If considering buying a worn Model 94 Winchester, what about a NIB commemorative?

[Glashaus]

The Winchester 94 commemoratives of the late 60’s - mid/late 70’s were made in large runs, 20,000 or so each. It was a good way to get something a little different, but not really a good collectible that would make you a lot of money. My parents gave me a Winchester Legendary Lawman 94 for my high school graduation, it was a pretty rifle, I wish that I still had it

A few years ago I bought a Winchester 94 NRA Centennial Musket, still new in the box, never fired, paid $575 for it. The wood on it is gorgeous, I will shoot it one of these days.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Back in my cowboy action shooting days, I had an NRA Commemorative Musket .30-30 and a Legendary Frontiersman .38-55 and I used both. Long since sold, along with several Trappers including a .44 Magnum that I think might have had a name, too, plus a few plain models. I shot them all.

The only 94s I still have are my first, a pre-USRAC .30-30 that I added a Williams peep sight to and it's very accurate or it was last time I shot it, which was not yesterday. I also kept a nice Big Bore in .375 Winchester, and a rebarreled, very old M94 in .25-35.

No pictures of the really old one.

 

[boykinlp]

Have you seen one sell lately? If so, how much?
Larry

I just made a Quick Look and found this from almost 4 years ago.

Winchester Model 94 Oliver F. Winchester Commemorative Rifle | Rock Island Auction

I’d say you got a pretty good deal.
Larry

 

[S-W4EVER]

I bought my Legendary Lawmen when I was in college. It’s still unfired in the safe but I didn’t buy it as an investment, I just like looking at it.

 

[Golddollar]

I have a rather unusual commemorative Winchester 94. It honors the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The gold plating on the barrel bands would probably scare the deer, so it has been safely resting in my safe for decades. It's never going to bump into a tree.

 

[glenwolde]

You're not the first one to figure that out. I've seen a few commemoratives getting shot for the same reason.

Winchester flooded the market with so many commemoratives it devalued them. Back in the day the joke was to walk into a gun shop and ask for the "Commemorative of the Month."

 

[CajunBass]

Another option might be to keep an eye out for "house" brand guns. I know Sears used to sell Model 94's under their name in two grades. The usual Model 94 which Sears called and marked as the "Ted Williams" model, and the plain Sears gun which was the same, only it had a cheaper "hardwood" stock." The blue on the Ted Williams gun seemed a little nicer too IIRC. There may have been a few other differences. Seems the cheaper one had a plastic barrel band vs steel on the more expensive one.

No idea what they sell for these days. I saw one on the rack at my LGS not too long ago, but really didn't pay that much attention to it. I'm not really a rifle guy.

 

[1sailor]

A couple of years ago I went through the same thing. My son always asked to use my rifle during hunting season which was fine since I don't really hunt much anymore. Looking for a reasonably priced used M94 was crazy. I ended up buying him a Canadian Centennial. Nice wood and in like new condition for about half of what I thought I was going to end up spending. The Canadian comm's just didn't seem to have a lot of appeal since I found a few that were reasonably priced. Anyway, that might be another one to check out.
Well, it looks like they've become a bit more popular (probably for the same reason we're discussing). I just checked and they have also gone up. I'm sure I paid well under $600 for my sons.

 

[Drm50]

The John Wayne- The Duke models are increasing in value. Other than that the models produced in 38/55 have a market in states that require a straight walled cartridge, minimum 38 cal to be legal for deer. The rest are so much fluff. I know guys that would buy everyone that came out for investment purposes. I guarantee you that they are a big lose across the board just in the value of the dollar issue, not counting what that money would have accumulated in interest during same period of time. If you are out to make money on such items the fast turn over is only way to do it.

 

[boykinlp]

After looking through this thread,

The more I think about it, the more I think:

Ain’t No Sense To Hunt With An UGLY Gun!

Larry

 

[Walter Rego]

When I was young(er) and dumb(er) I wanted a .30-30 and an LGS had one of the Canadian Centennial rifles for a reasonable price. It had a 26" octagon barrel if I recall. And had maple leaves engraved on the sides of the receiver. It was from 1967.

It was never very satisfactory. Accuracy was so-so and the action didn't feel very good. I guess that was because it was a post-64 and I had a friend with a pre-war Model 94 for comparison. The finish was some kind of black chrome which I also understood could be subject to bubbling or peeling. I didn't keep it for long. I think Winchester just made too many types of commemoratives and that diluted their value and appeal.

 

[mauser9]

Never bought on because they were not based on the Model 1873-1876 which would have been period correct for the guns. Yep made too many different commemoratives to hold decent value down the road. Friend bought the Oliver Winchester Comm. back in 80 for $600 new in 38-55. Probably not worth much more today. I would rather invest in a 1873 model today made by Uberti or Miroku.

