Couple of things to add to the discussion, first I suspect that CCH hammers & levers remained in the inventory long after they stopped finishing them with a CCH finish, I have run into 94s MFG in the 20s with CCH hammers/levers. I have also run into a couple where the hammer was CCH and the lever was not.
Since both parts are easily changed out, it would be very difficult if not impossible to determine if those firearms originally left the factory in that configuration.
Second, I have several sets of original Winchester factory “shop notes”, which specify the heat treating of various firearm components. One set of notes is dated 1916, the hammers & levers were heat treated by case hardening, but post treatment (after case hardening) would not have left the part with a CCH finish.
In summary I would use 1916 as the date that Winchester was no longer finishing hammers & levers with a CCH finish, as to when they actually stopped shipping rifles/carbines with CCH levers/hammers is anybody’s guess… all depends on when they ran out of those parts.
There were no hogs on the ranch last night and the mosquitoes were terrible. So I decided to give up on that for the night. After going over almost 350 image files for rifles in the 1915 range it is going to be almost impossible to narrow down the time frame with any accuracy. Most peoples photos and the condition of the rifles just do not allow for an easy identification of the finish on the parts. And there are too few high condition guns that have clearly defined finish.
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
As of now, s/n 701729 ( 11-4-1914 ) is the last CC gun I have listed.
s/n 704218 ( 1914 ) is blued. 13 guns after that, up to s/n 881755 are all blued. 612728 ( 1913 ) & 679078 ( 1914 ) are blued. Maybe these 2 had the serial number applied but, were not assembled till a couple years later? Anyway, the 1914-1915 era seems to be about right. Will continue to add guns to this list from 1912 to 1918.
Paul
Mike Hunter said
Couple of things to add to the discussion, first I suspect that CCH hammers & levers remained in the inventory long after they stopped finishing them with a CCH finish, I have run into 94s MFG in the 20s with CCH hammers/levers. I have also run into a couple where the hammer was CCH and the lever was not.
Since both parts are easily changed out, it would be very difficult if not impossible to determine if those firearms originally left the factory in that configuration.Second, I have several sets of original Winchester factory “shop notes”, which specify the heat treating of various firearm components. One set of notes is dated 1916, the hammers & levers were heat treated by case hardening, but post treatment (after case hardening) would not have left the part with a CCH finish.
In summary I would use 1916 as the date that Winchester was no longer finishing hammers & levers with a CCH finish, as to when they actually stopped shipping rifles/carbines with CCH levers/hammers is anybody’s guess… all depends on when they ran out of those parts.
Mike,
That is great information! Any chance of getting a copy of those notes from you?
On a different note, it was really nice chatting with you again at the recent Cody show 8)
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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