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June 15, 2024
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I’m asking for some expert eyes and/or opinions on the lower barrel markings on my 1927 30 WCF carbine (s/n: 998275 DOB: January 19, 1927). I’ve shared this one before; it was the first one I ever worked on and what got me hooked.
I found a proper forearm for this guy and so when I was installing it, I took some pictures of the underside of the barrel. This carbine was a rusty mess when I got it, and I had it re-blued. Between its age, its original condition, and the re-blueing the markings are difficult to read. Here’s what I’ve been able to make out working from the muzzle side to the receiver:
MNS (Midvale Nickel Steel), an oval (presumably this had VP inside it), evidence of some other markings, a 4 and a very faint 9 “94”, and then 26.
94 I’m assuming is the model designator, the 26 is the year the barrel was made 1926…seems right for my early 1927 carbine. I just can’t figure out what the “other markings” are in the middle. I’m seeing a heart shape. To the left of that maybe a 0 and then a 3 ?30? The right of the heart shape maybe an “S” or a “C” and then an “F”. So maybe it’s not a heart but a “W” and it’s “30 WCF”
These pictures are the best I can get, the camera just won’t catch it any better. Before I take it apart again and break out my jeweler’s glass I thought I would consult the experts.
April 15, 2005
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The under barrel markings were all hand stamped, and in many cases not very clear (even with no rust or corrosion). The pictures below are a few examples in the same time period of your M94 carbine.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
June 15, 2024
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Thank you Bert!
Looking at your samples, I’m comfortable interpreting the “other markings” as “30 WCF” and what I thought was a 4 and a faint 9 are actually the inspector’s mark of the “I” inside the triangle.
November 5, 2014
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Hi Alaska94-
Like Bert said, these under barrel stamps are often difficult to read let alone decipher. Especially on lever actions like the M1894 because of the rough surface on which they were stamped. Further complicating matters, they were stamped before the barrel was polished so were subject to as many as five separate polishing steps with successively finer grit before the barrel was blued. So they’re all “polished over” and often at least partially “polished out”…
Here’s a somewhat easier to read example. It’s a M70 barrel, but ’32 dated, so relevant time wise. The earliest CMS (Winchester Proof Steel) barrels were made in ’32, and this barrel blank, like many found to M70s in 250-3000 SAV up to 1946, was no doubt intended to be used on a M54.
Translation (left to right): Barrel Date (32); Inspection Stamp (dot); Inspection Stamp (triangle I); Caliber Designation (in this case 25-3.S for 250-3000 Savage); Veritas (or Violent) Proof (oval VP); C.M.S. (Crucible Moly Steel).
That’s A LOT of stuff for a pre-war M70 barrel… As you pointed out “M.N.S.” (Midvale Nickel Steel) denotes the foundry and type of steel. Winchester stopped stamping this not long after the switch to Winchester Proof Steel (chrome moly) in 1932, so at least on M70s you rarely see “C.M.S.” on barrels dated after ’34. Likewise the “VP” test was performed on Nickel Steel barrels, but dropped soon after the switch to Proof Steel. I’m not sure about the “dot”… It looks like a Rockwell Hardness Test, but I’m told Winchester did not do this test on barrels the way they did on receivers. Similar “dots” are often found on the upper tang of pre-war M70 receivers, where (I think) they were hardness tests. Maybe Winchester did check the barrel steel on some early CMS barrels, but barrels weren’t heat treated the way receivers were??? Any ideas???
Hope this helps,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
April 15, 2005
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Alaska94 said
Thank you Bert!
Looking at your samples, I’m comfortable interpreting the “other markings” as “30 WCF” and what I thought was a 4 and a faint 9 are actually the inspector’s mark of the “I” inside the triangle.
You are welcome, and I suspected that the pictures I posted would help to clear up your questions.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
