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Undeniable Success In The Civilian Marketplace

Although hugely popular on the civilian market Winchester had little success getting the U.S. military to adopt its lever-action rifles. One exception was a small number of Model 1894 lever-actions, dubbed today by collectors as "spruce rifles”. Few firearms have been as popular for as many years with sportsmen, gun enthusiasts and collectors as Winchester's lever-action repeating rifles and carbines. From the introduction of its first production lever-action, the Model 1866, through the Model 1895, the name Winchester became synonymous with the taming of the American frontier. Indeed, the Winchester lever-action has sometimes been called the "The gun that won the West."

Despite its undeniable success in the civilian marketplace, Winchester always desired U.S. military acceptance as well. Beginning with the Model 1873, virtually all of the company's lever-action rifles were tested by the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, but none of the Winchester lever-action rifles were deemed suitable for military service.

Lever-actions had several drawbacks as military arms, including underpowered cartridges (in the early models) and the inability to easily "field strip" for routine maintenance due to the design and the numerous small and easily lost parts. Even the introduction of the Model 1886 rifle, which could be chambered for more potent cartridges such as the .45-70 Gov't used with the standardized "Trapdoor" Springfield, did little to overcome the other real or perceived deficiencies of lever-action Winchesters as military arms. The failure to garner any real military interest in its trademark lever-actions was always something of a disappointment to the company.

Such was the situation until the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. The U.S. Army was woefully unprepared for the war, and there were crippling shortages of all types of military material, including service rifles. Production of the standardized .30-40 Krag bolt-action rifle was increased at Springfield Armory, but only the regular U.S. Army, which was relatively small, was armed primarily with the Krag. The majority of the infantry units deployed were volunteer or National Guard outfits, and most of those were armed with the obsolete single-shot .45-70 Trapdoors firing blackpowder cartridges. Winchester seized on this unfortunate state of affairs, and by a series of events — including some behind-the-scenes political influence — the company was successful in obtaining a contract for 10,000 of its latest Model 1895 lever-action rifles (actually termed "muskets" at the time) chambered for the .30-40 Krag cartridge. The short-lived Spanish-American War ended before any of the Winchester lever-actions could be delivered to Uncle Sam. With the pressing need for new rifles over, the U.S. Army had 10,000 rifles that it really didn't want and didn't need. One hundred were sent to the Philippines in September 1899 for field-testing under actual combat conditions by the Army's 33rd Volunteer Infantry. Subsequent reports clearly and unequivocally indicated that they were unsuitable for use by the military. The balance of the rifles was sold as surplus and Winchester's days of attempting to sell its lever-actions to the U.S. military were seemingly a thing of the past. The company focused on the still lucrative civilian market and continued to sell its arms to hunters and sportsmen.

Of all Winchester's lever-action designs, one of the most famous and popular was the Model 1894. Introduced in 1894, the lever-action arm was in production for more than a century. Many variants of the Model 1894, including rifles and carbines, were produced for the civilian market. The gun was made in several calibers including the .32 Special but, by far, the most common and popular chambering was the .30-30, technically the ".30 WCF" (.30-cal.Winchester Center Fire), now called the .30-30 Win. For several generations, the old "thirty-thirty" has been a staple on deer stands, and its popularity continues to this day. The Model 1894's legacy as an iconic civilian firearm has been well established for many years.

What is not so well known, however, is that the Model 1894 also served as a "secondary" U.S. martial arm during World War I. During the war, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department purchased a quantity of standard, commercial-production Winchester Model 1894 carbines chambered in .30-30. These guns were marked on top of the receiver with a hand-stamped Ordnance Department "flaming bomb" insignia and a "US." Interestingly, this same type of hand-stamped martial markings appear on several Winchester fire-arms purchased by the government during World War I, including some Model 1897 "trench" guns, as well as the semi-automatic Winchester Model 1903 and the single-shot "Winder Musket." These latter two guns were .22 rimfires purchased by the military during the war for marksmanship training ("gallery practice").

The existence of the martially marked Model 1894 carbines has been known for many years, but little information regarding specific details on them has been published. Government documentation is very limited, but archival data reveals that they were procured by the U.S. Army Ordnance Department for Signal Corps use by means of Contract No. 291 granted on December 2, 1917. The contract called for "...1,800 Model 1894 Carbines sighted for centerfire smokeless powder cartridges cal. 30 with full patch bullets." Fifty thousand .30-30 cartridges were also purchased by the government. This contract is the only one known to have been given by the government for the procurement of Winchester Model 1894 carbines. The serial numbers for these U.S.-surcharged Model 1894 carbines were generally in the 835800 to 852500 range.

Other than the previously mentioned martial markings, they were no different than the commercial production Model 1894 carbines of the period. The reason for the their procurement and their intended use by the U.S. military has been the subject of some conjecture and speculation.

