You wouldn't be talking about the Winchester factory crated 1894's in .30-30 that were B.C. Police marked? If those were the ones that cop was talking about [and I suspect it was] they didn't get smashed up they were moved over into the inventory of the B.C. Chief Provincial Firearms office, which used to be located in Victoria. I actually saw them when I had a tour of the BC CPFO office circa 1992 when it was located on one of the floors of the RCMP subdivision. They were in "as new" unissued condition in old Winchester factory marked wooden crates/boxes. I believe that they now might be held by the B.C. Provincial Museum.
Canadian army marked 30-30's and others?
- Thread starter TheIndifferent1
- Start date
You wouldn't be talking about the Winchester factory crated 1894's in .30-30 that were B.C. Police marked? If those were the ones that cop was talking about [and I suspect it was] they didn't get smashed up they were moved over into the inventory of the B.C. Chief Provincial Firearms office, which used to be located in Victoria. I actually saw them when I had a tour of the BC CPFO office circa 1992 when it was located on one of the floors of the RCMP subdivision. They were in "as new" unissued condition in old Winchester factory marked wooden crates/boxes. I believe that they now might be held by the B.C. Provincial Museum.
Reverend Al
New member
- Location
- Victoria, B.C.
Further info on the PCMR 94 carbines ....
There are fairly large numbers of these surplus PCMR .30WCF carbines in and around the Victoria area, and I currently own two of them myself.
The concept of the PCMR militia groups was the brainchild of some very concerned Victoria area outdoorsmen, that were worried that the Japanese might land spies and agents on the largely unprotected Canadian West Coast to create mischief. They were quite concerned that they might blow up rail lines and trestles, or light our coastal forests on fire to destroy war resorces and draw needed manpower away from the war effort. The Canadian government and the military thought the idea of a militia group formed of loggers, fishermen, and other local area folks that were well acquainted with the coastal areas through their professions had merit, and so they went ahead with the project. This is why the No. 1 Company of the PCMR militia group covered from Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island up to Nanaimo and then across to the far west coast of Vancouver Island. As the PCMR concept was enlarged, more and more Companies of Rangers were organized until there was PCMR coverage right throught to the Rockies.
In the early days, military issue firearms of all types were in fairly short supply, so instead 94 Winchesters in .30 WCF were commercially purchased and issued to the PCMR until limited supplies of Stens, Brens, and Pattern 14 and 17 rifles came available for use. As they were military issue firearms, the Canadian military broad arrow in the letter "C" was stamped onto the forend, action, and buttstock of each gun. Most of the guns have their stamps on the left side, but a few have been seen that were stamped on the right side instead. After the war the PCMR members were offered the opportunity to purchase their surplused out 94 carbines for the very reasonable sum of only $5.00, and at that price most of the ex-members took the deal. I have seen several of these guns still with their orginal $5.00 receipts, and as mentioned above, we sold one at Island Outfitters a few years ago. There were also a few Marlin model 36's that were purchased by the government and PCMR marked for Ranger issue, and a friend of mine just sold one of those guns to another Victoria area collector recently.
Issue PCMR 94 carbines were fitted with military pattern web slings using a Ross butt swivel and a hand fabricated metal band wrapped around the forend to mount the front swivel. (Rumour has it that they were installed by a contract gunsmith somewhere in the Okanagan area, possibly in Vernon.) In many cases, PCMR carbines when found today have had their sling swivel mounts removed after they were privately purchased, so obviously the members themselves didn't feel the slings or mounting system had much merit.
The PCMR units received a newsletter on a regular basis during the war years published and distributed to them by the Canadian Army, with information on training tips and updates on the Canadian war efforts. Not surprisingly, this newsletter was named "The Ranger", and I have a number of these original publications in my personal collection.
One of our local area gun clubs, the "South Vancouver Island Rangers", was created when several of the Victoria area members of the No. 1 Company of the PCMRs got together after the war in 1947 and formed our club. They purchased a piece of property, built a clubhouse, and still did local search and rescue well into the 1950's using a radio car and the club's bloodhound.
The "South Vancouver Island Rangers" gun club is still an active club today, and we hold an in-club competition each year called the "Lorne Woodley" rifle match. The match consists of 5 shots fired at 100 yards from any position except bench rest, and the tightest 5 shot group target submitted is the winner. The match must be shot with an original issue PCMR carbine in .30 WCF, and many of our membership own one or more of these guns for use in this match. (In total I suspect our club membership probabaly owns somewhere between 30 and 60 of these original military issue PCMR 94's, but I've never polled the membership to get an exact number.)
The local "South Vancouver Island Rangers" club also has a small collection of PCMR related items which are displayed in their main clubhouse. There are some hats, hat bands, armbands, cap and shoulder badges, and uniform samples in the collection. The club also has a set of "The Ranger" bulletins, which I believe is complete with a few extra duplicate editions. This club collection has just recently been enlarged through the generous donation of several more WW II items from a PCMR related estate in Penticton, and a larger and improved display case is being constructed to better display these newly acquired PCMR items along with a manequin dressed in a full PCMR uniform.
