My great-grandfather bought this new in 1895. It was manufactured in November of 94.
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38-55 1894 4 digit serial number
k55f
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Nice Winchester = and keep it in the family! 38-55 is a nice shooting cartridge, too! Enjoy!
k55f - This rifle is a real treasure and I'm sure you think so too. My 74 yr old hunting partner bagged a big mulie buck this year with his "heirloom" in .30-30. Made in 1917, given to him 60 years ago and he's hunted with it ever since. I hope you get the same chance, at least a few times, to hunt with yours.
Re winchester
That is a great looking winchester. It is great you know date of manufacture. I do have a book on Winchester lever 94s that give dates of manufacture according to serial nos. I was wondering if this early gun was made to use black powder cartridges only. I know smokeless powder came out in 1895. Usually guns say Nickel Steel or Smokeless powder engraved on barrel. I really appreciated viewing this gun and many thanks for sharing.
That is a great looking winchester. It is great you know date of manufacture. I do have a book on Winchester lever 94s that give dates of manufacture according to serial nos. I was wondering if this early gun was made to use black powder cartridges only. I know smokeless powder came out in 1895. Usually guns say Nickel Steel or Smokeless powder engraved on barrel. I really appreciated viewing this gun and many thanks for sharing.
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340 Posts
Fantastic Gun you have there 
And looks to be in great shape too,....
And looks to be in great shape too,.... 
Re Winchester
Thanks for your response Eastbank DO you shoot strickly cartridges loaded with black powder or can you use downloaded smokeless cartridges in it. Its a great looking rifle.
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110,706 Posts
I'd recommend sticking with BP loads (depsite the cleanng problems and their urgency). Nitro powder burns hotter than BP and tends to cause bore erosion, even in loads light enough to be (probably) safe as far as pressures are concerned,. JMO, others have different idea on the subject. Clark would probably recommend 3000 fps loads made up with who knows what. What eastbank does - he will hopefully tell us.
Nice rifles...... I shoot two modern replicas in 38-55, A Sharps and a Winchester 1894 with octagon barrel (and the dredded "tang safety") Both have taken deer. I like the old 38-55 and cast and load for it. I have a 94 born in 1942, my birthdate, but prefer the 38-55 over its 30-30 caliber. Thanks for sharing.....
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i worked up a load with a new cowboy 336 marlin in 38-55 with a scope on it, and it shoots super in my old winchester, 30grs RL-7 and hornady 220 fprn(1.5 inch groups at 75 yds) velocity is about 1500fps with no sings of pressure. after i sighted in the winchester with that load i locked the tang sight and rear sight to it. i tried black powder,but gave up on it because of the cleaning problems with the rifle and cases. i don,t shoot the winchester very much, and only carry it hunting once in a while in nice weather. i shoot just about every thing out of my marlin cowboy 38-55,its alot easier to take down and clean. eastbank
Re Winchester
Many thanks for your response Clyde. Have often wondered what is safe to use in these rifles manufactured until after 1900. I too have read it can be safe to use downloaded smokeless rounds in black powdered era guns but I agree with you for safety reasons. Hate to cause damage to a valuable gun also.
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Mild lead bullet (I feel that is an important thing in the earlier guns) loads are likely safe, and unlikely to cause mechanical damage (or blow the gun up) as long as they are not shot a lot. As I noted, i would be more concerned about potential for bore erosion with the hotter flame from nitro powders than pressure damage. As long as loads that duplicate performance of the originals are the limit.
Some BP-era guns are less likely to suffer harm than others - I would think the Winchester 1892 and 1894 would be likely to hold up better than earlier designs. BUT i wouldn't shoot one that was not proofed for smokeless very much, even with mild loads.
Any 1894 in .32/40 or .38/55 that has a nickel steel smokeless barrel is a very special rifle as it would have to be special ordered that way. Personally I have never seen one but I have heard that they are out there. BTW, very nice rifle in great condition.
For occasional shooting the factory loaded .38/55 is perfectly safe in ANY 1894 in good mechanical shape. It is a pretty weak kneed loading for precisely that reason.
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489 Posts
Nice looking rifle. Had a '94 .38-55 made in 1904 ( had to sell, was a real bummer), loaded it with 50g of fff black powder and a cast bullet from an original mold. It was a hoot to shoot especially after I learned to shoot it fast and accurate and not take it from my shoulder while levering it. Made one hell of a cloud of smoke. I did not have any problems with shooting modern factory except for the fact it was not very accurate. The bores of these old guns range somewhere between .378-.380. The bullets on the new stuff from Winchester is .375. Have fun shooting this ol' girl.
frogbert
frogbert
A friend of mine has one identical, serial number 7xx. He had it lettered, it left the factory in Nov. 1894 and was shipped from the warehouse Dec. 1894. His also has a smooth tang, no WINCHESTER MODEL 1894 or patent date on the tang. The only one I have ever seen. Ther gun is completely original finish and somehow missed getting it's tang stamped.
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