Winchester information ??

[Jack Stanley]

Other than getting a letter from the Cody museum , is there an online source to find out by serial number what caliber a model 92 left the factory with ??

I'm looking at a 92 rifle from about 1913 and the exterior condition of the barrel is way different than the rest of the rifle . The markings seem to match the era though .

Thanks for any help , Jack

[pietro]

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Page 7 has only DOM's: http://www.winchesterguns.com/content/dam/winchester-repeating-arms/support/faq/serial-number-reference/Winchester-Manufacture-Dates-by-Year-2012-Scanned-Documents.pdf

Sans a Cody Letter, AFAIK there's no way to determine how one left the factory.

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[Shawlerbrook]

There is a fellow that go by twobit that posts on the GB and Paco Kelly forum that is writing a book on 1892’s. So far he has catalogued over 10,000( including my 1913 25 20 rifle) and is the best authority I have spoken to. I believe his name is Michael Puzio and he is in Texas.

[smokeywolf]

There is a fellow that go by twobit that posts on the GB and Paco Kelly forum that is writing a book on 1892’s. So far he has catalogued over 10,000( including my 1913 25 20 rifle) and is the best authority I have spoken to. I believe his name is Michael Puzio and he is in Texas.

I gave him the info on mine several years ago.

[Jack Stanley]

Thanks guys , I'm trying to find info a friend can use for the possible purchase of this rifle . I don't know the seller or the price , just want to keep a friend from getting burnt on a sale . I will suggest a Cody letter though .

I do like the 92 rifles but the closest I ever got is my browning model 53 and love it .

Jack

[John Taylor]

http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm

[Hick]

Another source might be Bert Hartman (e-mail is win1885@msn.com)-- he's associated with the Cody Museum in some way and replied with info about my Model 1894.

[OlDeuce]

http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm

John I just put my 1894 Ser.# in and the info. came up wrong ...LoL 40xx showed 1894 but the note I got from Madis years ago was June 1895 !! I know the reason LoL Mine was one of 48 guns made with the 32'' barrel .....Hmmm

Randy

[Texas by God]

Try the Winchester Gallery at 817-496-9391 for date of manufacture.
Thomas

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Other than getting a letter from the Cody museum , is there an online source to find out by serial number what caliber a model 92 left the factory with ??

I'm looking at a 92 rifle from about 1913 and the exterior condition of the barrel is way different than the rest of the rifle . The markings seem to match the era though .

Thanks for any help , Jack

I never thought it worth getting a Cody letter for my 1886, which is early but the most ordinary 26in.round barrelled model, with no inconsistency in the apparent age of components. But a poster on this site had a subscription entitling him to a free quota of information on rifles, and he got the information for me. It didn't include who it was shipped to, which I believe is seldom held from that period. Maybe someone will turn up who can do the same for you.

The way factory procedures were then. I don't think anybody, even Madis, would deny that there will be inconsistencies in his dating list.

[pietro]

John I just put my 1894 Ser.# in and the info. came up wrong ...LoL 40xx showed 1894 but the note I got from Madis years ago was June 1895 !! I know the reason LoL Mine was one of 48 guns made with the 32'' barrel .....Hmmm

Randy


AFAIK, the ONLY reliable dating information, especially about early Winchester 1894's, would be the Winchester Polishing Room records (kindly provided by Bret Hartman), which was the last stop before the rifles were re-assembled & sent to the Winchester warehouse for shipping - and even then, a particular rifle made in one year could sit long enough to be shipped the following year.

https://www.shootersforum.com/winchester-94-lever-guns/67350-winchester-model-1894-94-factory-records.html

BTW, a 32" barreled Model 1894 would have been a "Special Order" gun, well worth obtaining a Cody Letter for - but 1895 is correct for SN 4xxx.


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[jrmartin1964]

Other than getting a letter from the Cody museum , is there an online source to find out by serial number what caliber a model 92 left the factory with ??

The short answer is no. Additionally, virtually none of the Winchester serial number lists available throughout the internet are correct. The museum at Cody, WY, remains the only source of reliable information regarding the "as shipped" configuration and date of manufacture for Winchester firearms.

Jim

[Jack Stanley]

Thanks for all the help and links guys . As it turns out the guy wants way to much money for a rifle that is , at best , sixty percent with an obviously replaced barrel .

At least I got to handle the old rifle a bit and look past the rust , pitting and other neglect and see what Winchester used to produce . Enough so I had to take out my model 320 yesterday for a little plinking .