 

[biku324]

I bought a 686-3 unfired for the same price as a new one - it was s 1989 Treasury Commemorative. It is now my favorite 357 shooter.

 

[BB57]

A few thoughts here:

1) Most Winchester commemoratives were made in far greater numbers than are reasonable for a “collectible” firearm, which is largely based on rarity or scarcity. But to be fair, Winchester called them what they were “commemoratives”. If they were limited editions, Winchester was pretty open about the numbers to be made. It they were not a “1 of 100”, 1 of 1000”, etc, the buyers could expect them to be not particularly rare.


2) Quality varied.

The not so good:

For example they made just over 102,000 Centennial rifles in 1966, they made just over 97,000 Canadian Centennial rifles in 1967, and they made just under 113,000 Buffalo Bill commemoratives in 1968. Those are huge numbers for a commemorative and about 100 times the number for a truly collectible rifle. Quality in terms of fit and function was also no better than the immediate post 63 Model 94s.

Winchester started to taper off on the numbers with just under 70,000 of the Golden Spike commemoratives and around 52,000 of the Teddy Roosevelt commemoratives in 1969, around 27,000 of the Cowboy and around 38,000 of the Lone Star in 1970, and around 44,000 of the NRA Musket in 1971.

After that Winchester capped the most prolific of the commemoratives at 19,999 (and most were made in far smaller numbers) with the exception of 49,000 John Wayne commemoratives made in 1981.

The really good:

On the other hand the commemoratives made during the XTR era were completed in terms of fit and finish to the higher XTR standard. That’s partly why they were made in smaller numbers. Winchester started using the “XTR” grade in 1978 and it was preceded by higher quality in the commemorative rifles, and a commensurate jump in price, in 1976.


3) These 1978-1989 XTR era commemoratives can be very affordable means to acquire an otherwise hard to find rifle.

For example I have two Legendary Frontiersman rifles. At the time, Winchester was not producing the Model 94 in .38-55, and even now, you can find an LF for around $800 in mint to excellent condition compared to around $1800 for a standard Model 94 rifle or north of $2K for a comparable deluxe model.

Accuracy wise, both my LFs compare very well to my Miroku made Model 94 in .38-55 in terms of function and accuracy. The checkering and finish is also excellent.

More significantly, the LF has a 24” lightweight profile round barrel that gives it exceptional balance, compared to the current 20” and 24” Winchester Rifles, weighing the same as the current 20” rifle, but with the ballistic efficiency of a 24” barrel.

The fit and finish is slightly better than the current Miroku made guns, and to be honest the Uberti in the center has better wood to metal fit than either of the Winchesters.

 

[BB57]

Never bought on because they were not based on the Model 1873-1876 which would have been period correct for the guns. Yep made too many different commemoratives to hold decent value down the road. Friend bought the Oliver Winchester Comm. back in 80 for $600 new in 38-55. Probably not worth much more today. I would rather invest in a 1873 model today made by Uberti or Miroku.

It’s true that most comparatives do not appreciate in value. But if you purchase one used, they will generally hold their value quite well when measured against inflation.

In contrast if you buy a new Uberti or Miroku you are going to a) pay a lot more and b) eat a lot on depreciation.

 

[BB57]

When I was young(er) and dumb(er) I wanted a .30-30 and an LGS had one of the Canadian Centennial rifles for a reasonable price. It had a 26" octagon barrel if I recall. And had maple leaves engraved on the sides of the receiver. It was from 1967.

It was never very satisfactory. Accuracy was so-so and the action didn't feel very good. I guess that was because it was a post-64 and I had a friend with a pre-war Model 94 for comparison. The finish was some kind of black chrome which I also understood could be subject to bubbling or peeling. I didn't keep it for long. I think Winchester just made too many types of commemoratives and that diluted their value and appeal.

As noted above the Canadian Centennial riffles were the second most produced commemorative rifles with just over 97,000 made. And they were a product of their time, at the low point of the post 1963 changes to the Model 94.


—-

There is a huge amount of misinformation out there about the finishes on the winter forged receivers Winchester used from 1964-1981.


From 1964-1968 (SN 2,700,000 - 3,185,691) they were blued with the Du-Lite 3-0 process. In short, on a 1967 Canadian Centennial there is no chrome used and nothing to flake off.

From 1968-1972 (SN 3,185,692 - 3,806,499) they do use black chrome plate. I have heard claims of flaking chrome plate, but I’ve never personally seen it. Like any chrome plate, if you get a scratch in it, and allow a solvent like Hoppes No 9 get under it, it will start to remove the copper plating under the chrome plate.

From 1972-1981 (SN 3,806,500 - 5,024,957) Winchester plated the receivers with iron and then blued when with the normal Win blue process.

