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The one that I have & posted about is from 1898. The 32 special I have is from 1905 & has the carrier cut out & rectangular hole in the left side cartridge guide but does not have the spring. Bill
TXGunNut said
It seems the transition was somewhere between 1901 and 1904. Interesting.Mike
OK- I was motivated to go look into the Cannon- there in the far reaches lurks a c.1903 38-55 Winchester 1894…. with a spring and cutout in carrier
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
WACA #10293
I have s/n 194,285 with a factory date of September 28, 1903. It’s a .38-55 round barrel rifle with the left cartridge guide rectangular cutout and spring as well as the carrier with the cutout.
I also have s/n 3,543 with a factory date of February 28,1895 (I forgot to wish it a happy 130th yesterday). It’s a rifle with a first model receiver, a .38-55 octagonal barrel, and the same left guide and carrier setup. Well minus the spring as this is the 94 I’m looking to buy a spring for.
Seems like this .38-55 configuration dates back to early production and carries forward at least to late 1903. So a likely transition away in 1904.
This has turned into quite an interesting thread. I’m still curious about Bill’s 32 special. Bill maybe if you share the serial number someone could look up the factory information.
Fred
TXGunNut said
sb said
Do all 38-55s have that spring? I’ve owned dozens and I’ve never noticed that on them
Maybe not. First two I checked in my collection did not have the spring in question so I dug out an early specimen and it does indeed have one. I was beginning to believe the “Due for an appointment” messages from my eye doc.
SN 5310 RB OB spring present
SN 222324 RB OB no spring or cutout
SN 526038 SRC no spring or cutout
If they were only used on early production specimens that may make the search a bit more interesting.
Mike
Mike,
How is the upper tang on your s/n 222,324 marked? Does the third line read “PAT.AUG.21.1894” or “TRADE MARK”?
I’ve been reviewing Renneberg’s book, including his 30th Anniversary Edition from 2021. If you search on the word “detent” you can find where he talks about the .38-55 left cartridge guide, spring plunger, carrier, etc. He suggests this was phased out as early as serial number 8,000, which we know isn’t true.
I’m wondering if the phase out happened along with the changes to the upper tang marking which Renneberg says happened in the 223,000 s/n range.
This one that would be interesting to see which cartridge guide is installed on.
Alaska94 said
I have s/n 194,285 with a factory date of September 28, 1903. It’s a .38-55 round barrel rifle with the left cartridge guide rectangular cutout and spring as well as the carrier with the cutout.I also have s/n 3,543 with a factory date of February 28,1895 (I forgot to wish it a happy 130th yesterday). It’s a rifle with a first model receiver, a .38-55 octagonal barrel, and the same left guide and carrier setup. Well minus the spring as this is the 94 I’m looking to buy a spring for.
Seems like this .38-55 configuration dates back to early production and carries forward at least to late 1903. So a likely transition away in 1904.
This has turned into quite an interesting thread. I’m still curious about Bill’s 32 special. Bill maybe if you share the serial number someone could look up the factory information.
Fred
Fred, The serial number of the 1894 in 32 special that I posted about is 275467. Bill
November 7, 2015
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Fred-
My 222324 rifle has the patent date.
Mike
At this point I would just bite the bullet and spend the 75$ while you can. You’ll be sorry when it’s gone.
November 7, 2015
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Steven Gabrielli said
At this point I would just bite the bullet and spend the 75$ while you can. You’ll be sorry when it’s gone.
Good idea. If the spring is missing there may be an issue with the guide that won’t be apparent until you try to replace the spring.
Mike
Ok, in a weak moment and to avoid regret I pulled trigger on the eBay one. After tax and shipping it’s an $83 part.
I may send it to a gunsmith and have it spec’d properly and get several made. I imagine I won’t be the last guy looking for one.
I once paid $180 with shipping and tax for a Arisaka Type 44 barrel band for a Type 44 that was a parts gun, didn’t shoot well, but I needed that original barrel band just to say it was complete. That was a rough pill to swallow.
November 7, 2015
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Steven Gabrielli said
I once paid $180 with shipping and tax for a Arisaka Type 44 barrel band for a Type 44 that was a parts gun, didn’t shoot well, but I needed that original barrel band just to say it was complete. That was a rough pill to swallow.
I paid $150-200 (trying to forget!) for a model 1903 inner mag tube-a gun I’ll probably never shoot. I bought a Lyman receiver sight ($100?) to steal the riser out of it to replace a bent one in a special rifle. At least there’s a chance I’ll use the sight parts someday and I found a new home for that special rifle. As the song says “you can’t always get what you want…”.
Mike
Steven, scratch any one of us and we all have a similar tale to tell. Paying “too much” for some very desired or needed part or accessory is forgotten much quicker than the hole we see each time we pick up said firearm! Often enough, if a truly rare item, you may not see another in many years if ever. My take, at least. Tim
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