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December 31, 2012
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# 348731 1/2 oct. bbl. in 38-55 caliber. Has a PR date of 4-05-1907, was sent to the whse. 4-23-1907, and sat around for over 5 years. It was shipped 10-17-1912. I guess not many folks wanted a full magazine 1/2 oct. bbl. rifle in 38-55. I just won the Wards auction for a nice, period box of Winchester ammo dated 10-06. Close enough. This is one real nice M1894. The bore is minty too. Big Larry
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April 23, 2012
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Nice Gun Larry!
I think that the reason the full mag with 1/2 round is rare is that it doesnt make sense accuracy-wise. I have a 92 TD with this combo , and because Winchester did not make a special mag hanger to allow for the increased spacing due to the barrel reduction, the original style hanger forces the magtube upwards like a banana, creating an unnatural stress on the barrel. Anyone who has unscrewed a full length TD mag with this combo will have noticed the binding force when unscrewing to take-down. I took the hanger off mine to test accuracy, which is good. Someday I will replace the hanger and test for accuracy with the force , for curiosity. The same could also apply to a rapid taper barrel or LW with full mag. Perhaps the reason that Winchester did not make different hangers is that you would see a noticable gap between barrel and mag tube if spaced to be stress-free ?
June 11, 2014
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That is a beautiful looking rifle!
December 31, 2012
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Thanks WIN 38-55. I named it after you. Saw this rifle on Collectors Firearms and had to have it, especially after seeing it was a 38-55. Great old cartridge. Thanks, Big Larry
April 23, 2012
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Also interesting how manufacturing has changed. I have often noticed that Winchester was not overly concerned about the "Just in time" method that we religiously adopted from the Japanese about 20 years ago. The automotive parts plant I worked for would not store parts for more than a week , and on the progressive dies that produced a right hand and left hand part being run when they had orders for only the right hand part that week, they would scrap the left hand parts rather than store them. What often happened if the die smashed, and they could not run the then needed left hand parts the next week, panic ensued and lots of overtime to ship the parts or face the contract late penalty imposed by car manufactures with assembly lines stopped.Often also involved expensive shipping parts by air , even at the expense of renting a plane Modern times eh?
Perhaps a sensible competitive solution would be a compromise between these 2 extremes ?
June 11, 2014
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That was a special order rifle. Most of the special order Winchesters that have passed through my hands were shipped within a business day or two of being received in the warehouse. My guess is that the special order was cancelled, so it sat in the warehouse until someone else ordered exactly that combination AND someone remembered there was one just like it in the warehouse. At least, that is my theory but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
September 29, 1993
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Hey Larry..
I thought you were a carbine kind of guy???
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December 31, 2012
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Hi Rick. How did your sale go? Actually, my favorite Winchesters are the M1892 rifles. I have three of those and one carbine. Too expensive for me. I have 4 M1894 rifles, one 32 WS, one 30-30, one 32-40, and one 38-55. As for the carbines, I have a bunch of those. I like the rifles better, but the carbines are cheaper. I have 4 early SRC’s. One of them was yours too. Thanks, Big Larry
March 19, 2014
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That is a super old 94, Larry. Half round and full mag is a fairly uncommon combo. I have read that unless a customer specified a full magazine if they ordered a half round barrel they got a button magazine with it. That doesn’t really ring true with me as a full magazine was standard configuration so why would the factory deviate from standard unless requested? Either way your .38/55 is in awesome condition, couldn’t have spent much time in the woods.
December 31, 2012
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Thanks Mike. The factory letter makes no mention of the full mag. It does show as a 1/2 oct. bbl. rifle though. It has been told to me that the standard length magazine was not an option on a 1/2 oct. bbl. It was standard and that is why it was not listed in the letter. Yes, it is a very nice rifle and in 38-55 too. 100% correct too. Thanks, Big Larry
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