To my knowledge there is only one surviving member of our club left who was an actual serviing PCMR member during WW II.
Hope all this info was of some interest to you .....
There are fairly large numbers of these surplus PCMR .30WCF carbines in and around the Victoria area, and I currently own two of them myself.
The concept of the PCMR militia groups was the brainchild of some very concerned Victoria area outdoorsmen, that were worried that the Japanese might land spies and agents on the largely unprotected Canadian West Coast to create mischief. They were quite concerned that they might blow up rail lines and trestles, or light our coastal forests on fire to destroy war resorces and draw needed manpower away from the war effort. The Canadian government and the military thought the idea of a militia group formed of loggers, fishermen, and other local area folks that were well acquainted with the coastal areas through their professions had merit, and so they went ahead with the project. This is why the No. 1 Company of the PCMR militia group covered from Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island up to Nanaimo and then across to the far west coast of Vancouver Island. As the PCMR concept was enlarged, more and more Companies of Rangers were organized until there was PCMR coverage right throught to the Rockies.
In the early days, military issue firearms of all types were in fairly short supply, so instead 94 Winchesters in .30 WCF were commercially purchased and issued to the PCMR until limited supplies of Stens, Brens, and Pattern 14 and 17 rifles came available for use. As they were military issue firearms, the Canadian military broad arrow in the letter "C" was stamped onto the forend, action, and buttstock of each gun. Most of the guns have their stamps on the left side, but a few have been seen that were stamped on the right side instead. After the war the PCMR members were offered the opportunity to purchase their surplused out 94 carbines for the very reasonable sum of only $5.00, and at that price most of the ex-members took the deal. I have seen several of these guns still with their orginal $5.00 receipts, and as mentioned above, we sold one at Island Outfitters a few years ago. There were also a few Marlin model 36's that were purchased by the government and PCMR marked for Ranger issue, and a friend of mine just sold one of those guns to another Victoria area collector recently.
Issue PCMR 94 carbines were fitted with military pattern web slings using a Ross butt swivel and a hand fabricated metal band wrapped around the forend to mount the front swivel. (Rumour has it that they were installed by a contract gunsmith somewhere in the Okanagan area, possibly in Vernon.) In many cases, PCMR carbines when found today have had their sling swivel mounts removed after they were privately purchased, so obviously the members themselves didn't feel the slings or mounting system had much merit.
The PCMR units received a newsletter on a regular basis during the war years published and distributed to them by the Canadian Army, with information on training tips and updates on the Canadian war efforts. Not surprisingly, this newsletter was named "The Ranger", and I have a number of these original publications in my personal collection.
One of our local area gun clubs, the "South Vancouver Island Rangers", was created when several of the Victoria area members of the No. 1 Company of the PCMRs got together after the war in 1947 and formed our club. They purchased a piece of property, built a clubhouse, and still did local search and rescue well into the 1950's using a radio car and the club's bloodhound.
The "South Vancouver Island Rangers" gun club is still an active club today, and we hold an in-club competition each year called the "Lorne Woodley" rifle match. The match consists of 5 shots fired at 100 yards from any position except bench rest, and the tightest 5 shot group target submitted is the winner. The match must be shot with an original issue PCMR carbine in .30 WCF, and many of our membership own one or more of these guns for use in this match. (In total I suspect our club membership probabaly owns somewhere between 30 and 60 of these original military issue PCMR 94's, but I've never polled the membership to get an exact number.)
The local "South Vancouver Island Rangers" club also has a small collection of PCMR related items which are displayed in their main clubhouse. There are some hats, hat bands, armbands, cap and shoulder badges, and uniform samples in the collection. The club also has a set of "The Ranger" bulletins, which I believe is complete with a few extra duplicate editions. This club collection has just recently been enlarged through the generous donation of several more WW II items from a PCMR related estate in Penticton, and a larger and improved display case is being constructed to better display these newly acquired PCMR items along with a manequin dressed in a full PCMR uniform.
To my knowledge there is only one surviving member of our club left who was an actual serviing PCMR member during WW II.
Hope all this info was of some interest to you .....
Greenfields
CGN Regular
- Location
- Lower mainland BC
Fantastic info!
I have one M94 and a Marlin 36. Would love to get my hands on a 64.
Cheers
I have one M94 and a Marlin 36. Would love to get my hands on a 64.
Cheers
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I think I came across this information once, as well, in the RCMP museum, at the Regina Training Depot.
Off topic a little but, I own a S&W 38/44 Heavy Duty Pre-Model 23, that was 1 of 100,
issued to the BCPP in 1940 or so.
It is marked as such on the bottom of the grip.
The issue longarm was......well, we all know.
Reverand Al, fantastic historical read there my friend....thank you!
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