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LOT 26
Outstanding, Documented, Antique, Early Production, Special Order Winchester Deluxe Model 1894
Lever Action Takedown Rifle with Scarce Casehardened Receiver and Factory Letter - Serial no. 16058,
38-55 WCF cal., 26 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut stock. This is an outstanding example of
an antique special order Winchester deluxe Model 1894 rifle in a very attractive configuration, including the
exceptionally scarce casehardened receiver. The Winchester Model 1894 was a design by the legendary John
Moses Browning and could certainly hold its own in an argument about his best or most successful designs. After
all, it is a design that has scarcely been changed with over 7,500,000 produced in over 130 years. The included
factory letter lists the rifle in .38-55 caliber with a round barrel, plain trigger, casehardened finish, takedown,
and with a checkered pistol grip stock with a rubber shotgun buttplate when received at the warehouse on
17 September 1896 and shipped the next day in order number 18939. Noted Winchester historian and author
notes the rarity of some of these features on 1894s, stating that one out of every 800 had special wood, one out
of every 725 had a pistol grip, and that one of every 780 had checkering or carving, making these deluxe pistol
gripped variations relatively rare. However, what truly makes this rifle scarce is the casehardened finish on the
receiver, which was a rarely ordered special feature available on the Model 1894. Survey data compiled directly
from the surviving Winchester ledgers which includes listings for the first 353,999 Model 1894s produced showed
that only 155 rifles and two carbines received a casehardened finish.
Furthering the rarity of this rifle, the survey showed that of the 155 rifles that were casehardened, only 16 of
those were ordered in deluxe configuration. Winchester discontinued casehardening as a special order option in
1901, meaning no further examples were made. Only adding to the desirability of this rifle are the special order
the shotgun buttplate, and that it’s in takedown configuration. The letter also lists a return and repair date of 30
September 1898, which is listed as order number 5497. It is unclear what work was done during its return to the
factory, though it likely received only minor maintenance as the rifle appears untouched and unchanged from
the original configuration that it left that factory in when initially ordered. The top of the barrel is marked with
the standard two-line address and “38-55” caliber marking at the breech. The barrel and receiver correctly lack
factory oval proofs which weren’t introduced until 1905. The upper tang is marked with the standard three-line
model, trademark, and patent information. The serial number is marked on the bottom of the receiver. The left
side of the lower tang is marked “2574 SXXX RB”, with “2574” repeated in the stock inlet. The rifle is fitted with the
standard “Sporting” German silver blade front sight, an elevation adjustable buckhorn “Sporting” rear sight, and a
Lyman combination peep sight mounted on the upper tang. It is mounted with an exceptionally finely figured, “H”
pattern deluxe checkered forearm and pistol grip stock with a hard rubber grip cap and a checkered hard rubber
shotgun buttplate. This is one of only 16 casehardened deluxe Winchester Model 1894 rifles known to have been
manufactured, and this example has survived the last 128 years in outstanding condition.