Posted on 02/19/2006 5:23:09 PM PST by Lorianne
Traditional Winchester rifles, including the famous Model 94, will no longer be produced when the plant in New Haven, Conn., closes March 31.
Modern, high-end rifles bearing the Winchester name will be produced in Belgium, Japan and Portugal, according to Robert Sauvage, a spokesman for the Herstal Group, the Belgium company that owns U.S. Repeating Arms and the rights to the Winchester name.
The Model 1894 appeared on the American scene in August 1895 and changed the world of shooting almost overnight.
It was chambered for the .30-30 and .25-35 cartridges. You could get the lever action in a rifle with a 26-inch barrel or as a carbine with a 20-inch barrel. The cost was only $18. Today, the original Model 1894 in excellent condition will bring in the vicinity of $1,500, according to Stoeger’s Gun Trader’s Guide.
It’s interesting to note with Winchester rifles manufactured before 1918 that the date of manufacture was used as the model number. So Winchesters produced before 1918 would be called the Model 1894. After 1918 Winchester went to a two-digit model number and the Model 1894 became known as the Model 94.
Early Model 1894 Winchesters, those made before 1918, came in other calibers including the .32-40, .32 Special and .38-55.
Most had a seven-shot tubular magazine and some came with a 4-shot or half magazine. The gun came with round, octagon or half-octagon barrels.
While the .30-30 cartridge was not the first smokeless cartridge developed, it was the first smokeless “sporting” cartridge of its time. The 160 grain jacketed bullet left the muzzle of the Model 1894 at a speedy 1,970 feet per second. Fast for those early days.
The Winchester Model 94 is without a doubt the most recognizable rifle of all time. Various editions have been presented to dignitaries, and one with the serial number 1,000,000 was presented to President Calvin Coolidge. Another, with the serial number 1,500,000 was given to President Harry Truman.
Today serial numbers have surpassed 5,000,000.
A western movie wouldn’t be a western movie if the likes of Gary Cooper, Tex Ritter, Rex Allen, Randolph Scott, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rodgers and the Lone Ranger didn’t carry a Model 94 in their saddle scabbard.
While John Wayne carried the Model 1892 (Model 92) in many of his early movies, he began carrying a Model 94 with the hoop finger lever in the film True Grit.
It’s no doubt the value of even the newer Model 94’s will escalate in price. The price suggested for the Winchester 94 Legacy in Shooter’s Bible is suggested at $485 for the round barrel and $882 for the octagon barrel.
If you have an older Model 94, say pre-WWII and with a serial number less than 1,300,000, it will get around $1000. A Model 94 pre-1964 with serial number below 2,700,00 will bring more than $600.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Winchester could be bought back by an American company, produced in the same plant in New Haven that once employed 19,000 during WWII? This way the “Gun the Won the West” could ride back onto the American scene like Harley-Davidson?
The 94 was a perfect black tail deer gun here in the brush of Humboldt county.
I also had a pre-64 model 94. It was a common model in 30-30. I always thought the model 94 suffered very little in the 1964 redesign. The newer ones seem just about as good to me.
LOL, unfortunately, I didn't have the cash to buy the third '94 (the one built in 1950). The unfired bicentennial edition I bought is going to stay that way and be a safe queen. Someone was just selling the box for it on Ebay and was getting over $65 for it.
Prefer Marlin.
I had a chance ten years ago to buy a 100th anniversary Annie Oakley .22. Really coool. Octogon barrel, special engraving and a serial number under 100.
I had to turn it down because I didn't have $600 at the time. They said it was a good investment. I wonder how much it is worth now.
Because not many people are buying Winchesters. The latest issue of Field & Stream has a non-scientific poll on the most popular firearms. The Remington 700 rifle and 11* shotguns are far and away the most popular.
I bought a used Win 70 in 7mm mag with BOSS, and I love it. I'd like to see Winchester continue.
LOL! Are you sureWinchester's the offending party here? And are you sure the offending structure isn't an onion-dome rather than a "minaret"? ROFL!
I still hunt with my 1950 Model 94 .30-30. The only deer gun I prefer is my BLR .308 but only because its a bit lighter.
My father had a Model 70 Featherweight chambered in 30-06 that he purchased new in '59 for $109. When he found out the was going to die of prostate cancer, he gave it to my twin brother in the original cardboard box with the cancelled check and the purchase receipt...
Because the two of you couldn't come up with the cash to buy the company yourselves.
They use a new soft ballistic tip for using pointed bullets in tubular magazines.
You really need a scope on to get the real potential out of this ammo.
That makes the Marlin side eject a better rifle for a scope.
nice factoids
So would I but it is hard when your products last for generations if well taken care of.
And because Uberti and others are making better "Winchesters" than Winchester for Cowboy Action Shooting.
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