Winchester Winchester 1894 .32-40 Special Order Lever Action .32-40 Winchester (.32-40 Ballard) Rifle

Antique No License Required.

Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle in .32-40 Winchester, chambered in one of the two cartridges for which John Browning's design was originally introduced in 1894. This example is built to the full rifle configuration, carrying a 26-inch cylindrical barrel — the standard rifle-length fitment of the period, intended for the sportsman rather than the saddle-gun market. Of particular note is the short special-order magazine tube. Winchester's factory order system allowed customers to specify reduced magazine lengths, and such departures from standard specification are documented as genuinely uncommon; collector research into early production 1894s records only isolated examples of short-tube configurations, making this a notable variant. The bore is in excellent order. Overall condition is good and original throughout, retaining honest period character without restoration.

The .32-40 Winchester cartridge was one of the two chamberings available from the model's first year of production, originally loaded with black powder before the transition to smokeless propellants. It ceased to be a factory chambering around 1940, lending early examples in this calibre additional collector interest. The Model 1894 itself went on to become one of the most produced and widely recognised sporting rifles in American history, with over 7.5 million manufactured, yet early rifle-configuration examples in original condition and with special-order features stand apart from the common run of post-war carbines.

Ref: 038

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