cross one off the "Wish list"......Finally!

9

9ballbilly

New member
There have been two guns on my wishlist for a very long time, Yesterday I was able to find one of them! An "unfired" original Winchester Trapper 16" SRC .30-30. It is on it's way as I type this. I plan to use it for a backpacking/camping rifle for full day or overnight trips into the more remote regions of the Adirondack Mts. here in upstate NY. Until I found this I was pretty sure I was going to end up with a Rossi Ranch hand .44mag. even though opinions of it's practicality seem to be more negative than positive on the forums here.

In any case, I am not bragging about the Trapper. It's just that both of the items on my list are long out of production, not easy to find, and I wanted to share some of my happiness with the the members here who were good enough to take the time to answer questions and offer advice over the past three years. :D

PS: after I finish paying off the RIA 1911A1 match .45 acp now on lay-a-way
I'll continue hunting for the other half of the wishlist; A blued Ruger Single-six 5.5" .32mag with adj. sights. Wish me luck, O.K.?
 
This may be a silly question but why take such a pristine hard to find rifle and start packing it through the woods on overnighters? I am not one to collect guns to lock them away so I understand your want to use it,however a Marlin 336 in .30-30 seems like it would fit your needs better and you wouldn't have to worry about devaluing the gun as much. You could even get one in stainless and tote it all over the mountains with little to worry about.

Just curious.
 
Good luck.

Wish me luck on the Colt Python without an absurd price tag.

The only one I found locally was owned by a man who gave me dirty looks when asked to sell it lol.

I did buy a SRH 454Casull in mint condition off him for $300 however. He was different for sure.
 
Ripnbst, Not a silly question at all. Probably wouldn't make sense to many people. By way of an answer, all I can say is that I much prefer the Trapper to all of the other lever action carbines. I'm not a collector and would've been willing to buy one in almost any condition as long as it was reliably functional. This just happens to be the one I found. Any wear that ends up on it will be something for my son to deal with after he inherits it. :D
Everything you said was correct, but I've been around long enough to have handled both of my "wishlist" guns when they were on dealers shelves and find that I'm unwilling to compromise. For instance, if the Trapper had the tang safety or been angle eject I wouldn't even have made an offer.


Mrawesome22, I wish you the very best of luck finding your Python. They are IMHO some of the best revolvers ever made.
 
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I've owned both a Trapper model Winchester and a Marlin and there's almost no comparison (in my mind). The Marlin will seem big, heavy and clumsy, although it has it's good points, whereas the Winchester will seem slim, light and handy. The point I fault Winchester lever actions is the profusion of screws on the thing, all of which seem to loosen just sitting in the closet. But no, they weren't make like they used to be, either, but that's probably irrelevant.
 
Congratulations - great gun! Do you have the year? My guess would be ca 79-80? Win had finally begun to correct its sins of the early Post '64 period. Since these just-before-USRAC SRC Trappers were the first and last such Win made (as standard production) since pre-WWII, I've been threatening to "convert" mine to a proper "pre war" configuration (carbine buttstock, long wood, forend etc). The basic requisite pieces are already there--namely, saddle ring, front post sight and no safety or AE, etc. Almost wish the stock were in lesser condition to make it easier to make the leap!
 
I used to think that the Trapper variation was a modern variation, until I actually saw one displayed in a gun shop (Clark Brothers, beyond Warrenton, VA). But I don't know what caliber it was. Or which model it was a variation of. I also don't know if it had a carbine ring, which I doubt anyone ever used. In any case, what do you mean by "carbine buttstock?"

Another variation that was at least interesting was in .44 magnum caliber, half magazine and an awful plastic stock with a pistol grip (I mean only it didn't have a straight grip). Actually it was a particularly useful combination of features once you got past the stock, practical though it may have been. It too had a name, only I don't remember what it was.
 
BlueTrain said
I used to think that the Trapper variation was a modern variation, until I actually saw one displayed in a gun shop (Clark Brothers, beyond Warrenton, VA). But I don't know what caliber it was. Or which model it was a variation of. I also don't know if it had a carbine ring, which I doubt anyone ever used. In any case, what do you mean by "carbine buttstock?

All (except for special order) Pre War Win 94 (and 92 and 73) "trappers" - aka "baby carbines", and most regular(round-barreled) 20" carbines at least into the 1920s, had a gentle but distinctive curved--versus sharply/more radically curved "rifle" or "antique"--butt plate. You can see a virtually identical "carbine butt" design on the old Sharps and Spencer carbines of the mid 1800s, Marlin (and rare Colt) carbines of the late 1800s, and as recently as many of the Ruger auto-loader carbines up into the last decade and almost all Win 73 and 92 clones. Most original (and later clone) 1886 saddle ring carbines also sported the carbine butt.

(Original Win 1894 "trapper")
19023_0006_1_lg.jpg


On the earlier Winchesters, this "butt" is distinguished by this pronounced curve from what followed later (as standard), including virtually all "Pre" and "Post" 64 guns, which has been known as a "shotgun" butt--either flat or with a very slight curve, which appears virtually flat from a distance. Shotgun butts were available on order for all Win carbines (and other rifles) dating way back into the 1800s, but the curved "carbine" style was standard (majority) on round-barreled carbines for a long time.

Added tid bit. An original Pre War "trapper" is very rare and one of the most collectible--and commanding the most precious $--of production Winchester 1894s (and 92s, 73s) these days. In the old days, prior to the later 16" restriction, 14" and 15" barrel lengths could be ordered as well.
 
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Oh, now I understand. I've certainly heard of shotgun butts and, uh, the other kind. Just never heard of a carbine butt.

Now I wonder what the most common pre-war variation was. At the end of their run they offered a regular rifle variation (ten years ago?) that seemed to be a nice kind of rifle, as opposed to the saddle carbine, but the fit of the buttstock (wood to metal) was just so-so. But on the other hand, an "End of Trail" model that I had around that time seemed to have been rather better fitted. The 1895 Model I also had at that time was even better.
 
BlueTrain said:
Now I wonder what the most common pre-war variation was. At the end of their run they offered a regular rifle variation (ten years ago?) that seemed to be a nice kind of rifle, as opposed to the saddle carbine,

Pre War I believe the regular (26") rifle with octagonal barrel was the most numerous. Standard with the sharply curved "rifle" butt IIRC, though shotgun was offered. Then there were the 20" (round bbl) saddle ring carbines, most with the carbine butt--at least up into the 20s when the shotgun style started to become more evident. Less numerous would be the round barreled 26" rifle (one of my favorites) and the "short rifle"--a 20" octagonal with rifle butt (again standard for awhile) and rifle forend (no carbine barrel bands, just cap and tube hangerlike the long rifles). Again, least numerous would be the 16" (and shorter) round barrel "trapper," literally a saddle ring carbine with shorter barrel. Talking just standard production guns, not special order half or "button" mag, takedown and pistol grip models, etc. Maybe someone else can speak to the later (near production end) models and/or correct me on the above info.
 
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