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Does anyone know anything or if was factory about Winchester model 92 stamped Stainless Steel octagon barrel?
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Winchester manufactured Stainless Steel barrels (special order) from late 1926 through 1930. The serial number on the Model 92 will tell us when it was manufactured.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
wingun55 said
The serial number is 937732 thanks.
Hmmm… that indicates that the receiver frame was manufactured sometime in late 1925, approximately 1-year too early for a Stainless Steel barrel.
Have you checked the 2-digit date (year number) stamped on the bottom of the barrel?
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert,
If his serial number is correct, is it possible it was pulled, for some reason, like waiting on a postal letter, indicating a special order, or added changes. If so, I would think the records might possibly show something, like a work up sheet, or letter does.
I’m also pretty confident you already have, or had those thoughts, and that information might not be available for that serial number. I don’t remember, as my memory is no where near yours! 
Anthony
Folks, I think there is nothing particularly out of the ordinary here. Receivers may have been stockpiled and that much time elapsed before assembly. I have a model 1886 that is made in 1920 and has a stainless barrel. No, I have not taken it apart to see the date on the barrel. It is a .33 Win caliber and has the Winchester proofs on the top of the barrel and the top of the receiver. Did it also wait to be assembled? Or was it returned for a stainless barrel soon after the stainless became available? No idea as no records exist for this rifle. I do not intend to try to take it apart and scrape the japaan finish which is about 90%. But my point is the 1894 is not unusual in its own. Tim
Anthony said
Bert,If his serial number is correct, is it possible it was pulled, for some reason, like waiting on a postal letter, indicating a special order, or added changes. If so, I would think the records might possibly show something, like a work up sheet, or letter does.
I’m also pretty confident you already have, or had those thoughts, and that information might not be available for that serial number. I don’t remember, as my memory is no where near yours!
Anthony
It is certainly possible that the serialized receiver frame sat unused for 12 – 24 months before being used to assemble the rifle in question, but I would expect the barrel to be date stamped “26” or possibly “27”. If the barrel is dated later than 27, the odds go up that it is not original to the receiver frame.
Unfortunately, there are no surviving records for time period in which this gun was manufactured.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
tim tomlinson said
Folks, I think there is nothing particularly out of the ordinary here. Receivers may have been stockpiled and that much time elapsed before assembly. I have a model 1886 that is made in 1920 and has a stainless barrel. No, I have not taken it apart to see the date on the barrel. It is a .33 Win caliber and has the Winchester proofs on the top of the barrel and the top of the receiver. Did it also wait to be assembled? Or was it returned for a stainless barrel soon after the stainless became available? No idea as no records exist for this rifle. I do not intend to try to take it apart and scrape the japaan finish which is about 90%. But my point is the 1894 is not unusual in its own. Tim
Tim,
Production of the Model 1886 in the 1920s was very small as compared to the Model 92 and Model 94. The late production Model 1886 research survey that Mark and I have been working on definitively shows that many Model 1886 receiver frames sat unused for extended periods of time before they were used to assemble a rifle.
Model 1886 serial number 146000 is estimated to have been manufactured in March 1909. Serial number 159996 is estimated to have been assembled in early 1935. In that 26-year time span, Winchester manufactured a total of just 14,000 Model 1886 rifles (or if averaged out, 538 guns per year). Conversely, Winchester manufactured an estimated 17,500 Model 92s in the year 1926 alone. Model 92 (and 53) receiver frames were being consumed at a much higher rate and would not have sat unused for great lengths of time like the Model 1886 receiver frames did.
Is your Stainless Steel 33 WCF rifle a Take Down? If it is, the barrel date is easy to view simply by taking the barrel assembly off of the receiver frame. Please remind me what the serial number is on that rifle.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert, I looked under the barrel and took some pics. This is a takedown and the date is close to the magazine opening and difficult to see clearly. It may be 26 or 28, so here are some pics that can be seen.
wingun55 said
Bert, I looked under the barrel and took some pics. This is a takedown and the date is close to the magazine opening and difficult to see clearly. It may be 26 or 28, so here are some pics that can be seen.
Try illuminating the number with a small LED light.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert, SN is 157730. And yes. you’ve told me before about how to view the year marked on the barrel as it is a take down. But its in the safe and I don’t remember to look when I have the chances. Usually I am in the safe for other, specific purposes. Tim
wingun55 said
Bert, I will try that but do any other markings mean anything? thanks
No, they do not. The other markings are typical (standard).
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert, I hope you feel real guilty! I decided to act before I forgot again. Had to move a few other firearms to get to it. The barrel on the 1886 has a 29 date on it. Now to put it together, back in the safe, and put the others on the floor back in in front of it. Why is whatever I need at the moment in back of so many other firearms?! Tim
tim tomlinson said
Bert, SN is 157730. And yes. you’ve told me before about how to view the year marked on the barrel as it is a take down. But its in the safe and I don’t remember to look when I have the chances. Usually I am in the safe for other, specific purposes. Tim
Tim,
I checked my notes, and the barrel date on your Stainless Steel 33 WCF is “29”. Based on the S/N, my estimate for the date of manufacture is also 1929.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert, It looks as the barrel date on the model 92 stainless is 28. But I had read that Winchester was offering to send back older Winchesters to have them re-barreling to stainless but that did not go food for Winchester. Did not know if that is true? thanks
tim tomlinson said
Bert, I hope you feel real guilty! I decided to act before I forgot again. Had to move a few other firearms to get to it. The barrel on the 1886 has a 29 date on it. Now to put it together, back in the safe, and put the others on the floor back in in front of it. Why is whatever I need at the moment in back of so many other firearms?! Tim
Guilty?? Never! Besides, you needed both the physical and mental exercise 
In answer to your question, you apparently have too many guns to sort through!
BVD
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
wingun55 said
Bert, It looks as the barrel date on the model 92 stainless is 28. But I had read that Winchester was offering to send back older Winchesters to have them re-barreling to stainless but that did not go food for Winchester. Did not know if that is true? thanks
I would be more inclined to believe that the Stainless Steel barrel was originally installed when the rifle was assembled. The 1925 PR date with a “28” marked barrel is not unheard of.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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