
Well I had this rifle for a couple of months now and it had been standing in the corner of my gun room. I kept looking at it along with another 1894 that I acquired together with this one and something just didn’t seem right. yesterday I decided to get both guns lettered and to my surprised this gun lettered with a number of special features. The first thing I discovered that sometime in their lives the butt stocks had been changed from one to the other, well that was a quick fix and now everything is right with both guns. Both of these guns are not in high condition but are still exactly as they came from the factory with all their correct ordered features.
Here is a copy of the work sheet for the rifle that I am showing the photos of. A good rifle to help in the study of Winchesters. I’m calling it 7 special features, some may call it 6
WINCHESTER MODEL 1894 – SERIAL NUMBER 116681
Serial number applied on June 26, 1901
Type: Rifle
Caliber: 32/40
Barrel Type: 1/2 Octagon
Trigger: Plain
Sights: Flat top sporting rear & Win. express front sight
1/2 Magazine
Shotgun Butt Rubber
4-Cartridges
Received in warehouse on September 04, 1901
Shipped from warehouse on September 09, 1901,
Order number 108409
1/2 mag & 4 cartridge capacity & 1/2 round barrel
http://s517.photobucket.com/user/RoadKing1998/media/Winchester%20Model1894%20SGB%20half%20rd%20sights/DSC05837_zps97b7b657.jpg.html
Shotgun butt & Hard rubber buttplatehttp://s517.photobucket.com/user/RoadKing1998/media/Winchester%20Model1894%20SGB%20half%20rd%20sights/DSC05836_zpse493f60b.jpg.html
Flattop sporting rear sighthttp://s517.photobucket.com/user/RoadKing1998/media/Winchester%20Model1894%20SGB%20half%20rd%20sights/DSC05835_zpscc228f08.jpg.html
Winchester express front sighthttp://s517.photobucket.com/user/RoadKing1998/media/Winchester%20Model1894%20SGB%20half%20rd%20sights/DSC05834_zps6f938422.jpg.html
Very interesting! Except for the 1/2 Oct and the lettered sights, your rifle is similar to mine (SB, Rubber buttplate, 4-cartridge mag). It also gives me an idea of what sort of history mine would show if it had been earning its keep the way yours has. (mine is here http://forum.winchestercollector.org/viewtopic.php?t=6761 )
That rifle has just three "special" order features.
1. The 4-cartridge magazine (the 1/2 magazine entry is a redundant entry).
2. The shotgun butt with hard rubber butt plate (they are a package combo).
3. The sights are a package.
All other features on the rifle were "optional" items per the catalog.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L

It’s interesting that this rifle and the other gun list 1/2 magazine but the other one is actually a 3 cartridge capacity, button mag, and yet Winchester called them both 1/2 mag. I heard this discussed before and in the 94 book they are also called 1/2 mag.
I sort of agree that the sight package can be checked off as one specific order but I have seen sight combinations listed in 2 lines on the work sheets, is this still considered 1 special order item?
This is one of the first guns I’ve seen with this sight combination listed on a work sheet. Does this mean that if we find a high condition gun with this sight combination (pretty standard sights in my opinion) and it is not listed on the work sheet, it may not be original? 🙄
The real unique part about this rifle is that if I hadn’t bothered to get these guns checked out by BBHC than they may have gone on their separate ways, each with incorrect butt stocks and of course I could have just purchased one and left the other. After almost 50 years of collecting it is still fun.
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