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Winchester Model 1894 Questions

760 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  frankazin 
#1 ·
I am new to the forum and this is my first post (be kind). I have a couple of questions regarding my Winchester Model 1894. First of all its serial number is 176363 so according to the lists I have looked at, its birth date is sometime early in 1899. Problem number one is that it has lost the BEAD on the front sight blade. So, can I replace the bead alone or do I have to replace the entire front sight? So immediately my next problem is that if I replace the entire front sight, will that affect the value? My next qwestion is of course, what is the value? I will post a picture shortly, but let me describe it as best I can. It was owned by the family of the original cowboy that bought it, until my Father bought it from the family in 1945. It has all the original screws and pieces to the best of my knowledge and it operates and shoots just fine. It has approximately a 26 inch octogan nickel steel barrel. It has never been blued and it shows a fair amount of rubbing the bluing away, but no dings or anything (except for the aforementioned front sight bead). The original stock, butt plate and sling hardware is in great shape. Except and this could be good, bad, or not matter, somewhere around the turn of the century (1900-or shortly thereafter) someone (the original cowboy?) bleached the stock and fore-end to a not unpleasant yellowish white and carved a diamond shape in the middle of the stock on each side and inserted a diamond of deep reddish Manzanita Wood. My Dad bought the rifle in Arizona so the Manzanita Wood makes sense there. Any thoughts or questions? Thanks everyone.....................
 
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#2 ·
Sounds like you have a real treasure. I wouldnt sweat the bead. The original owner most likely removed it a sit impeded his fine sight picture. I would not replace a single thing on it. As to true value create a new thread in the "ask the pros and whats it worth" forum. Do include pictures.

Welcome to TFF.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply, I was wondering about that option, but it doesn't really create a better sight picture, I am sure that it was just knocked off and I probably did it while travelling. I guess that I didn't mention that I used it for a number of years until I started thinking about the value. I killed my first Deer with it and several more after that. I also should have mentioned that it is a great mid-range rifle and two of the Mulies I shot were out around 350 yards or a bit more. But this was after I returned from the service and military training where I was a USMC Sniper in Viet Nam. Thanks again for your response.
 
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