My heirloom 1892

[VUPDblue]

I know few details about this ol Winchester. It is chambered in .25-20 WCF and the wood has been refinished somewhere along the way. It belonged to my dad’s great uncle, who worked for the railroad, and I believe he was the original owner. The serial number dates it to 1903 or 1904, depending on which database you look at. Dad has stories about rabbit hunting with this rifle long ago. It’s been passed down through the family and I now have it. The finish is great with normal wear for a rifle of it’s age. I have never shot it, or even believe that it’s been fired since I’ve been alive. The stock appears to have medallions of some kind in it that I know nothing about. I’ve always loved these old lever guns but I am far from versed in their history.

 

[42769vette]

Very cool piece.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Love these Winchester Central Fires!

A little know secret but I know first hand this round will take Mr Deer. Back in the day we used 2400 pistol powder to heat up the round a little. I also picked off rabbit when the cotton tail would pause and the factory round did not tear Peter up to bad for eatin.

 

[Leadeye]

Nice looking rifle, get some ammo and exercise that old gun a bit. I've never owned a 25-20 but have shot lots of 32-20, it's an easy shooting cartridge.

 

[VUPDblue]

I have a couple new production boxes of ammo for it and I plan on shooting it in the near future.

 

[jwamplerusa]

VUPDBlue,

That is just beautiful! A classic lever action, with family history, very nice.

 

[indykid]

Beautiful rifle, and more so since it is a family heirloom.

Wonder if that item on the top of the stock is a repair?

Been a fan of lever Winchesters, have an 1985 myself.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Oooh... That's purty...

 

[KJQ6945]

That is a beautiful gun VUPD. Congratulations!

There is generally always steel hanging in the back yard, you are welcome anytime.

 

[red_zr24x4]

That is nice! Great bit of family history also.
Can you go into a little detail on the spot on the stock? Looks like its top and bottom, some sort of repair? hole all the way through?

 

[VUPDblue]

That is nice! Great bit of family history also.
Can you go into a little detail on the spot on the stock? Looks like its top and bottom, some sort of repair? hole all the way through?

I wish I could. The medallions are similar but I don’t have any idea why they are there.

 

[KJQ6945]

I wish I could. The medallions are similar but I don’t have any idea why they are there.

Better pictures of them, and ask Leadeye. This is his area of expertise.

 

[Thor]

That would be a sweet gun to have minus the family history. A real treasure there.

 

[bcannon]

Very cool rifle with great history Blue

 

[LarryC]

Great looking rifle - especially for being 115 -116 years old. I also like lever actions but can't afford one like that! Great family history too, that's a real keeper.

 

[Leadeye]

Better pictures of them, and ask Leadeye. This is his area of expertise.

Personalizing rifles with inserts or carving was pretty common back in that day. I've seen Winchesters with old coins from their era set in the stocks which is an interesting touch. The brass parts might be made from something connected with the railroad as he was employed there.

 

[Sigblitz]

I have a couple new production boxes of ammo for it and I plan on shooting it in the near future.

I'm assuming that was made for a black powder cartridge, not smokeless powder.

And that is a sweet rifle.

 

[Sigblitz]

I'm just spitballing without looking anything up. But that's around the time the switch was made to smokeless on most rifles. It's just a few years newer than my Colt Lightning.

 

[Mongo59]

A fine piece you have there. Cooler than cool with all that history. Make sure to write it down for the kids...

 

[Sigblitz]

I'm assuming that was made for a black powder cartridge, not smokeless powder.

And that is a sweet rifle.

From Wiki

While the SAAMI pressure rating is a full 28,000 CUP, modern ammunition is often loaded lighter in deference to the weaker steels used on many of the original guns. The early black powder cartridges were loaded to about 20,000 psi, but the SAAMI rating is close to that of the high velocity smokeless rounds produced later. The high velocity loadings developed 1,732 ft/s.