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I’ve been learning a good bit about winchesters here. How common is the rebarreling of vintage 94’s ,and what is the most common reason? Changing to different cartridge or just worn out?
Some were for sure rebarreled to change cartridge; I have a Low Wall originally in .22 Short rebarreled to .22LR–and I’m mighty glad that was done!
But between about 1900 and 1920, I suspect the majority of rebarrel jobs were the result of bore damage caused by the chlorate primers used in early smokeless. Simultaneous with the introduction of smokeless appeared many oil & chemical based “nitro-solvent” bore cleaners which were supposed to eliminate the necessity of cleaning with water, as was done in the days of BP. Unfortunately, ONLY water would wash out the salts left by chlorate primers, the result being many badly pitted bores, sometimes after only a very few shots! Took at least a decade, however, before this fact became commonly known to average shooters.
Also have a rebarreled ’94 made in early 1900s, originally .30WCF and rebarreled to the same; I’m sure it’s one of those with a bore ruined by early smokeless.
November 7, 2015
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I have one older 1894 that was changed from 38-55 to 30WCF, I uderstand that was common for the era. I have a 38-55 that started out as a 32-40. I suspect the original bore was a victim of chlorite cancer.
Can’t say I’ve seen many worn-out bores.
That’s interesting I didn’t think about that. I did some reading about the various cartridges the 94’s were made in, appears those just mentioned and maybe another have the same rim diameter and close in length. I guess a 94 could be rebarreled in any of those without changing anything. I assume there are no markings on the receivers somewhere to indicate caliber, Winchester probably could manufacture one reciever for those.
I’ve seen many 1894’s and 94’s rebarreled with M64 barrels. Most often, ’94 receiver and buttstock with a complete M64 front end. I’m not saying these were done at the factory and most of the ones I saw, it was obviously aftermarket.
Gringo said
That’s interesting I didn’t think about that. I did some reading about the various cartridges the 94’s were made in, appears those just mentioned and maybe another have the same rim diameter and close in length. I guess a 94 could be rebarreled in any of those without changing anything. I assume there are no markings on the receivers somewhere to indicate caliber, Winchester probably could manufacture one reciever for those.
I’m not a gunsmith but seems I have heard before that sometimes some internal receiver parts (e.g. cartridge guides) need to be changed when going to and from certain cartridges. This doesn’t make sense given Winchester made two-barrel sets of M1894’s (and some of these are in different cartridges). Also, there is that one five barrel set (one in each cartridge) that sat up in Alaska for many years. Might even still be there.
Barrels get swapped out for any number of reasons. Back in the day, as well as now, you would swap out the barrel because either the bore was bad, crown was bad (either change barrel or cut the barrel), or you wanted to change the caliber. This still rings true today but you also have to throw in the mix upgrading the chambering to something more desirable or collectible, or even considerations for a desirable barrel shape over another (oct vs 1/2 oct), swap out a cut or worn out barrel with something on hand, etc, or guns upgraded from parts guns. Any number of reasons would apply.
Depending on what the barrel is being swapped to, the cartridge guides may require changing to accommodate the new caliber:
35-55 SF: will feed all cartridge calibers
30-30 SF: will feed all cartridge calibers
32 WS: will feed all cartridge calibers
32-40 SF: will feed only 32-40 or 25-35
25-35 SF: will feed only 25-35 or 32-40
There are a few caveats to this scenario–discussed on a prior forum post a couple years ago.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
Steve,
The five barrel set that was up in Alaska is a very nicely executed fake. The work done to create it was superb, and undoubtedly it cost a fair amount of $$$$ to execute it, but it was just someone’s fantasy to have it built and display it.
The cartridge guides are interchangeable as follows; (1) 38-55, 32 WS, & 30 WCF, and (2) 32-40 & 25-35 WCF.
