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A friend showed me a ca.1899 Winchester Model 1894 rifle that had no serial number, which he's considering purchasing - what I believe to be a fairly rare rifle.
It was a 24" or 26" octagon barreled specimen in approx 90% condition, metal & wood, that had the letters " WRA Co." overstamping the serial number area.
Along with the rifle, my friend had obtained (NOT from the seller) a copy/reprint of a book page or magazine article which featured a pic of another rifle with a like overstamper SN - and a section explaining that for a period of only three years, when the Winchester Service Dept received in a rifle that had an illegible SN, Winchester so overstamped it.
I woulda loved to take a pic (I had my camera with me), but my friend asked me not to, since he hadn't bought it as yet, and preferred not to have a pic circulating.
I DID find this, though:
According to George Madis (The Winchester Book; 1985:648) "For a short time, when a Winchester was returned for repair to the plant, if the serial number had been removed or was illegible, a marking "WRA CO." was stamped where the serial number should be.
This practice began just before the year 1900 and closed in 1903, when some mail order companies, especially Sears Roebuck, were removing the serial numbers from Winchesters in the hope that the guns would not be traced to the original purchasers.
Winchester had refused to sell to any company that would not maintain the recommended retail prices, so the "price pirates" as Winchester called them, purchased the guns from stores and other distributors rather than directly from Winchester.
Between 1903 and 1910, Winchester would mark the serial numbers on the inside of the lower tang in addition to the usual location.
This enabled Winchester to trace the gun to the suppliers of the "price pirates".
IMHO, These rifles seem to be hard to find and are quite collectible.
I posted a thread here about my dad's model 94 that had no serial number. I was trying to date the gun but w/o a serial number I had no luck.
I'll look for some pics to post. As I recall my grandfather got the gun in 1912 for his 12th birthday. The model 94 is about 300 yards from me right now so I'll see if I can take new pics.
P
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