[mbt]

Hi all
I have recently tried to find out the date of manufacture of my 94 in 30-30, now here is the thing....if I go buy the numbers , the websites tell me it is made in 1899, this I believe is not true as it just dosnt look like the old rifles I have seen from that era ....but the serial number has a “V” in front of it ....would any of you clever people be able to fill me in on what that means ?

 

[SOSARMS]

possibly....

In all likelyhood this is a commemorative of some sorts. Almost all had letter prefixes , though usually more than one. I do not recognize the letter V though. The numbers do not follow the regular serial numbering by the date books.

 

[JBledsoe]

.

Give us a picture!

.

 

[blackhawk45lc]

Go to gunbroker forums,ASK THE EXPERTS,there is a wealth of information on Old Winnys. hope this helps

 

[mbt]

Thanks, soon as I work out how to post pictures I will.

 

[mbt]

As it turns out ,I happened to look at a mate of mines 94 , it dosnt have any serial numbers at all..just the spiel on the barrel , might be an export thing.....(I am in Australia)

 

[JBledsoe]

As it turns out ,I happened to look at a mate of mines 94 , it dosnt have any serial numbers at all..just the spiel on the barrel , might be an export thing.....(I am in Australia)

Very interesting. Do many guns in Australia NOT have serial numbers? I have seen two Winchesters that did not have any serial number. May be that they were for export?

 

[mbt]

No not at all, although up until 20 years ago very little notice was taken of serial numbers, since then they are all on a government data base for licensing.
I have a old pommy shot gun that dosnt have a number but an even older win 62 and a sharps that do.
I have contacted a Thomas Wagner who has suggested that maybe my 94 with a v prefix was assembled here.
I honestly think that it isn’t that old , just be nice to find out, one site I tried seems to place any 94 with a letter prefix as “made after 1982” I tried random letters and the answer was always the same.....be nice to find out why and when though.

 

[JBledsoe]

.

OK, let's have some more info on that gun. Is it an angle eject model? Does it have a rebounding hammer? What is the barrel diameter at the muzzle? Does the butt plate logo have Winchester or US Repeating Arms?

We will try the easy one first.

 

[mbt]

angle eject NO, rebounding hammer YES, butt plate has winchester on it.....barrell diameter ill check tonight

 

[mbt]

The outer dimension of the barrel at the muzzle is 16 mm (I think that is 5/8, sorry I don’t have an imperial rule) .
The butt plate(black) has Winchester stamped on it , has a circle around “Winchester” with some very fine print (not even shore its English to be honest), inside the circle and above and below “Winchester” is a logo, but it isn’t the bloke on the horse.

 

[mbt]

I know this is now an old post, but I thought I would share what I have learnt.
Seems there is a M94 sold by sears under the name of Ted Williams , and those rifles have a prefix starting with V, now mine has a Winchester marked barrel and buttplate, just a mixed matched receiver perhaps.
We dont have Sears here so its a bit of a Mystery .