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Dave M. said
Local gun shop took this in, looking for info. S/N 11150524″ octagon barrel, a little loose at the receiver. Gray bore, with some pitting in grooves, worn rifling but still very visible.
Appears someone rubbed some cold blue on barrel as it rubs off. Fires and ejects a round just fine.
Can’t figure out how to post pictures. If Bert or someone can do it for me, I’ll email you the pics.
Send the pictures to me – [email protected]
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Offline
Looks like someone started to do an attempt at a restoration on it and stopped before doing a final polish and before re-blue of it.
If it shoots well, you got yourself a nice shooter but being a collectable; not so much.
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
Just looking for some honest feedback on this rifle. The Big Book of gun values, says these are pretty rare and a 10% rifle is worth $1800.00
I’m not a big fan of the 25-20, but I thought it was a decent gun for it’s age.
The rifle in question has a number of negative issues, and in my opinion, it is not a good candidate for a collection piece.
Specifically, the stocks have been sanded (heavily in some places) and refinished. The fit of the butt stock is horrible on the left side of the receiver frame and tangs. The receiver frame has none of the original finish, and it has several suspicious looking screws (non-original replacements). The description of the bore is not encouraging, and I suspect that the rear sight is not original.
I further suspect that the seller also believes that this rifle is an “Antique”, but the serial number positively tells us that it is not. Has it been lettered through the CFM? If not, I strongly suggest doing that before considering the purchase of it. Finally, (in my opinion) if the asking price is anything > $2,000, I would walk away.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Dave M. said
Just looking for some honest feedback on this rifle. The Big Book of gun values, says these are pretty rare and a 10% rifle is worth $1800.00I’m not a big fan of the 25-20, but I thought it was a decent gun for it’s age.
I’d pass
Dave,
As mentioned, the wood has been sanded quite severely and then re-checkered. There is obviously none of the original bluing left on the rifle. It is just not a rifle that serious collectors would be looking for. That does not mean that there are not guys out there who would be happy owning it but it would be totally dependent on the asking price. The barrel is correct for the SN range of the gun. The takedown lever at the muzzle is bent so there could be a problem with it functioning correctly.
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
November 7, 2015
Online
Dave-
In my humble (and certainly not expert) opinion this gun was heavily used but not abused and was repaired and maintained as necessary using resources and talent available. Walnut is a durable wood but will need attention and maintenance if exposed to the elements and hard use for extended periods of time. As mentioned by the experts above it has issues but it bears them like a warrior his scars. Also as mentioned by the gentlemen above the collector value is diminished by these issues and it will not have much appeal to the collector who has learned to focus on higher condition examples.
But, Hell yes, I like the gun! If you like it and like the cartridge and the bore will grip and spin a bullet you may have a dandy shooter that will look great hanging on the wall when it’s not putting a grin on your face at the range.
Again, just my humble opinion.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Dave-In my humble (and certainly not expert) opinion this gun was heavily used but not abused and was repaired and maintained as necessary using resources and talent available. Walnut is a durable wood but will need attention and maintenance if exposed to the elements and hard use for extended periods of time. As mentioned by the experts above it has issues but it bears them like a warrior his scars. Also as mentioned by the gentlemen above the collector value is diminished by these issues and it will not have much appeal to the collector who has learned to focus on higher condition examples.
But, Hell yes, I like the gun! If you like it and like the cartridge and the bore will grip and spin a bullet you may have a dandy shooter that will look great hanging on the wall when it’s not putting a grin on your face at the range.
Again, just my humble opinion.
Mike
Mike
I whole hardily agree with you. If it was a 44-40 I’d be all over it. Just don’t have a use for the 25-20. I like to shoot my rifles.
It’s a cool rifle, and very unique. First I’ve seen this configuration.
If it were reasonably priced in accordance with its condition, I’d love to have the rifle as a restoration project. Since the original finish is gone, it’s a perfect candidate to restore. A rifle like that deserves a better fate. Mark
November 7, 2015
Online
Dave-
i don’t load or cast for (or shoot) the 25-20 WCF (yet!) but as a result of my growing fondness for the 32-20 WCF it’s been on my mind. So far I haven’t acted on this attraction as I haven’t found a 25-20 with a bore I was confident would qualify as a shooter. Quite honestly I don’t need another shooter and realistically I can’t afford a high condition rifle in this configuration. I’m not a fan of the 44-40 WCF but that’s only because I generally avoid everything .429”. The small caliber WCF rounds are stingy and efficient with lead and powder in addition to being a hoot to shoot.
Mark has a good point; a rifle in this configuration, restored to near-original condition, would be a very special rifle. Some of today’s collectors would pay good money for this rifle after it spent a bit of time with an old-school restoration gunsmith.
Shooter, wallhanger, restoration project or pass. I’d try to clean and get a better look at the bore but that’s your call, Dave. Decide where you want to end up before you start this trip, could be a fun ride.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Dave-i don’t load or cast for (or shoot) the 25-20 WCF (yet!) but as a result of my growing fondness for the 32-20 WCF it’s been on my mind. So far I haven’t acted on this attraction as I haven’t found a 25-20 with a bore I was confident would qualify as a shooter. Quite honestly I don’t need another shooter and realistically I can’t afford a high condition rifle in this configuration. I’m not a fan of the 44-40 WCF but that’s only because I generally avoid everything .429”. The small caliber WCF rounds are stingy and efficient with lead and powder in addition to being a hoot to shoot.
Mark has a good point; a rifle in this configuration, restored to near-original condition, would be a very special rifle. Some of today’s collectors would pay good money for this rifle after it spent a bit of time with an old-school restoration gunsmith.
Shooter, wallhanger, restoration project or pass. I’d try to clean and get a better look at the bore but that’s your call, Dave. Decide where you want to end up before you start this trip, could be a fun ride.
Mike
But would that good money exceed the cost of the restoration?
I don’t want to be overly negative, but this is a rifle with bad wood, bad metal and from it sounds like, a questionable bore. If you get it restored, are you going to have a liner put in too? With a rifle with a questionable bore, a person has to roll the dice and buy it to find out if it will shoot. Yes, you can sometimes get a marginal bore to shoot, but it usually takes some experimentation.
November 7, 2015
Online
Steve-
I don’t know if Dave could sell it to cover the cost of restoration. In today’s market it’s certainly possible but I don’t understand that segment of the market. In many cases a restoration would include a new barrel so our concerns about the bore would be moot. Personally I’d only be interested in it as is for a shooter if I thought the bore was good enough. I don’t know what Dave’s intentions may be, just exploring options.
Mike
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