Early 1892, Original Wood???|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

I don’t think so, that’s a classic tiger stripe put on with a torch. IMO.

I work with Curly Maple now and then and the dark “stripes” go across the grain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “flame job” but I suspect pulling off the butt plate or taking the stock off would probably answer the question. I feel pretty sure a Maple stock would be mentioned in the ledger. Nice looking rifle. 

Mike

twobit said
Does anyone think that this might be original to the gun?  If not, the wood was switched long ago.
Michael  

No way to tell for certain from the pictures and very odd that it would not be mentioned in a Cody letter. I would want to see the wood off the frame to see how the stocks are actually marked. The wood may have been switched. But unlike the others on the forum I’d be more inclined to believe the wood is factory wood. Granted it, as you say appears to have been sanded and re-varnished / refinished. 

But I don’t believe its current appearance was put on with a “flame” by torch. Winchester made 2X grade wood that was cross cut in such a manner to give the appearance of “tiger stripes”. In your picture number 8 of the forearm about where your hand is placed you can see where the burl of the walnut matches up with the darker section of the wood, as it should. If it were faked and applied with a flame the burl grain would not match up, as there wouldn’t be any burl there. The grain would be random and not match the flow of the wood sort of speak.

For a factory example, the only 1of1000 with uncheckered 2X wood stocks is “tiger stripe” as with the stocks on the 92 shown above.

So unlike the others, I’d be more inclined to lean towards the stocks being factory wood. They may not be original to that said serial number. But it would warrant further investigation. Are the stocks marked as they should be? How do they look with all the metal removed? 

Sincerely,

Maverick

P.S. I would take everything with a grain salt and be very careful if they’re asking for a lot of money for it.

I’ve been reading this thread post with interest, and remember how in the 6-‘s and 70’s it was pretty common to see some, faked tiger striped rifles, at the gun shows. The better ones, were masked with a sealer, so you couldn’t smell the burnt wood underneath. My father in law, a carpenter by trade, and a gunsmith, was pretty keen on spotting them and sniffing them out.

Here’s a real rifle with, “Curly Maple”, that is actually made from a Sugar Maple tree. If you look at the grain, you can see the actual irregularities in the wood, and not the uniformity in the one above, that is unnatural.

Tony