My father in law has terminal cancer, he litterally is in his last week or so. Tonight he decided to give away his few belongings and he gave my wife his 30-30, a gun given to him by his dad. I'd like to know when it was manufactured.

Its a Winchester Model 94, Serial #3425429. Mechanically the rifle seems in fine shape yet I know its had a history with alot of use. Alot of blueing is worn off due to a saddle scabbard.

If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it.


-DallanC

found this on another site for ya..

Winchester 1894/94 Serial Number List
1894 began with serial number 1 and ended with 14,579.

1895 ended with number 44,359.

1896 ended with number 76,464.

1897 ended with 111,453.

1898 ended with number 147,684. This is the last number that is antique according to BATF regulations.

1899 ended with number 183,371.

1900 ended with number 204,427.

1901 ended with number 233,975.

1902 ended with number 273,854.

1903 ended with number 291,506.

1904 ended with number 311,363.

1905 ended with number 337,557.

1906 ended with number 378,878.

1907 ended with number 430,985.

1908 ended with number 474,241.

1909 ended with number 505,831.

1910 ended with number 553,062.

1911 ended with number 599,263.

1912 ended with number 646,114.

1913 ended with number 703,701.

1914 ended with number 756,066.

1915 ended with number 784,052.

1916 ended with number 807,741.

1917 ended with number 821,972.

1918 ended with number 838,175.

1919 ended with number 870,762.

1920 ended with number 880,627.

1921 ended with number 908,318.

1922 ended with number 919,583.

1923 ended with number 938,539.

1924 ended with number 953,198.

1925 ended with number 978,523.

1926 ended with number 997,603.

1927 ended with number 1,027,571.

1928 ended with number 1,054,465.

1929 ended with number 1,077,097.

1930 ended with number 1,081,755.

1931 ended with number 1,084,156.

1932 ended with number 1,087,836.

1933 ended with number 1,089,270.

1934 ended with number 1,091,190.

1935 ended with number 1,099,605.

1936 ended with number 1,100,065.

1937 ended with number 1,100,679.

1938 ended with number 1,100,915.

1939 ended with number 1,101,051.

1940 ended with number 1,142,423.

1941 ended with number 1,191,307.

1942 ended with number 1,221,289.

1943 through 1947 numbers are not available. The following serial numbers assume an equal number produced each year.

1943 ended with number 1,267,741.*

1944 ended with number 1,314,193.*

1945 ended with number 1,360,645.*

1946 ended with number 1,407,097.*

1947 ended with number 1,453,549.*

1948 ended with number 1,500,000.

1949 ended with number 1,626,100.

1950 ended with number 1,724,295.

1960 ended with number 2,469,821.

1963 ended with number 2,586,000. This was the end of the classic Winchesters made with hand-finished cast parts.

Numbers 2,586,001 through 2,699,999 were not used.

1964 began with 2,700,000 and ended with 2,797,428.

1965 ended with number 2,894,428.

1966 ended with number 2,991,927.

1967 ended with number 3,088,458.

1968 ended with number 3,185,691.

1969 ended with number 3,284,570.

1970 ended with number 3,381,299.

1980 ended with number 4,892,951.

Wouldn't it have been easier to say it was made between 1970 and 1980?
Thanks for the list of serial numbers though. You guys with Winchester model 94's copy and paste that info for your records. That way the next time someone asks when their rifle was made you can post it - you can also know when you have a classic 94 at a good price.

PaulS wrote:

Wouldn't it have been easier to say it was made between 1970 and 1980? Thanks for the list of serial numbers though. You guys with Winchester model 94's copy and paste that info for your records. That way the next time someone asks when their rifle was made you can post it - you can also know when you have a classic 94 at a good price.

sure it woulda but then someone else woulda asked and so on and so on, was easier for a cut and paste, that way the info is here if ya do a search.. and if ya wanna be exact it was made in jan. or feb of 1980..

According to this site it was manufactured in 1971 ........... ! All you need to do is bookmark the site.

armscollectors.com/sn/windates.htm

Very sorry to hear about your Father in law Dallan. Best wishes in this difficult time to the entire family.

Grant wrote:

Very sorry to hear about your Father in law Dallan. Best wishes in this difficult time to the entire family.

Likewise Dallan.

1895ss wrote:

Grant wrote: Very sorry to hear about your Father in law Dallan. Best wishes in this difficult time to the entire family. Likewise Dallan.

As with Grant and 1895ss, I too am sorry to hear that your father-in-law is close to his end. Please give best wishes to his family on behalf of myself and our aussie members....not to forget our other members of course.

Your wife and children will need your support when they lose their Dad and Poppy, something I'm sure that you will do. Look after that Model 94 mate...he obviously thought highly enough of you guys to pass such a magnificent firearm on to you.

Once again, best wishes for the family.

Cheers, Vince

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law Dallan.

Dimitri

I am *extremely* surprised to learn the firearm is that new.

I guess I made the assumption her grandfather used that rifle growing up. He lived in very rural utah where they had only 3 or 4 houses within a 50 mile radius. The guy grew up in a house with no running water, riding horses in tough, tough conditions. I would have guessed the rifle to have been from the 1930's.

**Edit: I talked to my wife more about it and it appears he had this rifle for a while then gave it to his wife, my wifes Grandmother who used it often killing deer. Fairly interesting heirloom. Gotta get some ammo and try it out.

Her dad wants her to use it to kill a deer this fall... LOL that should prove to be interesting.


-DallanC

like he would give the "good" one to you just from what you were saying i woulda figured it to be older as well..

Dallan...Kill deer? What the wife or the rifle?

Hope everything goes as best as it can...

Morax wrote:

:-D like he would give the "good" one to you just from what you were saying i woulda figured it to be older as well..

I guess he had 2 30-30's. My wife got one and her older brother got the other. I'll see if I can get the serial off the other one for kicks. I love old rifles, expecially ones with a "history". My dad has a late 1800's 45-70 and 30-30, both with the octagon barrels. He bought them in a pawn shop so although they are cool to handle, there is no history known about them which is unfortunate.

Bushmaster wrote:

Dallan...Kill deer? What the wife or the rifle?

LOL... he wants my wife to shoot a deer with it. My wife has used open sight weapons but this might be challenging for her, to hit something out to 200 yards with it :).

Quote::

Hope everything goes as best as it can...

Yea, its a sad deal. Hes only 61 I think... right now people have been saying "good bye" to him now for a few weeks and its obvious from my outside opinion its starting to wear on people. He will not recover and IMO, I hope he passes quickly in his sleep so people can begin the recovery phase. Hes often in alot of pain and rarely feels well... its one of those things where I think if it were me, I'd welcome death over more torture.

Hes a really nice guy though, its tough on his kids.


-DallanC

Yup...Oh how I do understand. My wife is in Portland, Oregon with her mother. Thought we lost her. She seems to be recovering. She's 74. Which means I'll have to do this all over again. Now if only I could get my wife back. I could quit cookin', washing dishes, laundry, house cleanin' and get back to being a horse rancher again...

This site gives serial numbers and it says your rifle was made in 1971. All the best...
Gil


oldguns.net/index.html

WINCHESTER DATES OF MANUFACTURE

Winchester Model 1894 (Mod 94):
Covering numbers: 1 - 5103249.


The year of manufacture for serial number 3425429 is 1971.