Most of the family guns disappeared 30 ago when my mother had some remodeling done on the family ranch house. I was surprised last week when I found four guns in the attic that were either my father's or my grandfather's. One was a Model 92 Winchester 25-20 WCF Serial # 918659. I am guessing that it was a varmit gun of its time. I am curious as to the time frame. I assume ammo for something that old is available but expensive. May try it out on a hog if I can find some ammo in Abilene. What do I have?

I have a model 92 25-20 made in 1910 it was given to me by one of our neighbors at the ranch. Undoubtedly the 25-20 was one of the most popular saddle rifles of the day. They were used for every thing from deer to coyotes and that far back in Menard county, wolves. You can find ammo for them, and they are a lot of fun to shoot. I have heard the 25-20 refereed to as the ideal javelina gun. I don't know about that. They are very accurate and capable little guns.

Looked it up at http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm

The year of manufacture for serial number 918659 is 1923.

The 25-20 is mostly a varmit gun but has been successfully used on deer and antelope many times. I know where an old Winchester 92 is that a woman in west Texas used for no telling how many deer. The James Jordan buck that topped the B&C typical records for so many years was killed with a 25-20. The story goes that buck took several shots and a lot of tracking but a 400lb whitetail is asking as lot out of such a small cartridge.

Todays ammo is loaded low pressure for use in older guns Winchester and Remingtom both still load it, sold in 50 round boxes. I have one in a 1894 Marlin, fun shooters mine has killed deer and turkey. Keep the range short and put the bullet where it belongs and it can do the job.

That is great news. My dad was born in 1913, so it very well could have been his gun as a kid but would have been bought by my Grandfather. I am going to clean it up, shoot it a bit and then pass it on to my son. His son is named after my grandfather and when #5 gets it, he will be the 5th generation to shoot it on the ranch. You guy's have made my day.

Thanks.

www.leverguns.com

Those guys know more about leverguns particularly Winchesters than anywhere else I've found. They helped me date an older '92 belonging to my wife's family, though it ended up having to make a trip to Winchester (made in 1926, started out a .25-20 and was rebarreled/finished in .218 Bee).