Winchester 1894 Curiosity

[Kai]

I have this 1894 in 32spcl. The gun is a takedown with full mag and octagon barrel built in 1908. Somehow the gun left Winchester without the lever pin removal hole on the right side of the receiver. Anybody ever seen anything like this on a 94, or a 92 for that matter? Last picture is with a typical 94 receiver for comparison.

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[Markopolo]

Now that is Strange…. possibly some sort of mistake in manufacturing?

[turtlezx]

??ing drill broke during manufacturing didnt catch it built just fine

[stubshaft]

First time I've seen it.

[Bazoo]

No, I've never seen or heard of that for either 94 or 92. I wonder if some of those winchester collectors would offer a premium for it. That's really cool, Thanks for sharing.

There was one on winchestercollectors.org, have you asked about it there too?

[Noah Zark]

Kai, if you remove the plug screw on the left side, is the lever pin actually a lever screw?

Noah

[Kai]

No, I've never seen or heard of that for either 94 or 92. I wonder if some of those winchester collectors would offer a premium for it. That's really cool, Thanks for sharing.

There was one on winchestercollectors.org, have you asked about it there too?

Yes, that was my post.

[Kai]

Now that is Strange…. possibly some sort of mistake in manufacturing?

Definitely a mistake. Thing is the gun cannot be taken apart without the hole to drive out the lever pin. I was able to take the plug screw out of the left side of the receiver and drill and tap the pin for removal. The gun had a broken firing pin when I got it. I think this explains the fine condition the gun is in. Whoever had it, after the firing pin broke and they realized they could not take the gun apart, just hung it on the wall.

[Kai]

Kai, if you remove the plug screw on the left side, is the lever pin actually a lever screw?

Noah

No a screw would not work for the lever pin. As I mentioned above I was able to remove the plug screw and drill and tap the pin for removal. Once the gun was apart it was very clear that the hole had never been drilled through the right side of the receiver. Now it can stay that way and I can take the gun apart if necessary.

[Kai]

??ing drill broke during manufacturing didnt catch it built just fine

That's my guess. Just wonder how many receivers went through without being drilled??

[Texas by God]

I’m surprised that the pin could be drilled and tapped without spinning. If I’m visualizing correctly, that is.
I say this because the pin was easy to push out on the 92s and 94s that I’ve worked on. Of course, they all had the pin hole that’s missing on yours.


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[Kai]

I’m surprised that the pin could be drilled and tapped without spinning. If I’m visualizing correctly, that is.
I say this because the pin was easy to push out on the 92s and 94s that I’ve worked on. Of course, they all had the pin hole that’s missing on yours.


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My thought is, since the gun would not fire due to a broken pin, the action was not used for a long time to the point the pin was "sticky" in the lever as it did not spin when drilled. I assume you meant the guns you worked on did not have the missing pin hole like mine?

[Shawlerbrook]

Bert Hartman (Win1885@msn.com) is the go to guy for everything Winchester 1894. If anyone ever saw that he did.

[Bazoo]

You're remedy is just about what I was thinking to get the pin out. It's certainly a neat thing, thank you for sharing it with us.

I just had a thought. I wonder if they had intended the gun to be engraved and left the hole off intentionally for that reason. Then changed their mind on the engraving and just sold the gun through normal channels.

[Kai]

Bert Hartman (Win1885@msn.com) is the go to guy for everything Winchester 1894. If anyone ever saw that he did.

Shawlerbrook,
I did post the rifle on the Winchester sight and Bert did give his two cents. He refused to believe that the hole was missing. Said he could see "where the hole used to be" and that someone must have "filled it in". No thanks. He may know statistics on the 94 but if something is out of the ordinary it simply is not correct. Many others on the site were inquisitive and, just like those who have commented here, I appreciated their insight.

[Kai]

You're remedy is just about what I was thinking to get the pin out. It's certainly a neat thing, thank you for sharing it with us.

I just had a thought. I wonder if they had intended the gun to be engraved and left the hole off intentionally for that reason. Then changed their mind on the engraving and just sold the gun through normal channels.

That certainly is an interesting thought although it still seems quite odd that they would let the gun out of the factory without the hole regardless.

[Bazoo]

I wonder if it was a factory error that was offered to the workers at a discount. I know that sort of thing happened at other factories, but I've never heard of it from Winchester. It's certainly a very interesting piece.

[John Taylor]

interesting. The guy assembling the action probably didn't notice that the hole was not there. As the saying goes, probably assembled on a Monday or Friday afternoon. I have seen some miner imperfections but this is the first one without the hole. I did have one come in years ago with .025" headspace, all that happened was the primers were backing out.

[Texas by God]

I’m glad that you were able to fix it. That looks to be a very nice rifle.
As a youngster, I thought that the little hole on Dad’s Winchester 94 was for oil- just like on my Daisy!
Dad said No, Son- it’s not.[emoji3]


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[Jedman]

I’m glad that you were able to fix it. That looks to be a very nice rifle.
As a youngster, I thought that the little hole on Dad’s Winchester 94 was for oil- just like on my Daisy!
Dad said No, Son- it’s not.[emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. I would have thought the same thing !
Jedman

[john.k]

Quite likely the missing hole wasnt noticed until change of shift and the toolsetter would have replaced the missing drill .....As I understand it ,parts were made in big runs,and stored until required for assembly ....days, months or even years later .....then taken out of store and polished ,blued and assembled..... the workers were on piecework rates ,so wernt keen to interrupt the flow of production..

[Kai]

Just thought I'd bring this thread up and see if anyone new on here may have any input?

[gunther]

Looking at the hole diameter on the normal 94, what was the drill and tap size you used to remove the pin? That is not a very large pin. This looks like a very careful piece of work. Wow.

[ascast]

I am no 94 expert, have not had one apart in many years, but how did they put it together without the hole?

[Kai]

I am no 94 expert, have not had one apart in many years, but how did they put it together without the hole?

The hole is only necessary for removing the pin during disassembly. The last step of assembly is inserting lever into the receiver and inserting pin into hole on left side of receiver to secure the lever to the bolt.

[Kai]

Looking at the hole diameter on the normal 94, what was the drill and tap size you used to remove the pin? That is not a very large pin. This looks like a very careful piece of work. Wow.

I had a smith do the work. I'd guess the bit used was 1/32. I too was impressed with the work. Go here for the whole story.

https://levergunner.com/lever-guns/a-winchester-1894-oddity-the-missing-lever-pin-access-hole/

[georgerkahn]

Awesome story -- I viewed and read your provided link -- THANK YOU for posting! Bion, I learned a bit!
geo