44 cal Centerfire Winchester 1892

[sawmill hank]

I have an very early octagonal barrel winchester .44 Centerfire 1892. The barrel and stock are in excellent condition, but the gate is missing from the side and in my life it has never been fired. I would be very interested in knowing what the value of this piece is and if there is a market for such a gun. It was a great uncle's and it has been in the family since it came west.

[Xracer]

Hi Hank........welcome to TFF! :)

Indeed, there's always a market for old lever action Winchesters.

Value is determined by condition, type (rifle, carbine, or trapper's carbine, or musket), and rarity.....so, I have to ask you a few questions.

1) What is the barrel length?

2) What is the serial #?

3) Is it a takedown or solid frame model?

4) Does it have a fancy pistol grip and checkered wood?

5) What is the approximate % of original finish left?

The missing loading gate will detract from the value, but you might be able to find one here: http://www.e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp?chrMasterModel=0950z1892

[sawmill hank]

Xracer, thanks for the reply. I can see I've got a lot to learn about gun valuation.

My guess is that 75% of the original finish is left, but because I never saw it new it'd be hard ta say:D

I'll have ta get the guns down and measure the barrels again. The serial on this one is 75990.
I think this one is a solid type.

What's the difference between pistol grip vs checkered wood?

Thanks for the link about the gate. I'm no gunsmith but I'll look into it.

[sawmill hank]

Finally got the soninlaw over to help get this gun out and photo it.

I measure the barrel while it was out--24"

I shot this a few times when I was a kid. Don't know how or when the gate went missing any more. The trigger is stuck as well. Probably just needs some cleaning with better eyes on the job than mine.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/383457434_34840ebdae.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/383457504_299a905416.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/383457652_51d56762f8.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/134/383457733_a184875de8.jpg

[Goody]

From your pictures we can tell that it is a standard configuration rifle, 24" barrel, straight stock, full length magazine, with decent amount of finish left on barrel/mag. There is however no CC left on receiver and some gouges on same. Most screws are buggered, the missing loading ladle, both take points away. We can't see front sight, inside of barrel or buttstock. Assuming these are OK, IE the barrel has strong rifling, minor pitting to be expected, the butt stock is not cracked, chipped, the buttplate is present. If this assessment is correct I would grade it between fair and good, $450-$700. If I saw this gun on a table at a gunshow I would expect to pay about $500, no more.

[Xracer]

OK Hank......here's what you've got.

Model 1892, straight grip, standard rifle made in 1894.

Hard to tell from the photos, but from what I can see, it looks to be in about the 30% - 40% range (no finish left on the receiver, some bluing left on barrel). That places the value in the in the $600 to $750 range....

but.....add 50% for .44-40 WCF caliber, and.....

30% for early antique ser. no. range (under 168,000) and we come up with a value of somewhere around $1170 to $1460.

Now, that would be the value if completely intact. The missing loading gate would detract from that value, but I don't know how much.

You might be able to get the parts to fix it from GunPartsCorp, but they won't match the patina on the reciever, so that won't help a heck of a lot.

However, if this were my gun, and "it came west with the family", I'd consider it a family heirloom and wouldn't even consider selling it.

[Goody]

X, not to be argumentative, as we all know that values from region to region can vary. I did miss the part about it being a pre 1898 gun, but the "Standard Catalog" calls for a 10% premium, and makes no mention of a caliber premium on this model. Coming out of the gate we both agree on the overall condition of the weapon, I think.

Again, not trying to argue, rather I am trying to broaden my knowledge from what others see.

[Xracer]

OK Goody.......I don't have any personal knowledge of value of this firearm......my values came from the 27th Edition of the Blue Book, page 1874.

[Goody]

OK Goody.......I don't have any personal knowledge of value of this firearm......my values came from the 27th Edition of the Blue Book, page 1874.

Really? I had no idea that there was that much variation from "The Standard Catalog" and "The Blue Book". I guess I need to get one of those. I have always favored the "Catalog" as it seems to have more guns listed and sometimes the pictures do help. Thanks.