Belgian Congo 1894
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:11 pm
Here's an interesting old rifle. In 1913, Winchester made approx. 200 Model 94's for the Belgian Army. These rifles were intended for the Congo. Some may have made it to the Belgian Congo, some made it to Belgium, and some likely never left the North American continent.
The distinguishing feature of these rifles is the side-mounted sling swivels. Apparently Winchester didn't put these on any other rifles, at least not to my knowledge. The one pictured below definitely made it to Belgium, showing its proof marks quite clearly. Although the stocks have been carved up, it seems to be pretty much original otherwise.
This old girl doesn't have the word "METERS" stamped on the sight ladder. Belgian Congo 94's supposedly had that feature. I have another rifle like it that does have "METERS", but no Belgian proofs. The second one has the side-mounted swivels. Go figure.
The second came to me from a fellow whose father used the rifle for supplying food to his family at Herb Lake, Manitoba. He included his Dad's old ammo belt, stocked with some Winchester 30-30 Silvertip ammo, an old hunting knife, and a pin-pricked inscription of the man's name, the location and the dates of 1931 on the knife and 1936 on the belt. I had to replace the second one's butt stock with a rifle stock, as the one that came with it was homemade. The stocks on both rifles, with the exception of the one I replaced, are gumwood.
The distinguishing feature of these rifles is the side-mounted sling swivels. Apparently Winchester didn't put these on any other rifles, at least not to my knowledge. The one pictured below definitely made it to Belgium, showing its proof marks quite clearly. Although the stocks have been carved up, it seems to be pretty much original otherwise.
This old girl doesn't have the word "METERS" stamped on the sight ladder. Belgian Congo 94's supposedly had that feature. I have another rifle like it that does have "METERS", but no Belgian proofs. The second one has the side-mounted swivels. Go figure.
The second came to me from a fellow whose father used the rifle for supplying food to his family at Herb Lake, Manitoba. He included his Dad's old ammo belt, stocked with some Winchester 30-30 Silvertip ammo, an old hunting knife, and a pin-pricked inscription of the man's name, the location and the dates of 1931 on the knife and 1936 on the belt. I had to replace the second one's butt stock with a rifle stock, as the one that came with it was homemade. The stocks on both rifles, with the exception of the one I replaced, are gumwood.
I'm a sucker for metal that is "in the white". I actually prefer it when the bluing is worn off and I love the look of these two. Thanks for posting these pics.