[BCMA] for posting on list serve - PCMR Winchester rifle

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

I phoned Leslie and here is the gist of the information which I am
sharing as these rifles can pop up anywhere in BC and they are an
important part of our history. 

 

LEGAL ISSUES

 

The Winchester Model 94 is classified as "non-restricted" which is the
basic level of permit required for an individual. Anyone with a Firearms
Acquisition Licence could transport it and no permit is required to do
so (unlike "restricted" and "prohibited" weapons) and this should be in
a locked rifle case. Once at a museum which is authorized to hold it, it
should be locked up, ideally in a rifle cabinet, such that ONLY people
at the museum who have a firearms licence have access to it. Exhibiting
a live firearm has other security questions that need to be dealt with. 

 

For your museum to possess it "live" you need a "Firearms Business
Licence" and a staff member who needs to have a valid firearms licence.
Normally, but not always, the rifle is already registered and then the
RCMP transfer the licence for the rifle to the museum. This part may
change as and when the current federal government abolishes the long-gun
registry which would de-register most shotguns and rifles but leave
pistols and machineguns, and certain rifles (e.g. assault rifles)
registered as was previously the case. Owners would still have to be
licenced, as would museums holding live firearms that have not been
classified as "antique." Although most people define antique as being
100 years or older, the federal government likes to redefine words, so
that they do not mean what we think they mean e.g. antique, bi-lingual
and prohibited, The dictionary defines bilingual as any two languages,
the Feds as only the two languages of their choice; the dictionary
defines prohibited as NO one may own sit, whereas our Feds define it as
no one except those who owned it before a certain date, and of course
the government - military, customs, police etc.  

 

At the Cumberland Museum on Vancouver Island, an early Curator, a
retired coal miner, hated Orientals and he refused to collect items
relating the former large and significant Chinese and Japanese
populations there. As a later Curator there I was able to collect to
fill the gap, but in the meantime they had lost out on a huge
significant local Chinese collection (of the Lowe brothers as I recall)
that was broken up and sold. The point here is that this Winchester
rifle is an artifact representing a significant part of BC's history.
Even if you do not like firearms, one should not allow that to interfere
with your duties as a Curator by playing favorites with history. 

 

Another option is that the rifle could be permanently deactivated (i.e.
welded shut) which makes it a non-firearm in legal terms but this would
be like welding up an old 1940's Rolls-Royce car - destroying an
artifact and depriving future generations of the chance to study and
understand it.  It has serial moral implications regarding our duty as
Curators. 

 

If your museum is offered a firearm(s) that is relevant to your
collecting policy and your museum does not have the required licences,
then do consider connecting with a gun dealer , collector or another
museum and arranging for them to legally accept it in the meantime and
for them hold it legally for you, especially if they are threatened with
destruction. Sadly police forces get so focused on destroying firearms
that many very historic pieces have been destroyed. Caution - Any such
arrangement should have a written agreement in place first because in
the government's eyes, ownership would rest with whoever's name is on
the firearm licence. 

 

THIS RIFLE & ITS HISTORY

 

The rifle is almost certainly a Winchester Model 94 (i.e. 1894) or Model
64 lever-action .30/30 rifle as issued to the Pacific Coast Militia
Rangers (PCMR), British Columbia's own home defence guerrilla army in
World War II. Here is a photo of a couple of PCMR men with two
lever-action rifles. 

http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/misc/display.asp?image=pcmr_1996_0
05_046.jpg&width=337&height=513 

I have two of these PCMR Model 94 Winchesters in my personal collection.
They would have been manufactured about 1943. The PCMR also carried the
Winchester Model 64, Marlin lever-action rifles, Ross Rifles, P-17
Enfields, Sten Guns Mark II and probably some Bren Guns.