The primary purpose of these 1,800 Model 1894 Winchester carbines was to arm U.S. Army Signal Corps personnel stationed in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. This area was the major source of the giant Sitka spruce trees that were needed at the time for aircraft production. Sitka spruce was the specified wood for constructing airplane wings and fuselages, and the material was considered critical to the war effort.

Model 1917 revolvers Both Colt and Smith & Wesson made the 1917 for the U.S. military during World War I. These big six-shot, double-action, swing-out-cylinder revolvers were chambered for the same rimless .45 ACP cartridge used in the U.S. Model of 1911 semi-automatic pistol. At the time of America's entry into World War I, the M1911 had been relatively recently adopted as the U.S.-issue sidearm, but before that time, stopgap measures had brought some .45 revolvers into service. These included re-issue of the Indian Wars workhorse, the Colt Single Action Army with a shortened 5 1/2" barrel, a small purchase of the somewhat cumbersome Colt Model 1878 double-action with an enlarged trigger guard (known as the U.S. Model 1902), and the purchase of Colt New Service pattern swingout-cylinder revolvers, known as the Model of 1909. All three were chambered for the venerable .45 Colt cartridge. The United States' entry into World War I created a pressing need for military sidearms. Help came from the existing revolver-manufacturing capacity of major makers, such as Colt and Smith & Wesson, which provided revolvers for the war effort. It was highly desirable not to complicate ammunition supply by having one cartridge for semi-automatic pistols and another for revolvers. But the short, rimless .45 ACP cartridge presented problems for revolvers. Typically, revolvers relied on rimmed cartridges such as the .45 Colt. The rim facilitates extraction by providing the ejector star a place to grasp empty cases, and it helps to hold cartridges in place during firing. Smith & Wesson's president, Joseph Wesson, solved the problem by inventing the "half-moon clip," a steel clip that holds three rimless cartridges in position in the cylinder. The clip also makes for faster reloading than handling the individual rounds. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson began production of .45 ACP revolvers for the military in 1917. Each firm produced over 150,000 Model 1917s, and they remained in military service through World War II. They were also used by various non-military government agencies, such as the Post Office.

The Pacific Northwest had been rocked by periodic labor turmoil and unrest, and it was feared that the supply of the important spruce wood might be jeopardized. At this time, the Signal Corps, specifically the Aviation Section Signal Corps (ASSC), was the branch of the Army that was responsible for aviation-related procurement. In order to prevent potential labor disruptions, the Army directed on October 11, 1917, that military personnel be dispatched to the timber-harvesting areas to prevent interference with delivery of the spruce lumber. Due to their intended use for guarding the spruce forests, today's collectors have termed these arms "spruce guns." On January 5, 1918, the Model 1894 carbines ordered by the Ordnance Department were directed to be shipped to the Signal Corps contingent stationed at Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Wash.

Since there were some problems experienced at the time with shortages of the standardized service rifles, the Model 1903 and the Model 1917, it was undesirable to divert any of these badly needed rifles for such domestic use. It was believed that arms such as the Model 1894 carbines would be adequate for the envisioned task at hand.

During World War I, Winchester also made a concerted effort to sell some Model 1894s (and possibly some Model 1892s as well) to various state and municipal entities for guard duty, etc. On such guns, the name of the city or state was sometimes stamped on the wood or metal. Unlike the 1,800 Model 1894 carbines procured under Ordnance Department contract, the other guns sold to the various entities were in no particular serial number range, and none were martially marked.

Since there proved to be minimal labor disruptions of the spruce-harvesting efforts, it is possible that other troops, such as border guards and state guard units, were subsequently issued some of the martially marked Model 1894 carbines, although this is unconfirmed. George Madis stated in The Winchester Book that some of the Model 1894 carbines were issued to members of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) for overseas duty. He further indicated that a photograph supposedly exists that depicts such a gun in the hands of a Doughboy standing in a doughnut line in France. However, this photograph has apparently not surfaced, and any use of the Model 1894 carbine in anything remotely resembling overseas combat duty is extremely doubtful. There may have been an isolated case or two of one of these Winchester carbines making it over to France in the hands of a member of the Signal Corps that was previously assigned to "spruce guard" duty, but this is unconfirmed.

Soon after the Armistice, the various "spruce guard" units were deactivated, and their 1894s were sold as surplus in early to mid-1919. The relatively few "spruce guns" that appear on the market today are invariably in well-used condition, likely due to extensive post-war use in the hands of the subsequent civilian owners. Although not an "infantry weapon" in the strictest sense, the martially marked Model 1894 carbine is, nevertheless, a little-known but historically significant and quite interesting arm of the World War I era. Such carbines are a great example of a civilian gun being "drafted" into military service at a critical time in our nation's history.

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