

Gunsnfishin said
Just bought at auction havnt received yet a1873- serial 123975  32-20 cal with a 18” barrel -octagon - any one have info on the rarity of this gun ?
  

Our resident member and 1873 expert, 1873man will be along and help you with you're questions. In the meantime the serial number that you posted indicates it was mfg. in 1883, and is very helpful, but pictures will also help out, and we enjoy seeing them also.

Edited; I see you posted some pictures after I sent this. Looks like a very nice SBR. I'm pretty confident that the 18 inch Octagon barrel, in the .32-20 caliber is a pretty hard to find configuration, and I would be inclined to want to see better pictures when you receive it. Gordon may only have one recorded in his book from his older previous survey. We'll see what Bob has on it.

Tony

Not being anywhere an expert on these, but I assumed it was a 1st variation of a carbine barrel, without digging into it too deep. So as far as being from a carbine barrel or a musket barrel, those are my thoughts. 

I do feel that it's another interesting category that a few members here have enlightened us on in some other posts. 

Tony

Obviously your situation over there is very different from ours.  The selection and availability of specific firearms, values, what is considered collectible, the complications of having firearms shipped from the outside... all of these are factors that impact you.  Given all that, my thought would be to go with what's available. You list several commemoratives presently available. Pick the one you like the best, make the best deal you can on it - and shoot it.  It sounds like commemorative firearms over there are generally of less interest anyway, so keeping it in unfired status is of going to be of negligible importance.  Your question about the shooting quality of commemorative rifles as compared to the same standard models of the time has been answered. 

Nice score on your recent acquisition!  I couldn't help but notice that the other flat band you have is a .32 W.S. 

Anthony said
Here's an interesting 94/95 Hybrid, I saw on WACA member LeRoy Merz site today.
https://www.merzantiques.com/product/w4375-scarce-winchester-model-94-95-hybrid-saddle-ring-carbine-with-rare-95-variant-barrel-in-30-wcf-m/
 
Tony
  

Tony 

Thanks for spotting this.

Given the tap holes in barrel - I'm assuming this one utilized a M1895 carbine or musket barrel?

On this topic, I was contemplating that variation of the 94/95 Hybrid with the 22 inch barrel and the magazine that is a couple inch shorter than the barrel.  Given they reworked the '95 barrels to match a '94 carbine barrel profile, and they shortened and rechambered them from the breech end, why have this odd variation?  I would assume given they were repurposing '95 barrels to produce '94 carbines, wouldn't they want that '94 carbine to look like their standard '94 carbine?  And of course, that's what they basically did with the other three variations of the 94/95 Hybrid - those don't appear blatantly different from a standard '94 carbine. I suspect most have gone unnoticed over the years.  Not so with the variation I am mentioning.  Thoughts?

https://www.merzantiques.com/product/w4375-scarce-winchester-model-94-95-hybrid-saddle-ring-carbine-with-rare-95-variant-barrel-in-30-wcf-m/

Tony

Here is an example of 2 Winchesters, both shooters.  

top is a near mint (or was when I bought it) 1974 94 in 30-30

bottom is a 1950 94 in 25-35. Lesser condition shooter grade

both rifles will work on any game in my area of the Midwest.  Both are fun to shoot. 

the 25-35 is over $2.00 a round where the 30-30 is around $1.00 or less.  The 25-35 however is more fun to shoot and has a flatter trajectory.  If I’m going to take one with me, it’s the pre-64 every time.  

Due to condition, both rifles will be in the $700 range here.  

It sure sounds as though you're in a tough situation, and you made it pretty clear that you being in Switzerland, have you're limitations on not only firearm ownership in numbers from 4 to the latest change of owning 10, but the availability to find and have some of the same choices we do here in the U.S.!

Like you stated it doesn't make sense financially to ship a hunting rifle Internationally, and the choices to find one there are certainly limited.

Good Luck to you!

Tony

If you can find a used Pre64 Model 64 rifle,  perhaps those are less popular in Sweden than the "American Cowboy" appearing Model 94 carbine. The 64 is more expensive here and was when it was new. It is the better rifle for hunting.

Stay in touch and good luck in your search. 

Thanks for the greetings and feedback.  I will try to answer you in order.

@Anthony.

I am aware of the pre-1964 versus post-1964, but pre-1964 94´s are more scarce than hens teeth on this side of the pond.

Regarding the comment, "As far as the “experts “, and “the several articles”, that you refer to, and what their saying, maybe you can enlighten us on these articles, and post some links here. We have to be careful with some of the information, as it can be either wrong or an opinion, and not a fact from a bona fide gunsmith who works on Winchesters..."  One of the articles I read about this, is from a Swedish hunting magazine where they describe the ´94 as the king of leveractions, but...

Anniversary models fool buyers The Model 9422 was manufactured for both .22 LR and .22 Magnum. We've all seen Winchester's anniversary models. Like anniversary plates and other crap, they're only there to fool people who have a little too much money in their wallets. Generally speaking, it can be said that anything that is made to be collected never has any collector value. This also applies to weapons. However, there are a few examples where the rifle is completely untouched in its original box. Then there are a few collectors in the USA who pay for these weapons. But in Sweden they are clearly worth less than real guns and definitely a bad investment. (Translated from the article)

And regarding the expert, I assune many of you reckognize the brand SPUHR.  Håkan Spuhr is the inventor behind the brand, and he is a member of "American Custom Gunmakers Guild".  This is what he had to say, when I asked him for an advise.

They are generally considered inferior weapons to their equivalent rifles intended for shooting. I would have avoided them altogether as, in addition to being inferior, they are also so ugly that only a mother could love them. (ouch, but don´t shoot the messenger)

@Cowboy4.

My reply to the shooting questions would be, do not shoot it if the piece is unfired, it will lose collectability value.

Well, since gun collecting is more or less impossible in Sweden, I assume there is no change in value, fired or unfired.  Maybe if the guns were shipped to USA, they might be worth more unfired, but the difference in price would probably be eaten up by all the bureaucracy.

@Zebulon.

What I don’t think we have a grip on are your practical alternatives to the various Winchester commemoratives. That is, are there dealers in Sweden who carry currently manufactured American arms? A variety of used American arms? Is it legally possible and financially practical to buy and import from an American dealer? 

Yes, there are dealers in Sweden that carry American arms, for instance Ruger (I have two), Winchester, Remington to name a few.  There are also several AR brands.

And legally, I can buy from an American dealer, as long as that particular dealer can fix all the export license paperwork.  You guys are actually way more strict than Sweden in that way.  But is it financially practical?  No, not for a private person.  Maybe if you can persuade a dealer in Sweden to bring the gun home together with their ordinary shipment.  And when it comes to the ´94, it seems like there is not so much interest in offering them in Europe.

For instance, the Model 94 Sporter or the Model 94 Deluxe Sporting, that can be found on winchesterguns.com are not presented on the European site.  But they have Model 1873, 1886 and 1892, some in 44-40 and some in 45-70, but none in 30-30.

Your list of different variants is interesting.  I checked Miroku, and it seems like they only offer shotguns in EU.  So back to square one there.

So I guess that I will have to keep my eyes open and check different auction sites for a Pre-1964 gun.  The problem is that I know of several other hunters that are also after it so it might get expensive

Again, thanks for your comments, and stay safe!

Georg