Jack

[TAC14]

FYI for the future. The Winchester Dates & Serial Numbers book is back in print and may be found on Amazon.
( As are a number of other Madis's book in a reprinting commissioned by the late Mrs. Madis)

[bob208]

back in the day Winchester was in the business of sellng rifles and keeping them shooting. anybody could send their Winchester back and have work done on it. as in change barrels refinish restock

if it has the wp in a oval on the receiver over the chamber. then it could have been rebarreled .

the dating by serial numbers can be misleading. example I have a 86 in .33 win.it has 6 special order features. by the number it was made in 02. but the .33 did not come out till 03. so I got to reading the midas book. the custom department would pull a block of receivers at one time then fill orders from that block. if that block carried over to the next year.

my advice to anyone thinking about old Winchesters is to get the midas book first.

[Jack Stanley]

I don't think I'll ever have the finances to collect Winchesters . The one I looked at for the friend apparently the owner is very .... no , VERY , VERY proud of it .

I will readily admit though , there was a fella selling a model sixty-one on swapping & selling . If I was still at my working level income I would likely buy it . Something about it just calls to me .

Jack

[BigEyeBob]

Love the oldies , I have a 73 in 44-40 round barrel full length magazine in excellent condition ,hardly a mark on it ,by the Winchester date lists it was made in 1889.
The other is a 92 ,round barrel ,full length magazine also in 44-40 ,in good (1910 manufacture)condition ,a little more wear than the 73 . Its a fun rifle to shoot . The 73 remains unfired ,until I get to cast some boolits for it .Im reluctant to use jwords in it .Both rifles came from the estate of a friend who passed away some years ago .Im caretaking them until its time to pass them on to my Son.

[OlDeuce]

Love the oldies , I have a 73 in 44-40 round barrel full length magazine in excellent condition ,hardly a mark on it ,by the Winchester date lists it was made in 1889.
The other is a 92 ,round barrel ,full length magazine also in 44-40 ,in good (1910 manufacture)condition ,a little more wear than the 73 . Its a fun rifle to shoot . The 73 remains unfired ,until I get to cast some boolits for it .Im reluctant to use jwords in it .Both rifles came from the estate of a friend who passed away some years ago .Im caretaking them until its time to pass them on to my Son.

Thats way cool.......My 2 sons have the Big Eye on their favorite Winchester off my wall .. I love the look in their eye when they handle the old ones!!
A couple of my 1894 SR Carbines were rode hard and put away wet! and the younger son loves the krud ,hard use they've been through the last 117 years!
They still shoot to the point I would take them hunting any day of the week !!!! The Old Winchester is a old house hold Name!!!

Ol Deuce

[bob208]

I would not use jacket bullets in a 73 barrel it would cause barrel wear same a a trapdoor.

jack you can still get into Winchesters. look into the post 64 model 94. there are enough variations to keep you busy for a few years. don't get into commemoratives I don't think they will ever take off.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I don't think I'll ever have the finances to collect Winchesters . The one I looked at for the friend apparently the owner is very .... no , VERY , VERY proud of it .

I will readily admit though , there was a fella selling a model sixty-one on swapping & selling . If I was still at my working level income I would likely buy it . Something about it just calls to me .

Jack

Any sort of systematic collection of Winchesters would be a bit beyond me too. I have just come across a couple... and if I said at a really attractive price, you'd probably believe me, wouldn't you?

Well one was - a button-magazine .32-40 94 which came from an auction in Australia. The other, my .40-82 86, comes more in the category of expensive infatuation. Think female homo sapiens and you will understand. But it was taken home to Norway by a returning immigrant and hidden under the floor of a mountain cabin during their invasion by gun control enthusiasts. You can't ut a price on things like that.

I have used my .40-82, but not yet the .32-40. I do like the button magazine. All kinds of rifles throw up exceptions, but I think it is less likely to interfere with accuracy than a full-length magazine dovetailed to the barrel. You are unlikely to need many shots in real-life hunting, and if somebody offered you a double rifle, you'd take it.

As to books, Madis's "Winchester Book" is first-rate for the collector, as is RL Wilson's "Winchester: an American Legend", which has all the advantages and disadvantages of a book commissioned by the company. But for the shooter of the post-73 (i.e. Browning-designed) lever Winchesters there is no equal to Clyde Williamson's "The Winchester Lever Legacy". It is an enormous book, digressional and folksy in places, which can lead you to overlook that it is built around a painstakingly detailed reloading and practical testing programme. If only there was a writer like that for every kind of firearm.

My copy is signed by the author, and perhaps they all were, for I think it had only the one fairly limited edition in Louisiana and then disappeared. Now there is a real prize for any publisher of reprint editions that reads this.