Winchester rifle lend lease?

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Niner
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Winchester rifle lend lease?

Post by Niner » Fri Apr 01, 2022 11:46 am

Saw this Library of Congress photo reproduced on facebook and colorized. It shows a couple of British service women with what is described as Lend Lease Winchesters. I was wondering what that was about. Apparently these rifles sent to Britain weren't actually Lend Lease and sent around 1940 before Lend Lease was a thing. Seems like they must have been Winchester model 1894 lever action rifles and issued to the home guard. Wonder what happened to them after the war? They weren't marked Lend Lease before Lend Lease and I'd wonder if they had any British military markings added after coming over in desperate times after the retreat of the British forces from France.

https://joesalter.ca/products/wincheste ... ssue-rifle
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Re: Winchester rifle lend lease?

Post by Aughnanure » Fri Apr 01, 2022 7:13 pm

Many years ago I bought an 1892 Carbine in .44-40 from Smith’s Sports Store in Sydney.
Got it very cheap as there was a saw cut into the middle of the chamber to render it unfireable.
It came from England in a lot that had been bought from the British Govt. was new and unfired and although it had no Government markings it did have the >< indicating that it was sold out of Govt. service.

The barrel was removed and the saw cut was carefully filed to a slight dovetail and a piece silver soldered in, then some careful machining in the lathe, a bit of polishing with a fired case and I used the carbine for many years with normal loads and no problems.

Winston Churchill is said to have gotten a number of Colt 1873 revolvers, at the time, for Members of Parliament.
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

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Re: Winchester rifle lend lease?

Post by Niner » Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:20 pm

Thanks for that story Eoin. I wonder why an official someone went to the trouble to make them useless without some trouble to rebuild? Was that Australia doing that or was that Britain?
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Re: Winchester rifle lend lease?

Post by Aughnanure » Sat Apr 02, 2022 5:28 am

It was a British thing apparently, there was another carbine exactly the same and a good mate got it at the same time, Mick Smith sold them to us at cost, I don’t remember how much but it was way low for the time.
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

Eoin.
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