94 winchester ?

[ascast]

Hi, I wonder if anybody can tell me the thread size, pitch etc. of the top tang screw on a pre 94 carbine.

please pm me as I will most likely forget where I posted this question.

thanks

[Calamity Jake]

Should be 1/4-28

[Ballistics in Scotland]

They may have changed it at some point, so check with a hardware store 1/4x28 screw before you lay out money on what I say. But I've just measured one from an early 20th century 94, and it appears to be .211x28, which as wear at the crests is hard to judge, seems very much like the 7/32 x 28 BSF (British Standard Fine). The US Standard thread hadn't quite evolved into the National system when Winchester got into rifles, so a 7/32 x 28 resembling the BSF may have existed before they went over to number sizes for those under 1/4in. Or it might just be Winchester's own thread. Either they weren't very precise or they wanted to prevent interchangeability of the wrong parts, since my 94 screw looks to be the same thread as my 1887-made 86, but is too tight in that rifle.

I'd use a 7/32 BSF die on one of the no.12 screw blanks you can buy from Brownells. They are plentiful on eBay, and although they might have to come from Britain or China, they are small enough to be cheap in the mail. I would prefer a split die, so that I could reduce the diameter slightly if required. Then I would find out whether I needed the tap to modify, quite unnoticeably, the threaded hole in the lower tang. My guess is that I wouldn't, but you won't have less strength that way than you need in a tang screw. Actually I doubt if there is any practical reason not to simply tap the hole 1/4 x 28, in a rifle which isn't such a valuable antique that you want to change nothing.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Here's the data from Brownell's "Encyclopedia Of Modern Firearms Parts And Assembly" first published in 1959: Part Number: 16494, Head: O (oval), Point: F (flat) Head Diameter: .343, Head Thickness: .125, Overall Length: 1.729, Unthreaded Diameter: 1.237 (Unthreaded portion tapers from .226 at head to .211 @ threaded portion), threaded length: .367, Pitch & Gauge: .205x28.

Caution: Some things changed with a redesign of the rifle to facilitate easier manufacturing during and after 1964. There may have been other changes after Winchester Repeating Arms was sold to their successor, U.S. Repeating Arms Corp. Therefore, if your rifle was manufactured post-'64 it would be wise to confirm these measurements. The part should be relatively easy to obtain from any one of several sources, but you should specify the vintage of your rifle when ordering.

Numrich Gun Parts Corp. presently shows both the pre-64 and post-64 top eject models screws in stock:
Pre-64, product # 301490B; Post -64, product # 301490A; either $5.55. Because of the slight difference in the product numbers I assume that there is some small difference in the parts, although it could be something as slight as the finish. Order as: Tang Screw Upper.

[John Taylor]

http://www.wisnersinc.com/model/winchester-1894-lever-action/ has new screws for $5. The correct size is .205X28. I had to have a custom tap made for that size.

[M-Tecs]

I always thought it was a 12 x 28

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I always thought it was a 12 x 28

It is very close, and a no. 12 blank screw could be used to make one. Someone unwilling to go John Taylor's route could use a 12 x 28 tap and die and it would be most unlikely ever be noticed. I wouldn't do that to a Winchester "One of One Thousand". But the screw as you buy it won't fit, and in a tang screw it is more desirable to have the part that only contacts metal unthreaded.