Featured Collection

A unique Model 1894 Winchester Musket.

From the collection of WACA member Rob Kassab

About this gun:

Winchester 1894 Musket .30 WCF s/n 503008 mfg 1909 - 30” round barrel; full mag; carbine- style rear sight graduated to 200 yards; square base front sight base/bayonet lug; straight grain walnut stocks w/full forend and three barrel bands; smooth case colored carbine/musket style buttplate w/no trap door; sling swivel in buttstock and in middle barrel band; angular bayonet. Barrel retains 98% bright blue with wear near muzzle from bayonet; receiver retains 95% bright blue with some minor areas of flaking; hammer, lever and trigger retain most of their original strong vivid case colors; buttplate retains 40% vivid case colors with balance turning silver; stocks retain nearly all of their original oil finish with some light handling marks; mechanics are crisp; bore is brilliant. Bayonet is mostly bright with a few minor handling marks. This rare musket was a sample gun made by the Winchester factory to test the feasibility of a model 1894 in musket configuration and is one of four known ‘94 muskets as listed in the Inventory of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company Firearms Reference Collection. The gun was originally acquired from the Winchester factory museum and recently purchased from the Eldon Owens collection.

The 1894 Winchester Musket

Throughout his career as a successful arms manufacturer, Oliver F. Winchester was in constant pursuit of government arms contracts. As a shrewd business man, Winchester knew that landing large volume contracts, even with significant price discounting, would contribute handsomely to his company's bottom line. This quest began when he was with the New Haven Arms Company, and continued throughout the years of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Even after his death, the company continued to pursue government contracts. To satisfy military requirements, a number of variations of arms were made throughout the years; not the least of which was the musket configuration.

In the 1860's, Winchester began accumulating various experimental models, variations and sample arms within their own in-house factory museum in New Haven. Over the years, the collection grew to more than 3,500 items. In the 1970's, this collection was donated by Olin-Winchester to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Cody Firearms Museum. There is a hard cover reference book titled Inventory of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company Firearms Reference Collection which is a facsimile copy of the typescript inventory compiled over the years by T.C. Johnson, F.F. Burton, E. Pugsley and T.E. Hall, which documents all the arms in detail prior to the transfer to Cody. There are four model 1894 muskets listed from the collection:

The first musket listed is on display at the Cody Museum. The second musket, serial number 503008, is the only known 1894 musket designed to accept a model 1873 angular socket bayonet. According to Winchester's records: "This musket is impractical because of height of front sight required-which prohibits the passage of the bayonet." If you have any information concerning any other 1894 muskets, I would appreciate an email to Rob@RareWinchesters.com

Rob Kassab

www.RareWinchesters.com

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