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Hi All,
I’m looking at buying my first Winchester lever rifle but I am very inexperienced with them. Right now, I’m considering buying what’s being called a “1915 Model 1892 .218 Bee w/ a tang peep”. I only have one (not very good) picture of it at the moment posted below. I am aiming to meetup soon to actually check out the gun/condition as well as snap more detailed pictures. Could anyone let me know what I am dealing with here? Anything to look out for, besides the things mentioned in the Tips sticky topic? I don’t even know where to begin or what the value is roughly.
Thanks!
Jacob,
What you are dealing with is something I refer to as a “Frankenchester”… a Winchester resurrected from the parts of other (non-original) guns. They have no real value in the collector market, and may or may not be decent shooters. If you are looking for a shooter grade rifle in 218 Bee, and can get that rifle for something < $800, then go for it. If you are looking for a “collectable” Winchester, my advice is to stop looking at that rifle.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Online
It will be interesting to see what the barrel markings are. My guess is the barrel will be marked Model 65.
Aren’t there some legit model 92’s that are in fact in 218 bee? I may be wrong, but doesn’t one of the members on here have one?
Manuel said
Aren’t there some legit model 92’s that are in fact in 218 bee? I may be wrong, but doesn’t one of the members on here have one?
There are a very small number of them, but they are all Model “92”s in the 900,000+ serial number range. The rifle in question is a 1915 production Model 1892.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
Jacob,What you are dealing with is something I refer to as a “Frankenchester”… a Winchester resurrected from the parts of other (non-original) guns. They have no real value in the collector market, and may or may not be decent shooters. If you are looking for a shooter grade rifle in 218 Bee, and can get that rifle for something < $800, then go for it.
Bert
Guess I haven’t kept up with the “Frankenchester” market; maybe about $600 was what I was thinking; that’s if you can conceive of a useful purpose for a Bee, which I never could in a lever gun; a Model 43 with a scope…then you’ve got something.
Jacob Butler said
Hi All,I’m looking at buying my first Winchester lever rifle but I am very inexperienced with them. Right now, I’m considering buying what’s being called a “1915 Model 1892 .218 Bee w/ a tang peep”. I only have one (not very good) picture of it at the moment posted below. I am aiming to meetup soon to actually check out the gun/condition as well as snap more detailed pictures. Could anyone let me know what I am dealing with here? Anything to look out for, besides the things mentioned in the Tips sticky topic? I don’t even know where to begin or what the value is roughly.
Thanks!
Good morning Jacob,
You are very smart to ask your questions first before pulling out your wallet. I can’t tell you how many question I/we get from guys who do things backwards when it is too late. I collect Model 1892 rifles and also do research on them having looked at more than 17,000 individual examples. Feel free to run any gun past me first and I am glad to help. [email protected]
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
January 26, 2011
Offline
clarence said
Guess I haven’t kept up with the “Frankenchester” market; maybe about $600 was what I was thinking; that’s if you can conceive of a useful purpose for a Bee, which I never could in a lever gun; a Model 43 with a scope…then you’ve got something.
Like this one ….. and yes, it’s got extra holes in the barrel, but it was my father’s so I could care less. Also love the early exposed knob K6 on it which aligns nicely with this 1951 rifle.
~Gary~
pdog72 said
Like this one ….. and yes, it’s got extra holes in the barrel, but it was my father’s so I could care less. Also love the early exposed knob K6 on it which aligns nicely with this 1951 rifle.
When the factory is too niggardly to thrown into the price of the gun the minor expense of providing scope mounting attachments, the customer must do what he has to do to make the gun serviceable. (Though yours doesn’t look like it’s seen much service.)
The K-series was always my favorite internally adjustable scope, though I never had one that early. Since I was using them on .22s, I sent a K-4 & K-6 back to the factory to have the parallax re-adjusted for 50 yds–no charge!
Here is what my model 43 in 218b does at 100yds. As you can see the two “flyers” are almost the exact distance away from the bullseye. That would be the Indian’s fault!
It’s hard to scope a 92 that ejects upward, unless you side mount the scope. That detracts from the sleek, clean lines of the Model 92. There are no records regarding production of the Model 92 in 218 Bee and lots of skepticism when one is encountered.
This 218 Bee Model 92 sold for around $22,000.00.
I bought this one for about half of that price:
It came with a checked carbine stock, but everything else seems to be correct. Who knows what was possible during parts clean-up. I have since changed the stock to what I picture as correct. Shame on me for vandalizing a Winchester! 
But after all it’s my rifle and I have the original carbine stock! RDB
For the curious, this is how the rifle appears now and I do have the “original carbine stock”. I have no proof positive that this Model 92 is correct. Serial no. 999935. 1950 Barrel Date. RDB
November 7, 2015
Offline
Looks good, Roger. Certainly an improvement given the circumstances.
Mike
you’ll need to reload your own ammo for 218 B these days and i don’t know of flat nosed bullets for a tuular magazine bee hard to find. the rubber nosed kind might work i’d pass and find something in original caliber.
I like .22 hornets, having good results with a Ruger 1V , but .finding .22 Hornet ammo is getting tough. US made Remington Winchester is no longer produced , ll the factory ammo new is European made. There very pricey boxes of Hornet on GunBroker , 2.00 dollars and up a round. Hornet brass is no better at 70 cents to over 1.00 a hull.. buying the Euro stuff is worth 50 a box just for the brass. 218 Bee is nearly impossible to find at shows, even brass, if you already hve the componants, great, but finding hem gets real tough at reasonable prices especially or us older folks that remembe 15 to 18 dollars a box for Hornet not that long ago.. when yo buy these to shoot, you really have to look at the availability of the cartridges.
Ralph Fitzwater said
I like .22 hornets, having good results with a Ruger 1V , but .finding .22 Hornet ammo is getting tough. US made Remington Winchester is no longer produced , ll the factory ammo new is European made.
Ralph, No US made Hornet–one of the most famous cartridges of modern times? Good Lord, is this REALLY true? If so I’m as shocked as I was when I just recently found out (Rifleman, I think) that there’s no US maker of lead shot, thanks to EPA restrictions–now, it’s all imported, which accounts for the current prohibitive prices. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY???
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