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I just picked up a decent old 94 rifle. It is a .38/55 half round with a shotgun butt and button mag. The price was right so I grabbed it and after I got it home was surprised to see it marked Nickel Steel especially for smokeless powder. Seems to me I read somewhere the .38/55 and .32/40 rifles with nickel steel barrels are special order features. The serial number is 526,xxx which I think puts it around 1912. Will post pics tomorrow.
I remember reading somewhere that Nickel steel in 32-40 and 38-55 was a $2 extra, about the same as an octagon barrel , which most people opted for , but the Nickel Steel option was rarely ordered. I think most people just assumed the regular steel was the best barrel for black powder , as it had been traditionally up to that point. I have a 94 in 38-55 about 1904 RBR that has’ nickel steel ‘ in small print on left side of barrel, but dont see too many
Phil
Thanks for the reply. This is the first .38/55 I’ve seen with nickel steel barrel. I wonder if there were more ordered with nickel steel barrels when the 1894 rifle neared the end of production in the 1920’s? No real way to find out other than checking old catalogues for options, I guess.
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