Winchester 94 pre 64 with "W" stamped on bottom of receiver

[duke7298]

I just purchased a Winchester 94 with a 1943 serial number. But, unlike any other 94's that I have seen this one has a "W" stamped on the bottom of the receiver below the serial number and just forward of where the lever cut out starts. Does anyone have any idea what the "W" stamp might indicate? Serial # is 123726X
Thanks!

[Mike D.]

Model 94s with the last marked tang type(7) were often stamped with either stamped with either an "M" or a "W" on the receiver bottom immediately forward of the lever. The serial numbers for these guns seem to run roughly 1,100,000 to 1,300,000. It is just another factory stamping and I don't believe that it means anything in particular.

[Pete44ru]

FWIW, many collectors believe the "W" signified a factory reblued gun, found only in the narrow serial number range between 1,150,000-1,300,000 - while a larger "W", often filled with red paint and either in receiver or stock or both, indicate a factory exhibition gun.

.

[John in MS]

What Pete44RU said.
This comes from Robert Renneburg's book on the Winchester 94, and while there's apparently
no hard proof that the stamp means a factory reblue, speculation is that there may have been
a bad batch of bluing salts or something in that serial number range, as most are concentrated in that range.

I got to very carefully examine one of these. It was as close to factory-new as you'll ever see,
but was a definite, perfect re-blue, based on smoothness of the proof-mark stampings, etc.
Wood was museum grade, with blue on the rear of the buttplate intact and silver on the sides, etc. Of interest, the "W" mark was stamped AFTER rebluing, as it had white metal showing
in the bottom of the stamp and you could feel that it had not been polished over.

It was a gorgeous gun, and I believe an un-messed with, unused factory reblue.

John