Winchester Model 94 Mystery - Help Needed Please

Spartacus

Spartacus

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Just picked up a lever gun at an online auction. It was advertised as a Model 94 in caliber 25-35. Got it home and noticed there are no markings or stamping on the gun anywhere except for a serial number BB042###. I couldn't find any info from the Winchester serial number database with this BB prefix. There isn't any visible safety...only the hammer half-####. It is a top eject. A rough caliper check on the bore ID showed ~ 0.253", so I'm fairly certain it's a 25-35. The fore stock and butt stock are checkered and the butt pad has a orange(y) rubber pad with the only marking on it indicating Winchester Repeating Arms. The rear sight is a King full buck-horn.

I did some searching around the internet and found that it might be from around 1980 and could have been part of the second pre-production run shipment that was sent to Canada. The first and third staying in the US. I read they sometimes did these pre-production runs to test the waters before going into full production with a particular model. I think they were re-introducing the 25-35 into the market?

I'm not sure if this is correct or if it is, how many of the 25-35's were made?

Any helpful information on the history of this variation would be appreciated.
 
Gotta have pics of this one showing details of the receiver and any caliber designation on the barrel. The BB in the serial# prefix means the action is a Big Bore one as used in the rifles chambered for .375 Win., .356 Win. & .307 Win.

You could well have a rifle that was barreled to 25 cal. based on a necked down .307 Winchester cartridge. If the cartridge designation is not stamped on the barrel, you will have to do make a chamber cast using Cerosafe to make sure.:)
 
OK, thanks. I'll try to figure out how to get some pics up.

Shell Shucker, there are no details on the barrel. All I can see on the bottom on the receiver is the serial number stamp. I just had some boxes of 6.5x52R (25-35) delivered to my house yesterday and they seem to feed and chamber perfectly. I'll try to get the pics up tonight.

Thanks for the help.
 
Spartacus said:
OK, thanks. I'll try to figure out how to get some pics up.

Shell Shucker, there are no details on the barrel. All I can see on the bottom on the receiver is the serial number stamp. I just had some boxes of 6.5x52R (25-35) delivered to my house yesterday and they seem to feed and chamber perfectly. I'll try to get the pics up tonight.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

So far, so good...cool. Try a shot at the range(Safety glasses on.) and see how the fired case appears. If it looks like the unfired ones without having the shoulder blown out or any excess stretching, then you have a .25-35. Good luck with 'er.:cool:
 
Yup. Got it from Maynards.

Just bought a CGN membership so I'll get pics up as soon as I'm processed into the system.

If it was a re-barreled 375, I'm wondering why the side loading port is so small? Small enough to fit just a 25-35, but I don't think it would fit anything larger like a 375?

I'll try to make it out to the range this weekend and test fire with all my armour on.
 
Not to worry 'bout the loading port as the .375 Winchester is based on a strengthened .30-30 case and the .25-35 is based on the .30-30 necked down. The loading port will be the same size for all of these plus the .32 Winchester Special. Can't wait to see some decent pics of the bugger.:)
 
Okie dokie....Just pulled a pic of yer rifle from the Maynard's site. It is definitely built on an early Model 94 Big Bore action and has walnut stock with XTR style checkering. If the butt stock wears a thin, red rubber recoil pad, that would seal the deal as far as the XTR option.

This is the confusing bit. Why would Winchester build up a .25-35 on an action designed for a 50,000 psi. cartridge like the .375 Win.?Winchester's standard M94 action is perfectly suited for the .25-35 which generates similar pressures to the .30-30 & .32 Special. (35-37,000 psi.)
The King rear sight is also not a Winchester item.

That fact, along with handling wear on the blue of the receiver and no caliber designation on the barrel tends to lead me in the direction of a one-off build by a custom smith. A puzzle fer sure on this one. A test firing will definitely help narrow down the mystery. The test shot should be taken with the rifle held at arms length (Pistol style) to avoid hot gasses to the face in case of a cartridge rupture. No worries about the action popping as it is plenty strong enough.

Can't wait to see the results on this one fer sure.:popCorn:
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I found an old post from a US based forum from 2005. I'm not sure if it's correct or not...but it sounds like it could be ligit. The fellow who submitted it says he did so after a call to Winchester.
Apparently the records from this period were destroyed somehow and he spoke with someone who was recollecting from "memory"? He says the .25-35's Winchester made three pre-production batches. The first quite small. A second batch was sent to Canada. He assumed this would have been larger. Then the third batch was released into the U.S. market. Regular production was supposed to start in 2005. He said that Marlin sometimes tests the water by announcing a new product prior to putting it into production to see how the advance orders stack up.
Can anyone confirm/rebuff or add to this?

Anyways, here are some photos:
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I noticed in the photos that the rifle is wearing Marble's Sights and is on an early Big Bore action. Winchester brought out the Trails End model 94 in .25-35 using the Angle Eject action with tang safety in both round barrel and octagon versions. The Trails End 25-35's were discontinued after 2006. Oddly, they weren't drilled & tapped for scope mounting....fookin' dumb move.

Those old pics show a cobbled up unit based on a Big Bore action with XTR style wood and crappy checkering too boot. The cartridge shown in the one pic is not a .25-35... it's either a .30-30 or .307Win., and my feelin' is that it's the latter.

Just another piece to the puzzle.:runaway:
 
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Look at the gapping between the foreshock and barrel near the rear sight. No Winchester left the factory that way. It's a franked-gun, I'm afraid. Someone probably got tired of looking for .375 Winchester brass.
 
Looks like a 30-40 to me. Which would be neat to see in a new lever...
Well the long neck does, the shoulder isn't gradual enough perhaps...an enigma for sure.
 
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Either way, there is NO WAY this foreshock left the factory mated to this barrel.

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If original, the rifle would not have left the factory without the appropriate barrel address, caliber marking and Winchester Definitive proof mark. It seems clear the gun was re-barreled. On a side note, I really enjoy shooting 25-35. That little cartridge has quite a snap to it.
Cheers.
 
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