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LOT 1015
Rare Historic Documented Special Order Deluxe Winchester Model 1895 Lever Action Carbine Inscribed for Captain J.R. Hegeman Jr. with Factory Letter - Serial no. 20990, 30 cal., 20 inch round bbl., blue finish, deluxe checkered walnut stock. The included factory letter from 1979 addressed to legendary collector and
dealer Norm Flayderman lists this carbine in .30 caliber with a “fancy checkered stock,” oil finish, handguard, “Capt. J.R. Hegeman, Jr.” engraved on the frame, and “stock engraved Winchester.” It was received in the warehouse on May 20, 1899, and shipped the same day. It has a repaired and return date of February 27, 1902. The carbine was sold by Flayderman to Charles Shreiner III of the famous Y-O Ranch in Texas in 1983 along with Hegeman’s sword in the following lot and the Winchester Model 1895 carbine presented to Major General Nelson A. Miles by Hegeman that was shipped
in December of 1899. The two carbines and the sword are also featured in “Man at Arms” Volume
1 Number 6 from November/December 1979 in the article “A Matter of Provenance” by R.L. Wilson where Wilson notes this carbine and the carbine presented by Hegeman to General Miles “comprise two of only a handful of fancy, deluxe carbines with checkered wood. Hegeman’s is particularly rare because of the unusual matted barrel.”Wilson also notes that Hegeman was an important
early collector of Colt firearms with obvious connections to the factory given his possession of guns that fill holes within the factory collection
donated to the Connecticut State Library. He also references the Single Action from the preceding lot with the “Wounded Knee” inscription.
The carbine features a beaded blade front sight with a hood, very scarce matted top of the barrel and barrel band, no rear sight seat, Lyman receiver mounted peep sight, two-line address and patent marking on the left, “-WINCHESTER-/MODEL
1895” inscribed in place of the usual stamped marking on the upper tang, “CAPT. J.R. HEGEMAN JR.” inscribed on the right side of the frame, and the serial number on the lower tang. The carbine has a fancy grade set of wood with beautiful figure throughout, whereas many Winchesters have figure mainly only on the buttstocks. The handguard is solid and does not have a cut out for a rear sight, and the forearm has multi-point checkering that stops at the finger grooves.
The buttstock has checkering on the wrist, “WINCHESTER” engraved in a nickel silver plaque on the left side, and a trapdoor buttplate with a “KSM” inspection mark on the heel for Ordnance Inspector Kelly S. Morse who inspected the 10,000 Winchester Model 1895s ordered by the U.S. Ordnance Department for the Spanish-American War. They arrived to late to be issued, and after 100 were tested in the Philippines, they were
sold off as surplus and mainly ended up in Cuba. The buttstock has numerous “kill marks” along
the edges of the comb and along the bottom suggesting the rifle was used extensively by Hegeman for hunting.