Winchester 1892 .38 WCF 24″ Octagon Lever Rifle MFD 1893 Antique
SOLD FOR: $1,725.00
LSB#: LSB260629EB033
Make: Winchester
Model: 1892
Serial Number: 15966
Year of Manufacture: 1893 / Antique
Caliber: .38 WCF (.38-40 Winchester)
Action Type: Lever Action with a Tubular Magazine
Markings: The top of the barrel is marked “MANUFACTURED BY THE” over “WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO. NEW HAVEN. CONN. U.S.A.” and “38 W.C.F.” near the receiver. The upper tang is marked “MODEL 1892”, “WINCHESTER”, and “PAT. OCT. 14. 1884”.
Barrel Length: 24″, Octagonal
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade in a dovetailed base. The rear sight is a buckhorn-style notch sight with a stepped elevator, dovetailed into the barrel. There is one drilled, tapped, and filled tang-sight mounting hole on the upper tang.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The two-piece wood stock has a smooth forend with a metal cap, straight grip, straight comb, and a steel crescent buttplate. There are scattered scratches, small dents, and areas of finish wear. There is a small repair at the top right corner of the wrist. The buttplate has wear and mottled discoloration. The LOP measures 12 3/4″ from the front of the trigger to the rear of the buttplate. Overall, the stocks are in Good condition as Antique.
Type of Finish: Blued, Case Color
Finish Originality: Original, with cold-blue touch-up in worn areas.
Bore Condition: The bore is dull and the rifling is defined though worn. There is modest to heavy erosion throughout. In this writer’s opinion the bore rates 3/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 5-10% of its metal finish. Most surfaces have worn to a mottled patina, with light erosion, scattered scratches, and handling marks. There is evidence of heavy cleaning, and worn areas have been wiped with cold blue. There is a small ding at the outer edge of the muzzle. The screw heads show tool marks, and the markings remain legible. Overall, this rifle is in Good condition as Antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly.
We did not fire this rifle.
As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance requirements.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None
Our Assessment: Made in 1893, this Winchester comes from the second year of Model 1892 production, when John Browning’s new repeater was bringing a different action to an established group of cartridges. Winchester already offered the .38 WCF in its Model 1873. For the new rifle, Browning drew on his larger Model 1886, reducing its scale for the shorter cartridges and retaining the paired vertical locking arrangement. The result joined a new mechanism to ammunition customers already knew. That continuity matters: the Model 1892’s development was about renewing Winchester’s short-cartridge rifle line, alongside the larger arms the company offered for a different class of ammunition.
Several details on this example make that relationship unusually clear. The “38 W.C.F.” barrel stamp identifies one of the model’s original chamberings, while the October 1884 patent date on the tang points back to the earlier Browning lever-action development from which the 1892 descended. Its 24-inch octagonal barrel, capped forend, and crescent buttplate place the compact action in the full-length sporting rifle configuration. The Model 1892 is often remembered through its shorter carbines, but Winchester offered rifles, carbines, and muskets around the same basic design. Here, the early manufacture date and traditional rifle furniture preserve the moment when a newer Browning mechanism entered an already familiar Winchester form. Innovation did not require abandoning either the established cartridge or the form in which customers recognized a sporting rifle.