Winchester 94 38-55 Caliber Change

[Rube Burrows]

Hello. I have a few project Winchesters laying around and was thinking about making one of them into a 38-55 caliber rifle. I have been wanting to try out that caliber for a while now. I found a barrel online at Numrich and was just curious;

If I get the 26" barrel can I put it on my Winchester 94 which was made in 1979 and only have to change the Barrel, Magazine and forearm out? Would I have to change any innards?

Would anything else have to be done?


The barrel description says that if using a AE Winchester then additional fitting may be required but does not say anything about a regular Top Eject Winchester.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Hobie]

It is probably a top eject barrel with the extractor cut in place for the top eject. You MIGHT have to make minor action changes. Many report no changes necessary.

PS - Jesse Ocumpaugh will rebore/rechamber your barrel for you for a modest price and he does very good work.

[Rube Burrows]

It is probably a top eject barrel with the extractor cut in place for the top eject. You MIGHT have to make minor action changes. Many report no changes necessary.

PS - Jesse Ocumpaugh will rebore/rechamber your barrel for you for a modest price and he does very good work.

If I was to get a rebore/rechamber for my current rifle I would guess it would still say 30-30 on it or be Xed out.

If I do go ahead and change the caliber to 38-55 I will change the stock out to an older crescent style also and give it an older look. I think the 26" barrel would be nice along with the other stuff.

[fordwannabe]

I am thinking about doing this exact conversion. I would like to change the barrel because I want the octagon barrel, though reboring would be cheaper I am sure. Now I need to find a project 94...HMMMMN where would you look for a project 94? where o where? You fellows wouldn't know anyplace would you? Tom
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[Rube Burrows]

I am thinking about doing this exact conversion. I would like to change the barrel because I want the octagon barrel, though reboring would be cheaper I am sure. Now I need to find a project 94...HMMMMN where would you look for a project 94? where o where? You fellows wouldn't know anyplace would you? Tom
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I placed a Want ad in my area on craigs list and turned up more Winchesters than I could afford. Sometimes they get flagged by the antigunner but not before I got lots of emails.

[J Miller]

Does Jesse Ocumpaugh have a web site?

Joe

[BenT]

Jesse's site is www.35caliber.com

I did the Numrich barrel conversions. Hardest thing is getting the old barrel off. A gunsmith should only charge about an hour of labor to switch them out. It is a very accurate shooting barrel.

[hfcable]

Hello. I have a few project Winchesters laying around and was thinking about making one of them into a 38-55 caliber rifle. I have been wanting to try out that caliber for a while now. I found a barrel online at Numrich and was just curious;

If I get the 26" barrel can I put it on my Winchester 94 which was made in 1979 and only have to change the Barrel, Magazine and forearm out? Would I have to change any innards?

Would anything else have to be done?


The barrel description says that if using a AE Winchester then additional fitting may be required but does not say anything about a regular Top Eject Winchester.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

i did that and your mag tube should work fine.. forend ...it depends the barrel i got was half round half octagon and the one i was switching was too, so no problem..

[Griff]

Howdy Rube,

Welcome to THE Forum for levergun addicts. As I said before, the parent cartridge for all Winchester 1894/94 cartridges is the .38-55. Rim diameter and nominal cartridge AOL is the same. The rifle cartridges used in the 94 all can share the same lifter (carrier) and cartridge guides. Changing caliber from .30-30 to .38-55 will NOT necessitate any changes to the innards.

