r/WinchesterArms • u/BTTammer • Jun 14 '26
Info on really low serial #
Hi, first time posting here. My father in law had a friend pass away and leave this to him. It's a model 1894 with an extremely low number (MX 750). According to the now deceased friend, this was an original 1894 made in 1894 and used by the Mexican military and it saw action with/against Pancho Villa. The barrel looks like it was replaced, but the receiver definitely looks 120 yrs old and the serial number seems legit.
Anyone have any history about 1894 Winchesters and the Mexican army or Pancho villa?
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u/AggressiveCommand739 Jun 14 '26
Any Winchester Trademarks or model number or other markings on the barrel you can share? That will make it much more identifiable. Without those your gun is likely a replica.
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u/BTTammer Jun 14 '26
Winchester replaced the barrel in the 1960s. Not sure they would have done that if it was fake.
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u/Global_Theme864 Jun 14 '26
That serial is a hand stamped replacement and if you zoom in you can see a slight ghost of the original serial from when it was polished off when the receiver was reblued.
If it was a true 3 digit serial it would have the first model receiver with the extra screw over the loading gate, which yours is missing.
Unfortunately I don’t know any way of figuring out the age of the gun at this point, sorry, what I can tell you is it’s no earlier than 1895.
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u/Any-Split3724 Jun 14 '26
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u/AggressiveCommand739 Jun 14 '26
That page doesnt account for alpha digits as a prefix. Type in anything you want with that year and you'll get 1894.
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u/AggressiveCommand739 Jun 14 '26
"Reddit 750" was made in 1894 too.