!!!!!SOLD!!!!! Raymond E. Hutchens 1/2 Scale Winchester 1894 Take Down Octagon Barrel Rifle, Chambered in .22 Short Rimfire, With Lyman #21 Receiver Sight, Cased !!!!!SOLD!!!!!

!!!!!SOLD!!!!!  One of the very first shows I attended when I started working for Joel Morrow at Imperial Russian Armory, (name later changed to Imperial Miniature Armory), almost 30 years ago, was the MAX or Military Antiquities Extravaganza show in Monroeville, PA., a suburb of Pittsburgh.  It is a militaria show, with uniforms, medals, swords, daggers, & lots of WWI & WWII German stuff.  At that time we had a goodly assortment of Miniature Miniart ½ scale Lugers, ¼ scale Thompsons, ¼ scale Maxim machine guns, etc.

On Friday during set-up, a guy named Joseph Kramer came up to our tables & said he had some ½ scale miniatures that were far better than anything we were displaying.  Both Joel & I doubted that, so the next day Mr. Kramer brought some to show us.  One of those pieces was this ½ scale Winchester Model 1894 octagon barrel take down rifle with Lyman # 21 receiver sight in .22 short rimfire made by Raymond Hutchens shown in the accompanying photos.  Joel & I were both pretty much blown away by the exactness & quality of the workmanship.

At one point in my life, I had collected Winchester Model 1894’s, & I had a pretty fair knowledge of the series.  Of special note to me was that this rifle was marked .22 W.S. on the barrel.  The rifle is chambered in .22 short rimfire.  One of the model 1894 available calibers was .32 Winchester Special, which would have been marked .32 W.S. on the barrel.  Most gun collectors, even some with a fair knowledge of 1894’s would not know that the .32 W.S. has a very special rear barrel sight used only on that caliber.  The sight on the miniature was replicated in exact detail, complete to the proper markings on both the top & side.  All of the markings are applied on the miniature in the same way Winchester applied them at their factory, roll stamps, & punch stamps.  The rifle is also equipped with the windage & elevation adjustable Lyman # 21 receiver sight, again properly marked.  The two piece stock & forearm are made of ebony.  Even the polish marks are done exactly as Winchester & Lyman did them.  The case is English fit, covered in black pebble grain leather, and lined in a buff felt.  Included inside is an antique mint sealed box of Winchester .22 short rimfire cartridges.  This miniature Hutchens rifle is, in my opinion, as perfect as can possibly be made by human hands.

While holding the cased rifle in my lap at the MAX Show way back then, & telling Mr. Kramer of my past 1894 collection, I told him that I would own this rifle someday.  He said “Fat chance!”  Mr. Kramer passed away & his collection was auctioned off and/or consigned to dealers back when I was just starting out on my own 20 years ago & broke.  I’ve since known the whereabouts of this rifle for several years, and always hoped to be able to buy it when the owner decided to part with it.  Earlier this year, I received a call from the owner who had decided to sell the rifle.  We agreed upon a price, I mailed him a check, & agreed that he would deliver it to me at the February Louisville gun show.  Well, the big February freeze & no electricity for 3 days prevented my attending the Louisville show, so I finally accepted delivery at the April Tulsa gun show.  So even when it’s a fat chance, there’s always a chance.  Mr. Kramer is now at that big gun show in the sky, & I own what used to be his rifle.  This will now go in my small private miniature firearms collection.  I think it may be the finest 1/2 scale miniature rifle in existence, & will claim it to be so until I see one that is finer!  !!!!!SOLD!!!!!