new old toy: early elegant 1894 ELW

[hfcable]

this is one of those little rifles with the rapid tapered barrel, takedown, special order gun, this one from 1907. appears to have been little used. these guns are very light weight, very nicely balanced, and this one is .30 WCf, with new looking bore.





it has nice sights: the triple leaf folding rear sight, which i really like because when the two taller leaves are folded the tang sight is easily used. the front sight is a triple bead: one ivory bead for 'low light' conditions i guess, a brass bead, and then a black bead, to switch between depending on the conditions.







this rifle should be a good little shooter, and hunting gun, a bit nice for carrying hunting but what the heck are they for otherwise [ well other than to ogle, fondle, shoot, etc]

[Chuck 100 yd]

Nice find!!

[airedaleman]

Elegant it certainly is! A rare find, and I hope you have a great time with it.

[awp101]

Wow... Rather impressive!

[Griff]

Very nice. Several nice special order items.

[jdad]

Nice rifle! To have working King front sight is a big plus!

[rjohns94]

thats just sweet.

[Jaguarundi]

Sweet find and thanks for posting !

[KirkD]

Beautiful rifle. Thanks for the photos so that the rest of us can enjoy what appears to be a rare, special order Winchester. Very nice indeed.

[RIHMFIRE]

Good look'n rifle!

[Ysabel Kid]

Wow - that's a keeper! I've never seen a front sight like that one. You always find the neatest stuff!!!

[Mike D.]

EXCELLENT '94!! What a beauty! I've saved my gold for the same thing, but in .38-55.

[hfcable]

EXCELLENT '94!! What a beauty! I've saved my gold for the same thing, but in .38-55.

yep, that would have been the capper, one of these in 38/55, would have been my choice too. harder to find, but they are out there, but cost a lot more usually! good luck looking! i will keep my eyes out for you!

[Cimarron Red]

hfcable,

Great rifle! Here are some pics of a similar one but in .38-55. I've posted these before, some time ago. My 1894 was made in 1921 and has the following features:

.38-55
nickle steel, part octagon, rapid taper, 24 inch barrel
take-down frame
shotgun butt stock with Whelen fluted comb
Marble's tang sight
Lyman front sight on a ramp

The groove diameter of this barrel is .379" and the O. D. at the muzzle is .570".

You are right about the wonderful balance of these rifles

[Ben_Rumson]

Glad you got it....It should be a joy to have a field..What a perfect hunting rifle..I tip my hat to the hunter that ordered up that rifle..He really knew what counts... Light weight! (pack it all day no sweat) ..Light barrel & Short mag..reduces weight.(Who needs more than a couple of rounds anyway?) Sights..WOW It looks like he had it all covered! SWEET!...Breaks down for easy transport & easy cleaning..

[meanc]

That front sight is one of the neatest things I've ever seen on a levergun.

[awp101]

I like those mag tubes, are they special for the TD or just half-mags?

[Bruce]

AWP,

Those are special takedown mag tubes, which are half mag in these two. Lift up the latch, unscrew the tube and pull it out. Open the action and turn the barrel assembly a quarter turn and pull it off of the receiver. Here is another.

[Hobie]

I know I'd like to have known the original owner. Beautiful gun!

[shawn_c992001]

+1 Hobie

[awp101]

Thanks Bruce!

[kimwcook]

All of those rifles are beauts. I fell in love with the '94 Bicentenniel when I first saw it. The half oct/round bbl. looks nice to me. Thanks for the pic's guys.

[Cimarron Red]

AWP101,

Less than full magazines were a special order feature on all models 94, but they were common on rifles and were even seen on some carbines. The two 94 spin-off models -- the 55 and 64 -- had half magazines as standard. The rarest of the part-magazines is the 3/4 length. The half magazines on solid frame rifles were commonly called button mags as most had rounded caps that extended just beyond the fore arm giving the appearance of a button.