Hello,
I had the opportunity to speak with someone who has a lot more experience with older winchesters than I do, and he mentioned that, in addition to the carbine forearm length change in 1950 or so, there was also a longer forearm with the rear barrel band substantially further forward than in later years. He said it was called the eastern carbine.
I have a 1941 M94 that has an extra set of divots for what appears to be a barrel band machined into the magazine and barrel…but it is located a few inches in front of the current barrel band. The gentleman suggested my gun was at one point an “eastern carbine” that had been refitted with a shorter 9″ forearm with a new set of divots in the barrel and magazine tube for the barrel band screw.
Does that sound right?
Here is the original thread discussing my rifle
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-rifles/mystery-1941-m94/
The change from the older “long-wood” forend stock to the “short-wood” forend stock took place in December 1950.
The fellow you spoke with has his information mixed up a bit. Specifically, there were no forend stock that was longer and/or with a barrel band moved farther forward. The “Eastern” Carbines had identical forend stocks as compared to their sibling Saddle Ring Carbines (SRCs). What defined the “Eastern” Carbine was the omission of the saddle ring during the time period when it was a standard item (September 1894 through March 1932). Eastern Carbine production began in earnest in the mid 1920s, and by the late 1920s, approximately 50% of all Model 94 Carbines were the Eastern variation.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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