doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Townsend Whelen

As I find time I have been going over the Whelen pictures very carefully and believe that I have identified another rifle.

The second rifle from the left looks like TW's (now Mark's) Adolph Krag. Notice the Schnabel with the barrel band near by.

Winchester 95 Click on this!

Not much question about that 1895! Very cool!

But doesn't the TW 95 above look well worn - very thin blue, some effectively gone completely. The action above and the action at the NRA website look completely different with respect to wear. I don't think that is just lighting and photo resolution.

The wood finish is harder to judge but it too looks a bit more worn than the website rifle.

If they are the same rifle, then it looks like someone overhauled the original.

What's the lever rifle next to the Krag?

Brent

Lever rifle next to the Krag is a Winchester 1892.

The distictive lever treatment is the key to identifying the 1895. No, repeat NO, second model 1895s were made with curved levers from the factory. Possibly one or two were made in the Custom Shop but......

The first model 1895 had a one-piece lever and flat receiver sides; it was produced in a pistol-grip configuration. However when the rifle was redesigned into the second model, the lever was changed to a 2-piece design and the curvature became a problem and so was dropped. The curved 2-piece lever is definitely an aftermarket modification performed during the Howe restocking. We can tell that the rifle is a second model due to the scalloped sides of the thicker receiver.

GREAT detective work, Michael!
Regards, Joe

The Story of Another Whelen Rifle

This past weekend I came across a booklet published by Western Cartridge Company in 1930, written by Townsend Whelen, and titled American Big Game Shooting. . It may be common, but I'd never seen it before.In it are a couple photos, one of Whelen and the other of his friend Stanley Clark both carrying rifles that someone here should be able to identify.I'd post them if I were competent to do so.

I have the 1933 edition and I don't know if it differs from the 1930.

If Clark has on a pack with a rack he is carrying the Whelen-Wundhammer.

If TW is standing next to a ram with a binocular case at his side the rifle is his Adolph Springfield.

Same pictures

I did not know of the 1930 printing and now wounder if it might be a clearer picture. I've been wishing the original would turn up.

This is an older one I worked from when trying to decided if this was the same rifle.