Originally featured in Points West magazine in Spring 2013
Frederic Remington’s Winchester Model 1894 Sporting Rifle
In 1894, the final calendar picture that famed artist Frederic Remington painted for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was published. Three years later, in 1897, he acquired this striking Winchester Model 1894 Lever Action Rifle. This made it a “Remington Winchester” and accounts for an unusual juxtaposition of well-known firearms names. Unlike most of the arms that Remington used as study items for his art, however, this rifle has a number of features that distance it from the “prop” category.
Among these features is a special order round barrel with a matte finish and a half-length magazine. The forestock and shoulder stock are deluxe figured walnut, and the shoulder stock has a rare pistol grip for a Model 1894. Both the forestock and the pistol grip are beautifully hand-checkered, and the receiver is case-hardened. These characteristics make it an appropriately beautiful rifle for Remington’s superb eye for art. This one-of-a-kind rifle is on display in the main gallery of the Cody Firearms Museum.
Frederic Remington’s Winchester Model 1894 Deluxe Sporting Rifle. Gift of The Coe Foundation. 1.67.335
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