This rare, custom carved Winchester 32 special is still a beauty to behold. This gun had been handed down to one of the grandson’s. The cattle rancher who owned this gun is as old ranchers. I thought it would be a way to honor him and help keep some of his history alive for generations to come. This gun has been custom carved with their family brand, which has been inlayed in ivory, then surrounded with basket weave. The edging is an old fence post with rusted barb wire wrapped around the entire design.  The gun stock has been hand painted to bring out the detail. I’m sure when the owners grandfather sees his old gun. Showing how his grandson has honored him. He will be very proud.

History of the Winchester .32 Special

Winchester Model 1894 (also known as Winchester .30-30 rifle, Winchester 94, Win 94,, .30-30 Winchester, or simply .30-30) is one of the most famous and most popular hunting rifles. It was designed by John Browning in 1894, and was produced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company through 1980 and then by U.S. Repeating Arms under the Winchester brand until they ceased to manufacture rifles in 2006. In 2010 FN Herstal will reintroduce the Model ’94 as a limited production firearm.

The original Model 1894 was produced in .32-40 Winchester, .38-55 Winchester, .25-35 Winchester, .30-30 Winchester, and .32 Winchester Special. It was the first sporting rifle to sell over 7,000,000 units. The millionth Model 1894 was given to President Calvin Coolidge in 1927, the 1½ millionth rifle to President Harry S. Truman on May 8, 1948 and the two millionth unit was given to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953.

It was the first hunting rifle chambered for the then-new smokeless powder cartridges. The .30-30 Winchester is the cartridge that has become synonymous with the Model 1894 rifle.

Variants of the Model 94 over its long history also included the Winchester Model 55, produced from 1924 through 1932 in a 24-inch barrel, and the Winchester Model 64, produced from 1933 through 1957 in 20, 24, and 26-inch barrel lengths. (Note: The model number 55 was used twice by Winchester, first as a Model 94 variant introduced in 1924, and, later, as a short-lived single-shot/semi-automatic hybrid .22-caliber rifle that self-cocked the hammer each time it was fired.)

In 1964, the manufacturing of the 94 was changed in order to make the firearm less expensive to produce. Generally “pre-64″ rifles command a premium price over post-64 rifles.

The Winchester 1894 was designed to permit the cycling of longer cartridges than the Winchester 1892 carbines could permit. When the lever is pulled down, it brings the bottom of the receiver with it, opening up more space and allowing a longer cartridge to feed without making the receiver longer. The mechanism is complex but very reliable. Complete stripping of the action is a multi-stage task that must be accomplished in precise sequence. However it is rarely necessary to completely strip the action. The largest cartridge that the 1894 action can accommodate is the .450 Marlin, which was chambered in some custom rifles and the short-lived Timber Carbine on a beefed-up 1894 “big bore” receiver.

Decades after the Winchester 1892 was phased out, the Winchester 1894 Models were also manufactured in typical handgun calibers such as .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .44 Special/.44 Magnum, .45 Colt (sometimes called the .45 Long Colt or .45 Cowboy) and the .44-40 Winchester. Typically, the tube magazine is able to hold 9 to 13 rounds of the previously mentioned handgun calibers. The magazine capacity depends on the length of the barrel, as the tube magazine (located below the barrel) typically covers the entire length of the barrel.

Handgun calibers are preferred by modern day Cowboy Action Shooters as it allows one type of ammunition for both rifle and handgun. A typical combination would be an 1873 Colt (Colt Peacemaker or clone) and a Winchester (or another lever action made by, for example, Uberti or Marlin Firearms) capable of shooting the same type of ammunition. The 1894 action, designed for smokeless rifle rounds, is much stronger than the action of the Winchesters (Models 1866, 1873, 1876) that were based on Benjamin Henry’s toggle-link system, and can easily handle modern high-pressure pistol cartridges such as .44 Magnum. (So also can the even stronger Model 1892, another Browning design, the ’92 ceased production in 1941 and has been recently reintroduced in limited production).

U.S. production was shut down in 2006. There were 14 versions of the Model 94 in the 2005 Winchester catalog.

The Winchester 1894 holds the record for best-selling high-powered rifle in U.S. history.In 2010 Winchester Repeating Arms will reintroduce the model 94. “It will be offered in two Limited Edition models that will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Oliver F. Winchester’s birth in New England in 1810. A Model 1894 Custom Grade and Model 1894 High Grade will be offered in 30-30 Winchester caliber….Delivery of these two commemorative rifles will begin starting in the 2nd quarter of 2010. Both models have 8 round magazine capacity, 42″ overall length, 10″ rate of twist with average weight at 8 lbs. The Model 1894 Custom Grade rifle has a Suggested Retail of $1,959.00. The Model 1894 High Grade rifle Suggested Retail is $1,469.00.”

I have been given a unique opportunity to carve a stagecoach on a W. W. Greener replica shotgun. This carved greener shotgun was completed for a great great grandson of the Wells Fargo Stageline. The great great grandfather was one of the original gunmen employeed by the Wells Fargo Stagelines of long ago.

This gun will always remind my customer of his family history. The story is now well preserved, carved here on the replica of his Greener shotgun. He will no doubt hand this gun down to his children and they to their for generations to come.

I have found it very interesting reading the history of the W. W. Greener shotgun. I hope you enjoy learning as much about this as I have.

Have you ever wondered what kind of gun they use to carry on the Wells Fargo stagecoaches? After being asked to carve a stagecoach on a W. W.  Greener shotgun replica. I was intrigued to find out how the gun came about.

Wells Fargo stagecoaches where equipped with the W.W. Greener shotgun after the stagecoaches where repeatly robbed. These guns where made by W.W. Greener. The gun was an unmistakable icon of Wells Fargo stage lines. There was always a driver and a gunmen sitting on top of the stagecoaches to protect their passangers and the cargo they carried. The gun  usually was a double barrel 10 gauge shotgun with a double pull. It has a short barrel of only 20 inch in length. The gun is very heavy compared to other shot guns I have held.

After much research, I have found this gun is one of the most reproduced guns in the world. Even gun authenticators have a hard time proving the gun is authentic. Even if a gun marked “Wells Fargo & Co. Express” does not mean it is in fact a W. W. Greener gun. Having the symbols marked on the gun does not mean it is an authentic Greener gun either. The history shows many gun manufactures built this type of gun and would mark it in hopes of fooling the buyer into believing the gun was a real W. W. Greener shotgun. Unless you have paperwork proving complete authenticity and proven by history experts. It is highly likely you do have a authentic W. W. Greener shotgun.

Although the legend lived on in this gun. A authentic W. W. Greener shotgun is one of the most sot after guns today by gun collectors.