GREEN RIVER — An iconic rifle that is more than 130 years old was researched recently through the Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s Vintage Firearms Research Program.

Museum staff identified the rifle as a lever-action Model 1894 in .30 Winchester Center Fire, more commonly known today as the .30-30.

The Model 1894 was one of the most popular sporting rifles in history and was the first commercially-available rifle made for a smokeless powder cartridge. A John Browning design still in production, more than 7,000,000 have been made. The Model 1894 the museum researched turned out to be special – it has a very low four-digit serial number and was manufactured in 1894, the year the rifle was introduced.

In addition to the .30 WCF, (.30-30), the Model 1894 was also available, over the

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