 

You should find the Canadian government issue mark stamped on the left
side of the rifle in three places. The mark is C with an arrow  /|\
inside and stamped on the left side of the butt near the butt plate, on
the left side of the receiver just aft of the hand guard, and on the
left side of the hand guard just in front of the receiver. These are
scarce rifles, especially in good condition, as many were sold to the
men for $5 each at the end of the war and they were used post-war for
hunting. A key question to ask a source for one of these rifles is if
they know who owned it, were they in the PCMR and if so, which number
company were they in? There were PCMR companies all across BC. Unlike
most military rifles, there is a good chance of finding the provenance
and the wartime user of that rifle if donated to a museum. 

 

The rarest feature to find is the original sales receipt. The next most
important item to try to get from the family is the armband which in
your case would have the number of the PCMR Company and PITT MEADOWS,
probably this one:

 

No. 61 Company Haney

Haney, Pitt Meadows, Albion

F.K. DeWolf
(12 May 42 - 30 Jun 44)
J.D. Watson

			

 

 The Ashton Armoury Museum in Victoria has a modified PCMR lever action
rifle which has the $5 sales receipt. 

 

For more information on the PCMR, see the excellent article on the
Internet and related pages by Debbie Towell at the CFB Esquimalt Naval
and Military Museum.
http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/resource_pages/coastal_defence/pcm
r.html 

 

By the way, they had special military ammunition for these rifles.
Hunters use soft-nosed bullets that will mushroom (deform) upon striking
an animal, causing massive bleeding and instantaneous or quick death.
The rules of war however outlawed such ammunition (which the military
called "dum-dum") and insisted on full metal jacketed (FMJ) bullets
which do far less damage.  This FMJ ammunition was custom made for the
PCMR as their rifles did not use standard army ammunition. For a museum
to display such ammunition, it should be carefully rendered INERT - such
that it still looks good for display and research. Both these cartridges
and the boxes for them are rare.

 

The Winchester Model 94 was a very typical rifle used throughout B.C.
for hunting and by the PCMR in war time. As such it is woven into the
fabric of the history of this province. "Surely among the most beloved
firearms of all time are the Winchester pre 1964 Model 94 carbines.
These graceful little rifles are a study in functional walnut and steel.
With nearly perfect lines and balance, they became the best selling
sporting rifles of all time."
http://www.chuckhawks.com/win_pre_64_M94.htm 

 

Colin MacGregor Stevens,

Manager,

New Westminster Museums and Archives,

302 Royal Avenue,

New Westminster, BC,

V3L 1H7, Canada

 

Phone Office:    604-527-4639

Work Cellular :  604-830-6965

Fax:                    604-527-4641

E-mail: cstevens at newwestcity.ca 

Web Site: www.newwestminster.ca 

Normal work week: Sun-Thurs 9-5, OFF Fri-Sat.

 

The New Westminster Museums and Archives (NWMA), established 1950,
consists of:

   * City's Museum (est. 1950)

   * City's Archives

   * Irving House (built 1865, purchased by City in 1950)

   * Samson V Maritime Museum (paddlewheel ship built 1937; museum since
1984) 

 

From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. [mailto:bcma at lists.vvv.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 1:04 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com; bcma-l at museumsassn.bc.ca
Subject: [BCMA] for posting on list serve

 

 

 

At the Pitt Meadows Museum we have been offered a Winchester reflex
action riffle that was used by a local farmer, pioneer resident and
former mayor of the community.  He used it while serving in the local
Coast Militia Rangers during World War II.  The problem we have here is
that no one on staff has the necessary permits to transport or own the
weapon.  Does anyone know if a Museum can recruit a volunteer with the
necessary permits to act on behalf of the organization?  I do realize I
could go looking for this information myself but I am hoping there is a
reader out there who has been in the same position and came up with an
interim solution.  The rifle is presently with the RCMP (they don't have
the answer) and is slated for disposal if we (or another suitable
facility) does not take on the donation.

 

Any help is very much appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

Leslie Norman

 

Pitt Meadows Museum & Archives

12294 Harris Road, Pitt Meadows, B.C., V3Y 2E9

604-465-4322             pittmeadowsmuseum.com

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vvv.com/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20111020/5d850af5/attachment.htm