 

[cmansguns]

My experience with commemoratives

Back before joining this Forum, I was pretty much into Colt's and during a trade I accumulated a Gettysburg Centennial, 22 revolver. I really had no interest but it was "part of the deal" and I did want the 6" Python so this thing came along to my house.

Some research showed that Colt only made 1019 of this particular gun, and mine serial numbered in the first production run of 100 in January 1963.

I basically forgot about it until wanting to free up some funds for some nice S&W's I began seeing so put it up for sale...took 4 years!

There was zero, zip, nada interest from most all sources until one day a Collector of these Colt Scout Commemoratives lacked only this Gettysburg one to fill out his entire collection. He paid the asking price promptly, I shipped promptly, story over, haven't bought another, and won't consider them.

PS: Another anecdote, I live 9 miles from a company in Ashland, Virginia called America Remembers (also called The American Historical Foundation). These are the folks that advertise in the gun rags....all blinged up 1911's, Thompson machine guns (semi-auto I'm sure), Cap & Ball, basically anything you want for big giant dollars, lots of gold plating and hero scripting. I really don't know who buys them, but somebody sure must. Their factory and office is not your suburban warehouse look. It is nicely landscaped, nature park type setting, etc. so they must be doing OK.

Haven't seen any of their offerings up for sale, even on the I-net, so there must be a lot of gold plated safe queens somewhere.

 

[MelvinWalker]

3) These 1978-1989 XTR era commemoratives can be very affordable means to acquire an otherwise hard to find rifle.

For example I have two Legendary Frontiersman rifles. At the time, Winchester was not producing the Model 94 in .38-55, and even now, you can find an LF for around $800 in mint to excellent condition compared to around $1800 for a standard Model 94 rifle or north of $2K for a comparable deluxe model.

Accuracy wise, both my LFs compare very well to my Miroku made Model 94 in .38-55 in terms of function and accuracy. The checkering and finish is also excellent.

Thanks and this is OP here....I think you get what I am saying about fit and function versus grandpa's old overpriced junk that is for sale everywhere.

I think many in this thread misunderstand what the original point to the thread and that is this....A junky, worn, nothing-special, post-64 1976 Winchester 94 with poor condition wood and worn and freckled receiver from being left in the rain or truck or whatever is now pusing $700-$900 which is probably at least $300 too much for an old abused gun from the 70's...They were nothing special to write home about even when new, except for the old west nostalgia, ease of ammunition at every corner store and The Rifleman playing on black and white re-runs avery afternoon.

Most if not all of these commemoratives were the same exact rifle, but just a little better fitted, with better wood and most stayed new in the box because Gramps thought it would be worth a fortune later and it wasn't.

Fast forward to now and those same new in the box fancy 94's are bringing hundreds of dollars less than their bland $125 K-Mart cousins.

if you are looking to buy a shooter anyway, why buy an overpriced worn out Model 94 when you can get a time capsule new in the box fancy model that has never been shot for far less?

Case in point is the 1978 Antlered game commemorative that I showed. It has sharp XTR wood, never been fired and still has hang tag...It still has no bid and will go for less than a worn out one with a scratched up maple stock and bluing all flaked off the receiver.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

The Winchester 94 commemoratives of the late 60’s - mid/late 70’s were made in large runs, 20,000 or so each. It was a good way to get something a little different, but not really a good collectible that would make you a lot of money. My parents gave me a Winchester Legendary Lawman 94 for my high school graduation, it was a pretty rifle, I wish that I still had it

A few years ago I bought a Winchester 94 NRA Centennial Musket, still new in the box, never fired, paid $575 for it. The wood on it is gorgeous, I will shoot it one of these days.

I have given up on rifles but I always wanted one of these muskets. they are so cool. This and the stubby Legendary Lawman like Faulkner posted are my faves when it comes to commemoratives. I do not like gold trim except the 1966 rifle that came with a gold frame in tribute to the 1866.

 

[Glashaus]

I have given up on rifles but I always wanted one of these muskets. they are so cool. This and the stubby Legendary Lawman like Faulkner posted are my faves when it comes to commemoratives. I do not like gold trim except the 1966 rifle that came with a gold frame in tribute to the 1866.

I was 11 years old when the NRA Centennial musket and rifle came out and always thought that the muskets were really neat. A few years ago I decided that I needed a Winchester 94, 30-30 and remembered the NRA muskets and decided to look around on Gunbroker. After a week or two looking around I put a bid on a NRA Musket, new in the box, never fired with all the original documents. It is really a nice rifle, nice fit and finish, the wood looks like a lot nicer walnut then other early 1970’s Winchester 94’s that I have seen. It is a very handy rifle and not as long as Winchester 66 and 73 muskets that I have handled in the past.