Any of you gunnutz out there have an opinion on half round barrel Winchesters? Conventional wisdom is that if a Winchester was ordered with a half round barrel unless the customer specified he wanted a full magazine it was shipped with a half or "button mag" as collectors like to call them. This seems to be borne out by the many Winchester half rounds I have seen as the majority have button mags(at least in the 1894 model). But the half magazine was a special order feature as well so perhaps if the customer ordered a half round he would order the half mag as well. Any of you guys have half rounds with full magazines and if so what ratio would your experience give half rounds, half mags versus half rounds, full mag. George Madis, in his Winchester Book seemed to feel that they were shipped with half mags unless specified but I have my doubts.
Half round barrelled Winchesters
- Thread starter Mike Webb
- Start date
Same rifle as mine, does yours have a .32 Special Smokeless Sight as well? I have seen two or three 1894's half round, full mag in the flesh and dozens of half round button mags. In the 1886 there seem to be more half round, full mags around as was mentioned.
hugh manuell
Regular
- Location
- Central Ontario
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
I have a half round 30wcf with button magazine.
When I was a kid my grandfather had a 32 special with the unsupported 1/2 magazine(roughly m64 length without retainer ring).
I had a 38-55 with full magazine
When I was a kid my grandfather had a 32 special with the unsupported 1/2 magazine(roughly m64 length without retainer ring).
I had a 38-55 with full magazine
I don't have any half rounds with full mags, but do have a nice half round with half mag. I thought I would share a couple pics. I really like this combination, they handle and come up really well. Balance out very nicely. This one is a 32-40. Letters from Cody with 1/2 Octagon barrel, 1/2 magazine, Take Down, Lyman Receiver (Lyman 21) and Combination Front (Globe), plain trigger, and with a Nickel Steel barrel. Don't see too many 32-40s with Nickel Steel barrels. Nickel steel barrels on 32-40s and 38-55s are special order. Gun was shipped in 1906. Apart from a few light pitting marks on the receiver, this gun is in really nice shape. One of my favorites among my 1894s.
Matt
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Matt
Awesome 94, Matt. I don't know where some of you guys find these rifles, the condition of that one is outstanding. Most of the older 94's I encounter are pretty much gray guns. A friend just picked up a half round, half mag that has about 98% blue on the barrel and mag but some p*ckerhead polished ALL of the remaining finish off the receiver. It's enough to make you puke.
Very nice Matt.
Much like my .32.
These special order guns & it seems especially T/Ds always have very nice wood. I know it's standard to upgrade the wood to 1x on special order guns but the wood is always nicer than that IMHO.
Much like my .32.
These special order guns & it seems especially T/Ds always have very nice wood. I know it's standard to upgrade the wood to 1x on special order guns but the wood is always nicer than that IMHO.
Thanks Mike. Well, where do I find them? Not around here! I have a really hard time like the rest of you finding high condition guns around here, but given the strength of our dollar recently, I have brought a few up from the US. Don't get me wrong, occasionally something will pop up up here, but I spend a lot of time on the Net looking at US sites, and talking to collectors I know down there. I decided to narrow the focus of my Winchester collecting, and sold several off to go in this new direction. I decided to go for high condition, optioned-out 1894s, and my favorites, 1886 ELWs / LWs. And the odd 71 or 64. I brought a couple really nice and rare ELW 45-70s up from the US too. They are guns a fellow just has a hard time finding up here, so why not given the high dollar, and weaker economy down there. I figure we have lost so many across the border, doesn't hurt to bring some back in the other direction!
Anyway, I posted those pics hoping others may do the same. As the old saying goes, threads are useless without them
Matt
