This little sight comes in its original Winchester factory box marked for the Model 1892 Winchester Rifle. It's a mid-range vernier tang sight with peep. The vast majority of 1892 and 1894 rifles with tang sights are short range models so to find a mid-range for an 1892 still in its box is highly unusual.
Winchester Dealer-Installed Tang Sights: If you walked into your local Winchester-authorized hardware or sporting goods store back in 1895 and told them you wished to install a tang sight on your 1892 for shooting those pesky gophers at a few hundred yards, chances are the clerk would have reached into his display case and pulled out this little box. That is (in my opinion) how most tang sights ended up on Winchesters. While a Winchester could always be special-ordered with these fancy tang sights, the vast majority of rifles and carbines were shipped to Winchester dealers and distributors with plain old standard sights. From there, the dealer or hardware store selling a Winchester Rifle would install tang sights based on the individual preferences of the customer. While I don't have access to a Delorean equipped with a flux capicitor to go back in time to prove this definitively, supporting evidence is the number of Winchesters found w/ existing tang sights that I've lettered with the Cody museum over the years that make zero mention of these rifles being equipped as such when they left the factory. That's not to say that the clerks working in the Winchester warehouse wrote down every single special order feature. For example, it's not uncommon to find a deluxe Model 1894 with ten special order features...and only seven or eight of which are recorded. I'm sure they missed some rifles with special sights...but they didn't miss nine out of the ten we find today with tang sights that won't letter. Instead, common sense dictates that the vast majority of Winchesters with tang sights were either dealer-installed or sold via mail order. It reads:
MID-RANGE VERNIER PEEP SIGHT
COMPLETE WITH SCREWS.
For "WINCHESTER RIFLE" MODEL 1892 (this is in the form of a dotted blank inked 1892 by hand)
MANUFACTURED By THE
WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO., New Haven, Conn.
Note: There are no screws in the box.
Condition: Condition is Excellent Plus with 99% original blued finish. Only blemish is a screwdriver mark on the edge of the hole for the tang screw. Two piece box is in very good condition. One side panel is missing from the inner box...not visible with the lid in place. The label is great...it shows lots of age but completely legible with no sections missing. In thirty years of collecting, this is the only mid-range I've ever seen still in its original Winchester box. This would make a fantastic accessory to a Winchester 1892 rifle...especially on display with the 1892 bore reflector and Winchester reloading tools.
Item# 1660
SOLD |
