Special order Winchester Model 1894 Fancy Sporting Rifle with factory engraving and gold bands inlaid on the barrel at the breech and muzzle. This rifle is pictured on page 266 in the "THE BOOK OF WINCHESTER ENGRAVING, 2nd Ed." by R.L. Wilson. The rifle is complete with a letter from the Winchester Arms Museum that states it was shipped from Winchester on January 28, 1908 and returned for repair on February 27, 1913. The letter lists the rifle features as caliber 32 WS, 24 inch 1/2 octagon barrel, matted barrel, plain trigger, trigger milled, fancy pistol grip-carved and checkered style F Lyman receiver sight, no rear sight, Sheartle's Gold bead front sight sent by customer, engraved $10.00 - #6, engraved scrolls on barrel and inlay gold band at breech and tip. The rifle has a blue barrel, magazine, forearm cap, bolt and receiver. The hammer, lever and crescent buttplate are color casehardened. The top of the half octagon barrel is matted. The barrel has a Sheard front sight with ivory insert and a standard Winchester sporting rear sight that was apparently installed after the rifle was shipped from the factory in 1908. A Lyman "D-DA" receiver sight is mounted on the left side of the receiver. The rifle has a special order wide trigger with knurled face. Special markings moved to the left barrel flat include the two-line legend "MANUFACTURED BY WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO./NEW HAVEN. CONN. U.S.A.PATENTED AUGUST 21, 1894." ahead of the rear sight. "-NICKEL STEEL BARREL-/ESPECIALLY FOR SMOKELESS POWDER" is roll-stamped on the left side of the barrel below the rear sight followed by the oval Winchester "W/P" proofmark. The caliber "32 W.S." is stamped on the left side of the barrel in an engraved oval. The Winchester proof is stamped on the top of the receiver. The upper tang is roll-stamped "MODEL 1894/-WINCHESTER-/TRADE MARK" in three lines with engraved borders at either end. The serial number "278918" is stamped across the bottom of the receiver. The muzzle and rear flats of the barrel at the receiver, forearm cap, top sides and bottom of the receiver and upper tang and heel of the buttplate are decorated with Winchester No. 6 factory engraving and extra scrollwork on the barrel muzzle and breech. No. 6 engraving is described on page 15 of the 1897 edition of "HIGHLY FINISHED WINCHESTER RIFLES" as "border, line and ribbon engraving". The left side of the receiver features a game scene with a detailed Bighorn Ram and the right side of the receiver has a game scene with a White Tail Buck. Gold bands are inlaid on the barrel at the edge of the receiver and muzzle to the edge of the matting. The forearm and pistol grip stock are highly figured fancy grain walnut with "Style F" relief carving and fine checkering. The pistol grip has a black hard rubber cap embossed with "WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS". The stock and forearm have a high polish piano finish.

Very fine. The barrel, magazine, forearm cap and receiver retain 85% plus of the original blue finish with some minor wear at the muzzle. The finish on the sides of the forearm cap is thin. Contact points on the top and sides of the receiver have faded to a blue-gray patina. Most of the blue finish is present of the sides of the receiver, lower tang and bolt. The loading gate retains 50% of the niter blue finish. The hammer and lever have strong case colors. The casehardened finish on the buttplate has faded to a silver-gray patina. The engraving and highly detailed game scenes are sharp. The factory markings on the barrel and receiver are crisp. The stock and forearm have been professionally refinished. The fancy grain stock and forearm are both very fine with sharp relief carvings and light to moderate handling wear on the checkering. The stock and forearm show only a few very minor handling marks. This is a very fine example of a rare special order factory engraved and gold inlaid Winchester Model 1894 Fancy Sporting Rifle with rarely encountered special order matted half-octagon barrel.