Who made my M94 Winchester?

Straitshot · March 1, 2018, 01:33 PM

I asked this question on another forum but would also like to ask it here.

I have a question concerning the newer lever action Winchesters. I have a recently made 1886 Winchester and an 1886 Browning and both rifles were made by Miroku out of Japan and they are both marked as such on the barrels. I have looked at some of the new Winchester lever guns at the gun shop, 1892's, 1873's, 1886's, 1894's, etc. and all of them are marked on the barrels made by Miroku.

My point is all the past and current Winchesters made by Miroku seem to be marked on the barrel as such; however, I recently purchased a Winchester M94 Legacy with octagon barrel made between the years 2004-2006. It has the rebounding hammer and tang safety just as all the current Winchester lever rifles by Miroku (except 1873 and 1866 models) but this rifle does not have a barrel marking that says made by Miroku.

So, my question is were all Winchester lever rifles with rebounding hammers and tang safeties made by Miroku for Winchester or were some of the earlier ones made by Winchester. I realize both Browning and Winchester are subsidiaries of FN Herstal.

I also found out in March of 2006 the New Haven manufacturing facility ceased production of the M94.

jmr40 · March 1, 2018, 04:57 PM

As far as I know that would be New Haven produced. Winchester was having some of the high end levers built in Japan even before they closed the doors in 2006. There were no Winchester branded guns made until production of the 70's was re-started in the FN factory in South Carolina in 2008. Those guns are being made in the FN factory in Portugal at this time and all current lever actions are from Japan.

They've used the rebounding hammer for quite some time, not exactly sure when they started but want to guess sometime in the 1990's. The tang safety, I'm not sure about.

Straitshot · March 1, 2018, 07:30 PM

Gentleman, please accept my apology. Old age and bad eyes are a convenient excuse. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

I got out my magnifying glass and roll marked on the barrel in very tiny letters is "Made in New Haven Ct., USA" Gees! Please accept my apology.

Thanks for your replies and not beating up on this old dummy too bad.

T. O'Heir · March 2, 2018, 02:16 PM

"...are a convenient excuse..." You get to be grumpy too. It's in the 'Old Guy' rule book. snicker.
It's alleged that U.S. Repeating Arms Company made 'em until 2006 and Miroku made some copies after that and those were imported by Browning USA. All of 'em made 'em under license from Olin. Olin kept ownership of the brand name.

March 1, 2018, 01:33 PM	#1
Straitshot Senior Member Join Date: July 27, 2011 Location: West Texas Posts: 199	Who made my M94 Winchester? I asked this question on another forum but would also like to ask it here. I have a question concerning the newer lever action Winchesters. I have a recently made 1886 Winchester and an 1886 Browning and both rifles were made by Miroku out of Japan and they are both marked as such on the barrels. I have looked at some of the new Winchester lever guns at the gun shop, 1892's, 1873's, 1886's, 1894's, etc. and all of them are marked on the barrels made by Miroku. My point is all the past and current Winchesters made by Miroku seem to be marked on the barrel as such; however, I recently purchased a Winchester M94 Legacy with octagon barrel made between the years 2004-2006. It has the rebounding hammer and tang safety just as all the current Winchester lever rifles by Miroku (except 1873 and 1866 models) but this rifle does not have a barrel marking that says made by Miroku. So, my question is were all Winchester lever rifles with rebounding hammers and tang safeties made by Miroku for Winchester or were some of the earlier ones made by Winchester. I realize both Browning and Winchester are subsidiaries of FN Herstal. I also found out in March of 2006 the New Haven manufacturing facility ceased production of the M94.

March 1, 2018, 04:57 PM	#2
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,805	As far as I know that would be New Haven produced. Winchester was having some of the high end levers built in Japan even before they closed the doors in 2006. There were no Winchester branded guns made until production of the 70's was re-started in the FN factory in South Carolina in 2008. Those guns are being made in the FN factory in Portugal at this time and all current lever actions are from Japan. They've used the rebounding hammer for quite some time, not exactly sure when they started but want to guess sometime in the 1990's. The tang safety, I'm not sure about. __________________ "If you're still doing things the same way you were doing them 10 years ago, you're doing it wrong" Winston Churchill

March 2, 2018, 02:16 PM	#4
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	"...are a convenient excuse..." You get to be grumpy too. It's in the 'Old Guy' rule book. snicker. It's alleged that U.S. Repeating Arms Company made 'em until 2006 and Miroku made some copies after that and those were imported by Browning USA. All of 'em made 'em under license from Olin. Olin kept ownership of the brand name. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

March 1, 2018, 07:30 PM	#3
Straitshot Senior Member Join Date: July 27, 2011 Location: West Texas Posts: 199	Gentleman, please accept my apology. Old age and bad eyes are a convenient excuse. That is my story and I am sticking to it. I got out my magnifying glass and roll marked on the barrel in very tiny letters is "Made in New Haven Ct., USA" Gees! Please accept my apology. Thanks for your replies and not beating up on this old dummy too bad.