I changed one of my 1979 top eject Winchester 94s from 20" carbine to a 26" rifle using the Numrich octagon barrel. I also replaced the stock and forend with a matched set from Fajens before they went out of business. The only additional parts that will be required to complete YOUR conversion will be the same as I needed on mine. Some parts are avail thru Numrich and some may be purchased from VTI. Part #s with links to the source I quote are below:
From Numrich:
Forend cap: http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Det ... catid=7500
And from VTI:
Forend cap tenon: #225 UB:202225 Uberti Forend Protection Bearing (1866 Rifle, 1873 Rifle)
Screws for cap: #283 UB:202283/Hard Uberti HARDENED Forend Protection Screw (1873 Rifle)
Magazine band and pin: #275 UB:202275 Uberti Magazine Tube Bearing (1866 Rifle, 1873 Rifle)
#281 UB:202281 Uberti Magazine Tube Bearing Pin (1873 Rifle, 1866 Rifle, Gold Rush Rifle, Lightning2) (there's one avai from Numrich, but it will have to be fitted)
magazine tube: #118 UB:244118 Uberti Magazine Tube 30" (1873 Rifle) (cut to fit)

Wood can be somewhat harder. The width of the upper & lower tang has narrowed on the rifles of the vintage such as ours from pre-'64 models. You will have to find a source for the stock in the style you mention specifically for these post '64 rifles. Numrich does list them, but doesn't have them in stock at the present time. They show this one, but I'm just not 100% sure it's correct for the look you're say you want: Stock, Classic - Original Straight Grip w/ Blue Steel Rifle Plate. Product No. 581000 $82.30

Here's a coupla pics of my complete rifle:












The rear sight is a Smith Enterprises unit... one of the earliest he made, and the front sight is a Shiloh Sharps globe with the top of the ball filed off and the dovetail narrowed to fit in the standard 3/8" dovetail on the Numrich barrel. With a the tight aperture in the rear sight, the fine "T" of the front, I'm confident with this rifle out to 300 yards.

Hopefully 20cows will chime in with pics and a description of the project rifles he's built also. I seem to recall that he did a .30-30 to .38-55 conversion.

[Rube Burrows]

Griff, Thank you very much for all of the info. That is pretty much the exact look im going for. I love that rifle. Was that a Post 64 receiver? I was asking about color case hardening my 1979 but was told by a few that they were not sure if they could do it for me due to the metal used in the 1970's guns. It would be very nice if I could in fact get it color case hardened.

This is my first real project 94. I have brought some pretty funky Post 64s back to life but have never switched calibers, barrels, and/or color case hardened the receiver.

[pokey]

Jesse's site is http://www.35caliber.com

I did the Numrich barrel conversions.hardest thing is getting the old barrel off . A gunsmith should only charge about an hour of labor to switch them out. It is a very accurate shooting barrel.

boy howdy. i've done a few, and truer words were never spoken[typed].
good luck.

[tman]

Has anyone here had JES convert a 30-30 to .375 wcf? I know that he does this conversion, but i have reservations about converting a non bigbore 94 to a bigbore caliber .

[hfcable]

Has anyone here had JES convert a 30-30 to .375 wcf? I know that he does this conversion, but i have reservations about converting a non bigbore 94 to a bigbore caliber .

well, hardly seems to be any point to going to the 375 when the 38/55 case is slightly longer anyway. the threads on the big bore are different so with a standard 94 rebored to 375 all you really have is a 38/55 with a different label on the barrel. you can load the 38/55 in a modern barrel and gun hot enough for whatever you need. now, on the other hand what would be nice is to take a 375 big bore and rechamber it to a the rimmed 307/356/444 size case and retain the 375 bore diameter. that is what winchester should have done in the first place, like they did with the 307 and 356......that would be a great cartridge and i know folks have done that, but it is a shame the factory did not do that.

[Griff]

Rube,

Yes, that's a '79 receiver. The color case hardening was done with bone & charcoal by a fellar in WY. He no longers does case hardening. I understand that Turnball will as will Classic Guns, Inc.will both do Winchester 94s. They both claim to use blocks inside the frame to keep the frame from warping.

