I was watching a video from Wyoming Armory and imbedded in it, Mark provides a great explanation and illustration of what is involved in fitting new wood to a Winchester rifle.  This greatly helped me understand why a quality restoration costs so much - the immense amount of time involved. One can see what is involved to make a stock fit to the same level that Winchester did.  So my question is - how did Winchester do it?  Surely they didn't have someone spend 20 hours on fitting a Model 1894 stock?  Yet they must have been using hand tools?  We know many stocks were interchangeable from rifle to rifle (e.g. not only among the same models but across some models - such as between the M1892 and Model 1894).  It perplexes me further when I think about the machinery (and electricity!) available today vs. 100 - 150 years ago.

I always thought they had racks of finished stocks.  But how did they get those stocks cut to such exact dimensions?  It sure seems that can't be done today - otherwise a person would just order one vs. pay a restoration gunsmith a couple thousand dollars to trim 2% of the wood off a 98% inletted stock?

It's at the 6:30 point in the video that Mark discusses this topic:

If you're thinking profound male hypogonadism you're probably right!!!  For all the "T" prescribing I've done over the years I have never tested myself... Wouldn't surprise me at all if it was "unmeasurable"!!!

Lou

Louis Luttrell said
Hi Tony-
"Expert" is not a word I'd choose...  Two things about me are: 1) I'm an obsessive compulsive Geek; and, 2) I'm LAZY!!! 
By coincidence, I'm in the midst of creating a spreadsheet of the inspection stamps (receiver, bolt, barrel, and stock barrel channel) that appear on pre-64 M70s to get a sense of how they changed over time.  This involves going through maybe 1000+ sets of photos I've saved over the years.  Tedious, but it's the last big "chore" standing between me and writing Chapter 5...
As for the lazy part, whenever I post photos on this Forum (whether of guns or parts), whenever possible I simply use pics I've already taken.  Like the clip above from a current "work in progress" figure.  I'm not trying to be arrogant, as in "look at all the cool stuff I've got", just LAZY...  If I've already photographed a gun (and I have photographed all of mine), it's simply easier to grab one of my composites than it is to go through the archive of other people's photos I've saved...
Best,
Lou
  

Dare I say it? Perhaps it's .....hormonal.

Goatkeeper said

Thanks so much.  You are in the survey!
  

Michael, now I am interested about that survey…
  

Here is the link to the survey questionnaire that I created back in 2015 which was about 4 years after I had started working on it. Since that time I have cataloged more than 22,300 individual rifles.  This work, in conjunction with a detailed summarization of the information in the hand written production ledgers will finally give a much more accurate data supported determination of just what the various configurations of the Model 1892/92 were manufactured.  https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-model-1892-all-rifle-survey/

If you know of any other Model 1892 rifles I would appreciate getting information on them to further add to the work.  The support of other collectors from around the world in Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Germany Canada, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, and Italy has really helped get a global sampling of these rifles.

Michael

Louis Luttrell said
Hi Bumppo-
I'm assuming you are looking at a single capital "G" stamped into the striker slot in the top of the tang?  If so, it's a machinist stamp.  These were commonplace (but not universal) from about S/N 8000 (1937) through the mid-1950s. 
They are not all "G" and have nothing to do with the G-prefix serial numbers on post-1968 rifles.  Stamps include the single letters J, U, F, G, O, and the numeral 4.  Does it look like these?  The one on the left is a Rockwell Hardness test dot found in the same location on some pre-war receivers, mostly below s/n 5000.

Hope this helps,
Lou
  

Good Stuff Lou!

twobit said

Goatkeeper said
Michael, Serial Number is 323218…
  

Thanks so much.  You are in the survey!
  

Michael, now I am interested about that survey…

I don't always post responses to these informative threads, but I follow and learn a lot from you and others. And I'm very appreciative for all you do.

Paul

"Expert" is not a word I'd choose...  Two things about me are: 1) I'm an obsessive compulsive Geek; and, 2) I'm LAZY!!! 

By coincidence, I'm in the midst of creating a spreadsheet of the inspection stamps (receiver, bolt, barrel, and stock barrel channel) that appear on pre-64 M70s to get a sense of how they changed over time.  This involves going through maybe 1000+ sets of photos I've saved over the years.  Tedious, but it's the last big "chore" standing between me and writing Chapter 5...

As for the lazy part, whenever I post photos on this Forum (whether of guns or parts), whenever possible I simply use pics I've already taken.  Like the clip above from a current "work in progress" figure.  I'm not trying to be arrogant, as in "look at all the cool stuff I've got", just LAZY...  If I've already photographed a gun (and I have photographed all of mine), it's simply easier to grab one of my composites than it is to go through the archive of other people's photos I've saved...

Best,

Lou

Once again, a very good explanation in describing you're point. You are truly an expert, here on the WACA Forum!

Tony

Goatkeeper said
Michael, Serial Number is 323218…
  

Thanks so much.  You are in the survey!

twobit said
Good morning from Texas,
The checkering is definitely not factory original.  I do not follow the Swiss/European market closely at all but have a little experience with it.  The conversion from Swiss Franc to US is a reasonable price for the rifle.  What is the full serial number of the gun?  I can not quite make it out in the image.
Michael
  

Michael,

I knew that you would verify the wood, and I would still pursue it, at the numbers the OP posted. Having that factual information, and now the serial number, I'm anxious to see what else is revealed on this early but not an Antique src!

Tony

twobit said
Good morning from Texas,
The checkering is definitely not factory original.  I do not follow the Swiss/European market closely at all but have a little experience with it.  The conversion from Swiss Franc to US is a reasonable price for the rifle.  What is the full serial number of the gun?  I can not quite make it out in the image.
Michael
  

Michael, Serial Number is 323218…

I'm assuming you are looking at a single capital "G" stamped into the striker slot in the top of the tang?  If so, it's a machinist stamp.  These were commonplace (but not universal) from about S/N 8000 (1937) through the mid-1950s. 

They are not all "G" and have nothing to do with the G-prefix serial numbers on post-1968 rifles.  Stamps include the single letters J, U, F, G, O, and the numeral 4.  Does it look like these?  The one on the left is a Rockwell Hardness test dot found in the same location on some pre-war receivers, mostly below s/n 5000.

Hope this helps,

Lou