1904 Model Winchester Bolt Action .22

The Bishop · September 6, 2012, 05:00 PM

I just bought a nice little Winchester .22 bolt action that says it is a model of 1904. Any one have any info on this thing ??

The Bishop

BillM · September 6, 2012, 05:22 PM

Winchester--along with darned near everyone else---made a line of
small "boys rifles". Similar to the current Crickett etc.--little single
shot 22 rifles made by--well--darned near everybody.

The Winchesters were:

Model 1900. 1899-1902. I've got one and it's a fun little gun. Been
a lot of kids that learned basic safety and marksmanship on that little
gun--I'll add a couple more when the grandkids get just a bit older.

Model 1902. 1902-1931. Had a fancy trigger guard.

Model 1904. 1904-1931. IIRC, the barrel on this one was heavier.

And the holy grail of itty bitty Winchesters, the thumb trigger model 99.
Yup--it didn't have a trigger, just a button on the back that you pressed
with you thumb. Weird.

1900 was short/long only.

04 was just about any 22, including extra long on some of the later guns.

02 I'm not sure about--I thought it was S,L,LR

Thumb trigger? Who cares! If I ever see one for a reasonable
price I'm buying it.

PetahW · September 6, 2012, 05:29 PM

The Model 1904 was an improved version of the Model 1902 (18" bbl), with a 21" round bbl, introduced in 1904 in .22S & .22L, in the .22 Extra Long in 1914, & as the Model 1904-A in .22LR in 1927 with a new/different sear bar.
Discontinued in 1931, with almost 303,000 made (NSN's).

.

The Bishop · September 6, 2012, 08:04 PM

Thank You Bill M and Petah W.
I bought this at L.L. Bean of all places. for a couple hundred bucks. Haven't measured the bbl length yet. it does have a nice little fancy trigger guard, round bbl, wood is amazingly good, and the bbl still has about 30-40% bluing. The bbl is marked for .22 S,L,LR The bolt is a staright knob type that you just flip up and pull back.

One thing that amazed me is that the crescent shaped steel buttplate is still a perfect fit to the stock. No chips at the corners and no dings in the butplate.

My first thought was to buy this as a winter project gun. refinish the stock and re blue the metal, but now I may just clean it up and shoot it. I have an old original Stevens Favorite that I have had forever (and passed down to me) that I plink with and take out a pesky squirrel with and that is a blast to play with.

BillM · September 7, 2012, 06:34 PM

Just clean it up and shoot it. A little 22 that's a minimum of 81 years old
should show it's years a bit. I've always thought that an interesting
area of collecting would be " single shot 22 caliber boys rifles, 1870-1930". You could probably pursue them for years and still not have one of each.

September 6, 2012, 05:00 PM	#1
The Bishop Member Join Date: June 16, 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 32	1904 Model Winchester Bolt Action .22 I just bought a nice little Winchester .22 bolt action that says it is a model of 1904. Any one have any info on this thing ?? The Bishop

September 6, 2012, 05:22 PM	#2
BillM Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Amity Oregon Posts: 791	Winchester--along with darned near everyone else---made a line of small "boys rifles". Similar to the current Crickett etc.--little single shot 22 rifles made by--well--darned near everybody. The Winchesters were: Model 1900. 1899-1902. I've got one and it's a fun little gun. Been a lot of kids that learned basic safety and marksmanship on that little gun--I'll add a couple more when the grandkids get just a bit older. Model 1902. 1902-1931. Had a fancy trigger guard. Model 1904. 1904-1931. IIRC, the barrel on this one was heavier. And the holy grail of itty bitty Winchesters, the thumb trigger model 99. Yup--it didn't have a trigger, just a button on the back that you pressed with you thumb. Weird. 1900 was short/long only. 04 was just about any 22, including extra long on some of the later guns. 02 I'm not sure about--I thought it was S,L,LR Thumb trigger? Who cares! If I ever see one for a reasonable price I'm buying it.

September 6, 2012, 05:29 PM	#3
PetahW Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 4,678	The Model 1904 was an improved version of the Model 1902 (18" bbl), with a 21" round bbl, introduced in 1904 in .22S & .22L, in the .22 Extra Long in 1914, & as the Model 1904-A in .22LR in 1927 with a new/different sear bar. Discontinued in 1931, with almost 303,000 made (NSN's). .

September 6, 2012, 08:04 PM	#4
The Bishop Member Join Date: June 16, 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 32	Thank You Bill M and Petah W. I bought this at L.L. Bean of all places. for a couple hundred bucks. Haven't measured the bbl length yet. it does have a nice little fancy trigger guard, round bbl, wood is amazingly good, and the bbl still has about 30-40% bluing. The bbl is marked for .22 S,L,LR The bolt is a staright knob type that you just flip up and pull back. One thing that amazed me is that the crescent shaped steel buttplate is still a perfect fit to the stock. No chips at the corners and no dings in the butplate. My first thought was to buy this as a winter project gun. refinish the stock and re blue the metal, but now I may just clean it up and shoot it. I have an old original Stevens Favorite that I have had forever (and passed down to me) that I plink with and take out a pesky squirrel with and that is a blast to play with.

September 7, 2012, 06:34 PM	#5
BillM Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Amity Oregon Posts: 791	Just clean it up and shoot it. A little 22 that's a minimum of 81 years old should show it's years a bit. I've always thought that an interesting area of collecting would be " single shot 22 caliber boys rifles, 1870-1930". You could probably pursue them for years and still not have one of each.