[tman]

Has anyone here had JES convert a 30-30 to .375 wcf? I know that he does this conversion, but i have reservations about converting a non bigbore 94 to a bigbore caliber .

well, hardly seems to be any point to going to the 375 when the 38/55 case is slightly longer anyway. the threads on the big bore are different so with a standard 94 rebored to 375 all you really have is a 38/55 with a different label on the barrel. you can load the 38/55 in a modern barrel and gun hot enough for whatever you need. now, on the other hand what would be nice is to take a 375 big bore and rechamber it to a the rimmed 307/356/444 size case and retain the 375 bore diameter. that is what winchester should have done in the first place, like they did with the 307 and 356......that would be a great cartridge and i know folks have done that, but it is a shame the factory did not do that.

I was thinking along the lines of having a rifle that could shoot both factory 38-55 & 375.

[Griff]

Has anyone here had JES convert a 30-30 to .375 wcf? I know that he does this conversion, but i have reservations about converting a non bigbore 94 to a bigbore caliber .

well, hardly seems to be any point to going to the 375 when the 38/55 case is slightly longer anyway. the threads on the big bore are different so with a standard 94 rebored to 375 all you really have is a 38/55 with a different label on the barrel. you can load the 38/55 in a modern barrel and gun hot enough for whatever you need. now, on the other hand what would be nice is to take a 375 big bore and rechamber it to a the rimmed 307/356/444 size case and retain the 375 bore diameter. that is what winchester should have done in the first place, like they did with the 307 and 356......that would be a great cartridge and i know folks have done that, but it is a shame the factory did not do that.

I was thinking along the lines of having a rifle that could shoot both factory 38-55 & 375.

That wouldn't be a good idea in a standard Winchester or Marlin receiver. Find you a .375 and have the chamber reamed a little longer for the .38-55, just remember, that unless you clean the chamber, after a while you might not not be able to chamber the .38-55 due to the crud built up. (Similar to .38Spls in a .357).

Sure wish we still had access to that treatise I recall on the testing of the .375 in Winchester & Marlins from years ago. I had it saved, but that was two or three laptops ago!

[Rube Burrows]

Rube,

Yes, that's a '79 receiver. The color case hardening was done with bone & charcoal by a fellar in WY. He no longers does case hardening. I understand that Turnball will as will Classic Guns, Inc.will both do Winchester 94s. They both claim to use blocks inside the frame to keep the frame from warping.

Great, that was my original plan but Hunter Restorations was not sure if he could Color Case Harden the receivers on a 1970s Winchester. Glad to know it can. Now I feel as though I can see my project come to life like I originally pictured it.

Does anyone sell the 26" round barrel in 38-55? I dont mind the Octagon barrel but I like the round ones also and I would think they are a little more light. Either way it should be a fun build.

[C. Cash]

Has anyone here had JES convert a 30-30 to .375 wcf? I know that he does this conversion, but i have reservations about converting a non bigbore 94 to a bigbore caliber .

well, hardly seems to be any point to going to the 375 when the 38/55 case is slightly longer anyway. the threads on the big bore are different so with a standard 94 rebored to 375 all you really have is a 38/55 with a different label on the barrel. you can load the 38/55 in a modern barrel and gun hot enough for whatever you need. now, on the other hand what would be nice is to take a 375 big bore and rechamber it to a the rimmed 307/356/444 size case and retain the 375 bore diameter. that is what winchester should have done in the first place, like they did with the 307 and 356......that would be a great cartridge and i know folks have done that, but it is a shame the factory did not do that.

Basically the 375 JDJ. Have always thought that if I was lucky enough to shoot out my 356 Win., I would have it redone to this caliber. Might be hard to get decent size bullets to feed through the 94 action though.

[Rube Burrows]

Got the Barrel and forend cap in yesterday from Numrich. Everything looks pretty good with the exception of about a half inch scrape where the barrel is missing the bluing. Not that big of a deal. Should easily cover with possibly some touch up blue.

I have my receiver all ready to ship off and get the color case hardening done.

Im about to order the rest of my parts from VTI. Im pretty excited about this build now that its more than just an idea and some of the parts are coming in.

[Griff]

Sweet! Uh, where'd the pictures go?

[Rube Burrows]

Sweet! Uh, where'd the pictures go?

What pics? I still see your pics up above.