Trying to date my Winchester 94...

[desertcop204]

Just bought a '94 with a serial number (1312818) that falls in the "1943-1948" range. Since I'm not very familiar with these older rifles, I was wondering if Winchester (or anyone) provides a "lettering" service or even an unofficial way way to date the serial more specifically to a year. When cleaning it, I noticed on the underside of the receiver there's a "47" stamped immediately in front of the trigger. Any chance this was done at the time of manufacture to show the date or is that just wishful thinking? Any pointers are greatly appreciated.

[mran1126]

I don't have the site link, but if you search for Winchester serial numbers, there is a site that gives the dates of manufacture for the serial numbers. I'm sure someone has that link here.

[dbateman]

hi there desertcop204 and welcome
im shore there is a lettering service for Winchesters
but have a look at this site http://www.proofhouse.com/win/winchester.htm
there are some years missing WW11???
so what round is this 94 got any pics?

[mran1126]

Here is the site

http://armscollectors.com/sn/windates.htm

[model55]

No you can not go on a date with that rifle...........sorry had to go there.

[pokey]

no letters are available for that date range.
about the best you can do is take the total
number manufactured[278711] for those years
and average it out for the number of years[5]
you get 46,152per year. which would put yours
around 1945.

hope that helps, good luck, pokey

oh, that 47 is an assemblers mark.
and welcome home.

[Mike D.]

Welcome desertcop204. Your '94 Winchester actually falls into the pre-WWII serial number sequence. Most published serial number lists for the '94, including Madis, are off by several years in most cases. Research into the Winchester Polishing Room Serialization records has brought forth new information that was not available to earlier persons doing research on the various Winchester Models. Records from which "factory letters" are issued ends at serial number 1343183, the last recorded number in 1942. For details on this recently uncovered information on the 1894 Winchester go to GunBroker.com and click on the forums heading. The WPRS records information has seriously altered what was previously thought to be "antique" , or pre-1899, '94 numbers and upset some collectors whose guns were determined to not be of that esteemed status.

[pokey]

mike is right, there is a new set of dates
to recon with, you can go here as well
to ask questions,
http://www.winchestercollector.org/forum/index.php
and request info from the guys at cody.

p.s. if you really need to know, the year of
manufacture should be stamped on the bottom
of the barrel under the forearm stock by the
receiver.

[desertcop204]

Wow! Y'all are awesome. Thank you so much for the info. I'll get on that and check it out and see what pops up!

...and Model 55, I'll thank you not to decide who (what) that I can/cannot date! It's a personal thing, after all

[Ysabel Kid]

...and Model 55, I'll thank you not to decide who (what) that I can/cannot date! It's a personal thing, after all

Welcome to the fire! You'll fit in nicely here!

[desertcop204]

Thanks! Here's a few pics. It has definitely seen better days and has a lot of bluing loss. Most of which was due to a previous owner that allowed surface rust to develop and didn't take the time to wipe it down regularly. A subsequent owner got most of it off....unfortunately he took the bluing off with the rust in those areas, but on the bright side at least he got it before it started pitting the metal, so it's mainly a cosmetic thing. By the looks of the wear on the barrel and stock it was probably a truck gun, or spent an inordinate amount of time in a rack somewhere, and probably seldom oiled. I suspect it was carried FAR FAR more than it was shot, as the bore looks absolutely pristine, bordering on unfired (although I know for a fact it has been) with rifling as good as or better than a new modern rifle, and there is virtually no wear or scratches on the loading gate. I spent about three hours last night cleaning and oiling the $hit out of it. The action is solid and buttery. I'm planning on carrying and using it, so I can't foresee ever having the metal refinished, although I am tossing around the idea of sanding out some of the scratches in the stock and cleaning that up a bit. (The pics make it look like it's in better shape than it is, there's quite a lot of nicks, dents, and scratches in it). For the time being though I'm just going to leave it as-is with it's charcter marks and all, maybe just put some furniture polish or something on the wood to clean out some of the old grime. Probably just as well it has some scratches and bumps on it, so I don't feel bad about taking it out when I'm out camping, etc...All in all I like it a lot.

[desertcop204]

Hey Pokey,
I took your suggestion and took a peek under the barrel. 1941. Thanks for the help!