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I’ve been wondering about the caliber stamp on octagon barrels. I know it’s supposed to be located on the barrel, just in front of the receiver, and on my 1894 and most of the ones I have looked at that appeared to be original, the stamp is on the rib left of the top. I have seen several offered for sale recently that had the caliber stamped into the top rib, and on most of them, the barrel looked newer than the rest of the gun. Is that just coincidence, or is there any significance to top rib vs left rib? Thanks!
November 7, 2015
Online
My early 94’s (1895, 1902 & 1905) have the caliber stamping on the top flat, one is a replacement barrel but it was done when the rifle was fairly new. My 1912 and 1925 vintage 94’s have the caliber designation of the flat to the left of top. Not sure when the change was made.
Mike
Fellows,
Winchester moved the caliber marking from the top (12 o’clock) position, to the left flat/side (10 o’clock) position in the year 1907 for the Model 1894. I believe that it was the same for the other models in production at that time.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
Online
Thanks, Bert. Was that true for round and octagonal barrels? For some reason I thought the change came about 1920 but a visit to my safe indicated otherwise.
Mike
Mike,
Yes, it applied to both round and octagon barrels.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
Online
Thanks. I didn’t have many RB’s in that range.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Thanks. I didn’t have many RB’s in that range.
Mike
Looks as if you need to do a bit more shopping!
(That observation is from an Octagon lover. Very few RB’s in this home too.)
November 7, 2015
Online
FromTheWoods said
Looks as if you need to do a bit more shopping!
(That observation is from an Octagon lover. Very few RB’s in this home too.)
Maybe so. It never occurred to me until today that all of my earlier 1894 rifles are OB with the exception of one half round…and the half round rifle started life with an OB. Just did a quick check to confirm.
Mike
Good morning all,
The move of the caliber stamp from the top to left side of the barrel occurs in 1908 for the Model 1892 rifles. Though like most things “Winchester” the transition was over a lengthy period of production and it is common to find 1909 and 1910 production guns with the caliber stamp on the top flat. It does often depend on the caliber of the barrel. I suspect early produced barrels were manufactured, marked, and then stored until they were finally assembled into a full rifle. The interesting question is WHY did the move occur? For the large part there was room on the top flat for the caliber stamp and the superposed W/P proof stamp and this worked for at least 2 years of production. There were some carbines in 25-20 WCF which have the caliber stamp moved to two lines instead of one and some carbines did have the barrel proof located in front of the rear sight. For whatever reason the caliber moved to the left side and the W/P proof to its common position on the top flat very near the receiver face. Then, it was in late 1910 that Winchester repositioned the barrel address stamp to the left side of the barrel also.
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
Thanks, guys! I’m glad I joined this forum; there’s a wealth of good info here. From what I can tell, the 2 I’ve bought so far are original and correct, or if they aren’t, it’s something minor like a screw. I’ll be the first to admit I got lucky, though. From just browsing the forum for a couple of days I’ve spotted things that weren’t right on a couple of guns I would have otherwise been tempted to make offers on.
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