This M1892 looks refinished. Am I wrong?|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

This one looks good!  And antique as well.  The photographs have a great deal of light reflection which sometimes gives the illusion of being refinished, but, fortunately, this is not the case.  Horizontal forging marks on the receiver are a good sign and a strong indicator of originality.  Good wood to metal fit, as previously mentioned. 

It will be interesting to see what this brings, in the hyper inflated price point of Gunbroker.  Should you bid on it, just be aware .32-20 is one of the less desirable calibers.

This one looks OK but the pictures would be better if there were more close ups.  Contact Rob Robles and see if he would give you the serial #.

A little oil on the wood would go a long way to cover up the light spots.   I would watch both guns.  I am not a big fan of half magazines.

clarence said

supergimp said
Y’all have stricken the fear of god in me regarding fakes and I think I’ve come to assume everything is fake until proven otherwise. Steve  

A wise attitude in this Age of Fakery!

Metal on the 2nd one looks legit to me, but note the poor wood to metal fit of the upper tang.  Maybe this could be caused by shrinkage, if an inadequately seasoned blank had been used, but it’s suspicious.

Great problem with any auction is that you’re bidding against folks (often with deep pockets) who aren’t suspicious or observant of details like this.  

clarence said

supergimp said
Y’all have stricken the fear of god in me regarding fakes and I think I’ve come to assume everything is fake until proven otherwise. Steve  

A wise attitude in this Age of Fakery!

Metal on the 2nd one looks legit to me, but note the poor wood to metal fit of the upper tang.  Maybe this could be caused by shrinkage, if an inadequately seasoned blank had been used, but it’s suspicious.

Great problem with any auction is that you’re bidding against folks (often with deep pockets) who aren’t suspicious or observant of details like this.  

After what you said I looked at the upper tang area.  The metal does seem a little high.  Another question for Rob.  He has been doing this stuff for years so he knows what to look for.  Sometime the tang screw isn’t tight or the tang is slightly bent.  I have had to put a clamp on the tang then tighten the screw to pull it all the way down.  Should not be proud..

Hello,

The first rifle posted by supergimp is beautiful and 100% original based on all the photos I have seen of it.  I would buy it, no problem of it being 32 WCF or not.  I have no preconceive notion of the inferiority of the 32 WCF caliber.  I do have to laugh at all of the trash talking of GB and their high prices.  The buyers are just people who want to buy a gun and assuming they have illicit “deep pockets” and have no knowledge is an unfounded assumption.  I have bought and sold guns on GB and I certainly don’t think any have been way out of line.  Complaining about a gun selling for too much corresponds to “more than I can afford” but “wish they would pay for mine.”

The butt stock on the second rifle has clearly been sanded at some point.  I would ask for more photos in better light and the serial number.

Michael

Huck Riley said

I too am a little perplexed about GB and high prices.  There have been a lot of posts about how it’s a buyer’s market and guns aren’t getting what they should.  Which is it?  

In sensible venues, such as high end auction houses, reputable dealers, and old timers wanting to sell their collections, or, as posted in the Classifieds section of this forum, it’s a buyer’s market, and values other than the very best, have trended downwards.

On Gunbroker, due to the ease of finding stuff, the large audience, possibly misrepresented items, and eager and undereducated buyers, items often sell for illogically elevated prices, such that a buyer would be lucky to get out of it what they have into it.  However, I should clearly state that very few items I purchase do I buy anymore unless there’s some “meat on the table”.

clarence said

Isn’t that–hyper-elevated GB prices–what I & mcrvs alluded to above?   Which, it seemed to me (though I could be wrong), you took exception to.  

Good morning Clarence,

Let me clarify my position.  The same “sensible venues” exist at an auction and at GB for penny start auctions.  I highly doubt that the clientele viewing either is all that different or mutually exclusive.  Especially considering the fact that the sensible venue large auction houses all have online catalogs and will very happily take phone bids for lots.  That is how I use them.

I do not know with certainty the number of reputable dealers who sell at auction houses but based on my survey efforts I absolutely know that they LOVE to buy items there and then mark them up for sale on their websites.  I see it all the time.  It is how these guys make a living.  And there is apparently a strong enough market for those inflated prices compared to what the same gun sold for just a few months earlier.

Are there “hyper inflated” prices on GB?  Absolutely.  Especially the listings with for example an opening bid of $1800 and “no reserve”  I just ignore them and move along.  That is that seller business and his desire.   I would also classify many dealers prices in the same category.  Many of these may be looking for the same sort of buyer who has a fair amount of $$ and less time to tire kick to come along and buy.  I hope when I sell my rifles that a few of them show up at my door!

I don’t have any bones to pick with GB or many of the sellers there.  They really are no different than the large auction houses.  They just operate with MUCH LOWER overhead.  That obviously excludes the guys selling fakes.  Them, I hate!!  GB, dealers websites, and the auction house on line sales have opened up a universe of opportunity and access to guns we never had just 25 years ago.  You can see more inventory now in a day at the keyboard than you would have spent in a year running around to gun shows and looking at those hyper inflated prices!

All the best

Michael