14" Winchester 92. Inclined to pass

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

 

The Details:

Winchester 1892.
.32-20
Made in 1915
Short Rifle

Button Magazine.
Octagon 14" barrel.
$2500.00

Sounds like a great price.   Looks like a fine gun.

BUT...

 

Every example of these short barrel Winchesters I've read about, or seen picture of, are carbines, not short rifles.  And all of them have round barrels.

No factory letter to prove it's factory short.  No ATF clearance letter.

Personally, I wouldn't touch this one with a ten foot pole.  Too bad, cuz it sure looks nifty.  If it is factory short, it's gotta be a rarity, but my gut tells me that it'll letter as a much longer barrel.   If it is a chop job, it was done decades ago, but that doesn't matter.   I don't wanna play possibilities with an NFA 34 violation.



 

[Eyesa Horg]

Where's your sense of adventure?! Tell em you're a friend of Hunter's!

[Marauder SASS #13056]

Short barrels were fairly common.  Also most gun makers allowed buyers to customize their orders.
The "questionable" creation of ATF was not dune until 1933/34 when Roosevelt followed Germany's lead on restricting private rights.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

The short barrel rifle will cost you a $200 tax stamp plus some paperwork.  I don't think there's an exception for old guns, factory original or not.  The good news is that the ATF seems to be fast tracking NFA paperwork right now.  At least on suppressors.  

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

A few years ago, the ATF decided that pre 1934 short barrel Winchesters, Marlins, and a few other guns I don't remember, did not have to be regulated by NFA 34 anymore, if the short barrel was proven to be factory original.  Anyone that owned such a gun could ask the ATF to take it off the NFA list, and they would do so.   But only if asked.   If you didn't ask, it remained regulated.  But if you asked, they'd give you a letter saying the gun was not regulated by the law.  

 

If you happened to have one that was not properly registered, but could prove that the short barrel was factory original, I believe they would also send you a letter saying it was not under NFA 34.   I am also not sure if you have to ask for such a letter or not.  I think you do.  But we are getting into speculation now, and I don't wanna speculate.   It's too dangerous!


 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

30 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

At least on suppressors.  

 

No such thing.   Read the law in question.   The term really is silencer. 

Being pedantically silly here.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

9 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

No such thing.   Read the law in question.   The term really is silencer. 

Being pedantically silly here.

suppressor....silencer

magazine...clip

 

I use them interchangeably, but I'm a barbarian, so what do I know.

[Pat Riot]

Can you get and look up the serial number?

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Whence attending an Antique dealers gun show in Denver, was an exhibitor with a block long "wall" of Winchesters.   His display included a good dozen "Special Order" Winchester 1873 "Trappers."  All had Octagon Barrels and three were Octagon barrels, 14 inches, lettered by Winchester.

 

I think going to ATF for the tax stamp would be well worthwhile for that '92.  While certainly not SASS eligible nor CAS practical, it certainly would be a fun rifle.  On top of which, it may well be exempt.

[Alpo]

Something to consider.

 

If it is already been accepted by the ATF, and is listed with them as exempt, that's great.

 

If it has not been accepted by the ATF, either because it was made after NFA or because the barrel has been bobbed, but it is papered, that's also great. Cost you another $200 over the price of the gun, but it's great.

 

But if it has neither been exempted nor papered, that makes it contraband. Now I don't know how the ATF handles non-registered NFA items. They have had a couple or three times in the past 90 years an amnesty, where you can bring in unpapered items and have them papered. This would usually be machine guns. "Something Daddy brought home from the war."

 

But they are not currently having an amnesty, so I don't know if you had, for example, a gun made in 1920 with a barrel that is shorter than is legal and no paperwork, you can get it papered.

 

I think I would want to see paper from the current owner. If it is registered as an SBR, he has paper. If the ATF exempted it from NFA, he should have paper saying that too.