Need help identifying date of rifle manufacture

B

BigMike

New member
My father-in-law has a Winchester lever action rifle that he showed me today, that he acquired decades ago in a trade. I tried looking at winchester's site, but he research link is down. So if any of you have information on the rifle I would appreciate the effort. Here it is:

The serial number is 816135, and it has Winchester 1894 on the barrel. It is chambered for 25-35 W.C.F. round(I've never heard of this chambering before.) At some point in time, someone drilled a hole in the bottom of the butt stock for the purposes of attaching a sling. The rifle is in fair shape, but has been shot ALOT. My father-in-law stated that when he shot the rifle years ago, he noticed that the ejected brass looked as if it were splitting near the top, where the bullet seats. Would this be a headspacing problem? Any response would be appreciated. Thanks,

Mike
 
Mike,

I'm pretty certain that Winchester dropped the .25-35 chambering prior to WW II, but I'm not certain when. But the serial number you note is pretty low in production, which makes me think it is pre-WW II.

The .25-35 was, along with the .30-30, the first commercial smokeless powder round, being introduced in 1895 (the blackpowder .32-40 and .38-55 were introduced first, after production problems with the smokeless powder).

It's not very powerful, but it was pretty popular for a number of years, and probably has killed a lot of deer. Brass can easily be made by running .30-30 cases into the proper sizing die and doing a little neck reaming.

As for the case mouth splitting, that's not a headspace problem. That sounds like it's old, old brass. The .25-35 headspaces on the face of the cartridge rim, so there's no issue there.
 
Thanks to all very much. I'm sure my father-in-law will be delighted to know that he has a bit of a relic on has hands. Again, thanks,

Mike
 
Big Mike. Winchester still lists the 25-35 ammo as being available. I'd pick up a box or two of newly made ammo and see if the problem still exists.
Paul B.
 
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