Rifleman Q&A: Altered Winchester 1894

Q. I am in possession of an old firearm—a Winchester Model 1894 carbine, Serial No. 219XXX—that is in 98 percent condition and different than most others I’ve encountered. It has a 21.5" half-octagon/half-round barrel. The magazine appears to be half-size, too. It has a crescent butt, great rifling and is chambered for the .30 WCF (.30-30 Win.) cartridge.

Is this combination of features in a Model 1894 rare?

A. I have obtained information about your gun from Winchester’s factory records. They show that your rifle shipped on Aug. 1, 1904, and that, at the time, it had a 26" full-length octagon barrel. Since then, either the original barrel has been shortened and had half the octagonal section turned round or a different barrel was installed. It appears to me like the original barrel was altered. In addition, the magazine and fore-end have been shortened. The Lyman sight is a Model 66A, circa 1953, so it is possible the work on the gun was done around the mid-1950s.

To answer your question, yes, it is a very rare configuration, maybe unique, but it would have very little value to a collector because there is no record of who performed the very nice alterations.

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