For simplicity, let's confine the discussion to the period from the inception of WRA through 1980.

American Black Walnut, jugens negra, was always the standard material for stocks and forearms, although not always available in the quantities required and with enormous variations in color and grain, largely depending whether the blank was mostly heartwood or sapwood and, to a lesser extent, from what part of the country the tree came from. 

When Black Walnut ran short,  wood from the sweetgum tree, liquidambar styraflua, was substituted, which is structurally suitable but uninteresting, and sometimes other species. 

For fancy wood with extra color and grain, the stumps of Black Walnut were favored and reserved. In the British gunmaking business, fancy English Walnut a/k/a French or Circassian Walnut blank is often admiringly called "a hunk of stump." 

While the difference in species yields great variations in the color of the raw wood, how it is finished and with what makes a huge difference. 

Black Walnut can be very coarse-grained and porous and Winchester routinely used a black material to fill the pores. All the specks and splots of black are not original wood. 

The red-brown color of Winchester wood came from an alcohol based dye sprayed on to homogenize the different colors of the wood within a raw blank, which could range from Palamino blond to green to Ebony black. Owmers who elect to refinish an old Winchester stock are sometimes shocked when they remove the old finish. 

Oil finishes turn dark with years of exposure to the Sun, whether linseed oil or tung oil or some other variety. Add enough drying and curing agents to the oil and it is called varnish. It will degrade too but it takes longer. 

But for the most part, Winchester's standard topcoat was not varnish but clear sprayed lacquer because it was quicker and looked nice until it started flaking and peeling. Lacquer is not very resistant to water.it can be helped by wiping on Tru-Oil or boiled linseed oil and rubbing off the excess. 

Toward the end of ownership by Olin, modern urethane varnishes began to be employed, certainly by 1964 although some say sooner. Oil based urethane varnish is warm toned, hard and durable. It is not easily touched up or removed. 

My "theory" is that much of the variability in wood color seen on Winchesters in similar condition is b/c the factory used THE SAME process to finish stocks regardless of the character of the wood.  At least with M70s, it was stain, seal, fill, lacquer (two coats), checker, umber puffed on the checkering (later changed to stain), final lacquer coat.  Same steps, same stain/filler/lacquer...  No particular effort to make all M70 stocks look the same beyond imparting the color from the stain and filler...  So you ended up with anything from "pecan" to "dark walnut"...

Of course the stain was sprayed by hand and the filler rubbed in by hand (that's where most of the added "color" comes from), so I'm sure there was a little room for variation depending on the workman applying the finish.  But I think (???) that the variability arises from using a mass production process (everything done the same) to a starting material that was variable.

Yes... When it comes to M70s they did change the color of the filler in the 1960s, which accounts for the ligghter color of some late M70 stocks.  I have a copy of the Product Change Order around here somewhere...

Just my take,

Lou

Private Smith said
Thanks Bert. That's what I figured, and it's good to get confirmation from an expert.
I haven't encountered many '92's with a ramp front sight. It was the first thing that caught my eye while it was on the rifle rack.
  

Winchester began using the ramp front sights co-incident with the introduction of CMS (Proof Steel) barrels in the year 1932 for the Model 94, and I assume that the Model 92 was similar.

Bert

I haven't encountered many '92's with a ramp front sight. It was the first thing that caught my eye while it was on the rifle rack.

Additionally, I've read somewhere that the numbers stamped on the lever, lower tang, etc, are bin numbers for factory redo's.  

Mine has 305 stamped on the lower tang and the lever.

F.K. said
Hi everybody, 
 
Was it custom order, was it due to the hard use, sweaty hands - or just different wood ? 

All of the above...

Bert

Bert

I have owned and seen many different Winchesters with so much difference in color of the wood - how come it ranges from almost black to the typical red tones? Was it custom order, was it due to the hard use, sweaty hands - or just different wood ? 

Love to hear what you guys think.... 

Serial #301433

The underside of the barrel has "44WCF  52" I presume the 52 is the barrel date?

Your opinions are welcome. 

Thanks

218Bee said
On the subject of fluted comb/ shotgun butts,  maybe to help with clarification, I have an original 1892 full length rifle with straight grip, 1/2 mag & checkered steel shotgun butt w/widows peak.   It is in the 734,xxx range and definitely does not have a fluted comb.
  

That makes it a November 1913 production gun.  While I cannot speak definitively concerning the Model 1892, the year 1913 was a transitional period for the model 1894 in regard to the use of the fluted comb butt stocks. By the year 1914, more than 90% of all Model 1894s that were special ordered with a Shotgun Butt had a fluted comb stock.

Bert

218Bee said
On the subject of fluted comb/ shotgun butts,  maybe to help with clarification, I have an original 1892 full length rifle with straight grip, 1/2 mag & checkered steel shotgun butt w/widows peak.   It is in the 734,xxx range and definitely does not have a fluted comb.
  

The fluted comb is definitely NOT the standard style of butt stock.  The non fluted is more common.  What is the full SN and caliber so that I can add your rifle into my research.  Every rifle is important in order to answer question with accuracy.

Michael