Post 64 Winchester Receiver
Onling Guns Gunsmith GunShop Bluing in Loveland, OH within the Cincinnati tri-state area.
In the 1960’s Winchester Model 94 was redesigned to for a more economical method of production. Redesigning the receivers were machined from a graphitic steel casting to reduce most of the costs. This new material would not accept the normal bluing process, used by Winchester since 1940, without discoloration. The color could vary from copper to plum red, depending upon the individual piece. The chart below shows dates and serial numbers for the three different blackening processes used by Winchester on these receivers between 1964 and 1981.
| Manufacturing Date | Serial Numbers |
| 1964-1968 | 2,700,000 – 3,185,691 |
| 1968-1972 | 3,185,692 – 3,806,499 |
| 1972-1981 | 3,806,500 – 5,024,957 |
When refinishing receivers which have been iron or black chrome plated, the gunsmith, when buffing these receivers, often removes the thin iron or chrome plated coating exposing the raw castings. Normal blackening processes cannot be used on these receivers.
In 1981, with the purchase of Winchester by USRACO, receivers were switched over to 4144 steel and the angle ejection port design was used. These receivers will polish and blue normally.
