Rifleman Q & A: Model 1894 Peculiarities

by
posted on December 19, 2018
pecular.jpg

Q: Can you help identify peculiarities of my Winchester Model 1894, chambered in .32 Spl., with serial No. 1781XX. The sights are of a variety I have not encountered on Model 1894s, and the proofmarks are unfamiliar as well.

A: The marks are the proof and view marks of the London Proof House. This shows that your gun was once sold in England. It does not necessarily mean that the gun was shipped from the factory to England, but it could have been. The proofmarks just tell us that, sometime in the life of the gun, it was sold, new or used, in England and, therefore, had to pass the proofing system.

The front sight looks to me like someone just took out the short factory blade and inserted a longer, homemade blade.

The rear sight is the Winchester Model 34 Express sight. This reinforces my thought that your gun may have been ordered from the factory with that sight, which was popular with British hunters who went off to India or Africa. I’m not sure from the photo, but it looks like the middle flip-up blade may be missing.

The factory records for your Winchester Model 1894, provided by the Cody Firearms Museum, indicate there is nothing unusual about the carbine, and its manufacture date is 1903. The “Order number T106303” issued would give all the information about the customer, etc., but all of the shipping records are missing from the collection and appear to have been discarded by Winchester or one of the firms that later bought the Winchester company.

--Michael F. Carrick

Latest

 American Revolution painting
 American Revolution painting

The Shot Heard Round The World: The Arms & Events Of April 19, 1775

April 2025 marks 250 years since the momentous events at Lexington and Concord—the opening salvos of the American Revolution. Today, exhaustive research of primary accounts and surviving firearms and artifacts give us a clearer picture of what really happened.

Gun Of The Week: Browning Citori 825 Field

Learn about Browning's latest version of the famed Citori shotgun, the Citori 825 Field, in this week’s range video.

The Armed Citizen® April 18, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

"The Shot Heard Round The World:" 250 Years Later

On April 19, 1775, simmering tensions between Great Britain and her colonists erupted into warfare with the engagements at the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord.

Watchtower Firearms Re-Organizing

Watchtower Firearms, a veteran-owned firm based in Texas filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in late February 2025 to restructure and re-organize its financial structure.

The Road To Revolution: 250 Years Later

The militiamen who stood in defiance on Lexington Green are the first who fired upon the British regulars, but the road to revolution was paved long before gunfire erupted on that cold April morning in Massachusetts.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.