alamo
Member
A friend of mine needs help with one of these. Here's what he's got. Thanks for any help-
Please help me identify and appraise this lever gun.
Basically wondering what's a fair price, and is it a shooter or collector? I've got a blue book, but doesn't mention this particular configuration (18" bbl), or how to devalue refinished guns.
It's a Winchester 1892, in .44-40, made in 1918 per oldguns.net.
It's got an 18" barrel, which wasn't standard on the 1892s (20, 24, 14, 15, 16 inch were normal). It was reimported by Century Arms, and refinished (unknown whether by importer, suspect yes), with apparently non-original barrel band, sanded or replaced wood, and reblued throughout. Bore is a little dark, rifling is shallow. Bluing now 95% overall; fresh pitting on the front side of receiver at wood-metal interface would drop this value.
Original markings:
Winchester "WP" proof on top of barrel at chamber and top front of receiver. Receiver proof partially obliterated by wear or refinishing.
Serial number "863xxx" on bottom front of receiver, as is usual for this model.
".44 W.C.F." on left side of barrel at chamber, as is usual for this model.
Winchester patent numbers / New Haven CT (the usual marks) on left side of barrel forward of the chamber, as is usual for this model. 'Haven' in New Haven is mostly obliterated by previous wear or sandblasting prior to rebluing.
Suspected non-original markings:
"78" on bottom of receiver left of lever. Possibly the reimport date??
"CENTURY ARMS INC. ST. ALBANS, VT" on lower tang.
Foreign proof on left front of receiver, just behind the forend wood. Looks like a stylized Christmas tree. Represented below, but the forward & back slashes should nearly or totally connect at the 'trunk', forming an two upside down V's, and the "trunk" is a single continuous vertical line, which joins the upper of the two horizontal lines. Top left slash is fainter than the rest, and not connected at the 'trunk':
/|\
|
/|\
|
Please help me identify and appraise this lever gun.
Basically wondering what's a fair price, and is it a shooter or collector? I've got a blue book, but doesn't mention this particular configuration (18" bbl), or how to devalue refinished guns.
It's a Winchester 1892, in .44-40, made in 1918 per oldguns.net.
It's got an 18" barrel, which wasn't standard on the 1892s (20, 24, 14, 15, 16 inch were normal). It was reimported by Century Arms, and refinished (unknown whether by importer, suspect yes), with apparently non-original barrel band, sanded or replaced wood, and reblued throughout. Bore is a little dark, rifling is shallow. Bluing now 95% overall; fresh pitting on the front side of receiver at wood-metal interface would drop this value.
Original markings:
Winchester "WP" proof on top of barrel at chamber and top front of receiver. Receiver proof partially obliterated by wear or refinishing.
Serial number "863xxx" on bottom front of receiver, as is usual for this model.
".44 W.C.F." on left side of barrel at chamber, as is usual for this model.
Winchester patent numbers / New Haven CT (the usual marks) on left side of barrel forward of the chamber, as is usual for this model. 'Haven' in New Haven is mostly obliterated by previous wear or sandblasting prior to rebluing.
Suspected non-original markings:
"78" on bottom of receiver left of lever. Possibly the reimport date??
"CENTURY ARMS INC. ST. ALBANS, VT" on lower tang.
Foreign proof on left front of receiver, just behind the forend wood. Looks like a stylized Christmas tree. Represented below, but the forward & back slashes should nearly or totally connect at the 'trunk', forming an two upside down V's, and the "trunk" is a single continuous vertical line, which joins the upper of the two horizontal lines. Top left slash is fainter than the rest, and not connected at the 'trunk':
/|\
|
/|\
|