Thus far, I have verified (surveyed) the existence of (123) multi-barrel Model 1894 Take Down rifles. The tables below document the configuration by serial number;
| Serial Number | Caliber 1 | Caliber 2 | Caliber 3 |
| 7482 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 9043 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 9107 | 30 WCF | NL | |
| 15430 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 15924 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 17661 | 38-55 | NL | |
| 21538 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 22563 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 22995 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 27264 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 37607 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 40728 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 47144 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 49972 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 49980 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 49983 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 50020 | 30 WCF | 30 WCF | |
| 51510 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 51668 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 51707 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 52521 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | 30 WCF |
| 52524 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | 30 WCF |
| 53460 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 54159 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 55038 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 58299 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 59697 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 61462 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 62646 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 63261 | 25-35 | 32-40 | |
| 63438 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 64281 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 64871 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 65193 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 65696 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 66028 | 38-55 | 38-55 | |
| 66111 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 67724 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 70685 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 70687 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 71031 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 80578 | 38-55 | 38-55 | |
| 85445 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 85448 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 85677 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 85810 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 85983 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 85993 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 88976 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 88981 | 32-40 | 25-35 WCF | |
| 91496 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 94840 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 96990 | 30 WCF | 30 WCF | |
| 98579 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 99227 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 99587 | 30 WCF | NL | |
| 103874 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 108723 | 38-55 | 30 WCF | |
| 109191 | 25-35 WCF | NL | |
| 119850 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 119956 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 120280 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 122496 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 122537 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 122575 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 128279 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 136640 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 137440 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 138234 | 30 WCF | 32 WS | |
| 143687 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 143857 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 145633 | 38-55 | 38-55 | |
| 145753 | 32 WS | 38-55 | |
| 146480 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 146484 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 147743 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 152861 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 155883 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 157332 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 157693 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 167857 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 169406 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 179496 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 183307 | 32 WS | 38-55 | |
| 184027 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 189417 | 30 WCF | 32 WS | |
| 192693 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 196626 | 30 WCF | 32 WS | |
| 201586 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 203065 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 205072 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 206047 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 211213 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 214117 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 214889 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 220323 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 223501 | 30 WCF | 32 WS | |
| 234594 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 239662 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 240612 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 246473 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 249598 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 255072 | 32-40 | 32-40 | |
| 255582 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 285862 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 296664 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 297200 | 32-40 | 32-40 | 32-40 |
| 300748 | 38-55 | 38-55 | 38-55 |
| 301911 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 304401 | 25-35 WCF | 25-35 WCF | |
| 305780 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 306620 | 30 WCF | 38-55 | |
| 309461 | 32 WS | 32 WS | |
| 310636 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 315612 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 319975 | 32-40 | 32-40 | |
| 320447 | 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | |
| 321975 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 343888 | 30 WCF | 32 WS | |
| 443600 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 452166 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 457385 | 38-55 | 32 WS | |
| 472906 | 38-55 | 30 WCF |
For the serial numbers that can be lettered, the “Caliber 1” column indicates which caliber is listed in the Caliber column in the factory warehouse ledger records, and the “Caliber 2” is the caliber listed in the Remarks column. Thus far, there are (12) different configurations as shown in the following table;
| 12 Total Configurations | ||||
| Caliber 1 | Caliber 2 | Caliber 3 | Qty. | % |
| 25-35 WCF | 25-35 WCF | 1 | 0.813% | |
| 25-35 WCF | 32-40 | 20 | 16.260% | |
| 30 WCF | 30 WCF | 2 | 1.626% | |
| 30 WCF | 32 WS | 5 | 4.065% | |
| 30 WCF | 38-55 | 66 | 53.659% | |
| 32-40 | 32-40 | 3 | 2.439% | |
| 32-40 | 32-40 | 32-40 | 1 | 0.813% |
| 32 WS | 32 WS | 1 | 0.813% | |
| 38-55 | 30 WCF | 30 WCF | 2 | 1.626% |
| 38-55 | 32 WS | 17 | 13.821% | |
| 38-55 | 38-55 | 4 | 3.252% | |
| 38-55 | 38-55 | 38-55 | 1 | 0.813% |
| Total | 123 | 100% | ||
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Thanks Bert – fascinating information and tables.
On the five-barrel set, it certainly has a prominent place in Renneberg’s book on the Model 94. However, I as I read Renneberg’s words of introduction to his presentation of this rifle, they now strike me as eerily prophetic: “Here we have an unbelievable multi-barreled Model 1894 set….” He also states, “It appears in every way to have been factory assembled ….” I should have read more into those statements when I first read them. Guess I missed what now seems an obvious wink.
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