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1890 winchester ,stainless steel ?

sgtchux
Hi,I have an 1890 wrf in stainless the gun is stainless including all the internals the serial dates it 1902 the trigger frame and barrel are roll marked with the winchester logo .i,ve never ,nor my friends have ever seen a ss 1890 can any one help with some info. thanx much , sgt chux
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • MIKE WISKEY
    YOU DO NOT HAVE A S.S. RIFLE, MOST LIKELY IT IS NICKLE PLATED. MOST LIKELY AFTER IT LEFT WIN.
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  • David Nunn
    Show us some pictures, please.

    I agree that the gun isn't stainless, but I would like to see pics.
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  • Grasshopper
    Perhaps someone scrubbed ALL the blue off and it looks like a dull stainless? Pics would tell the tail..
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  • Bert H.
    Winchester did not use Stainless Steel until 1926, and it was used for barrels only.

    My guess is that one of two things happened to your Model 1890...

    (1) All of the original factory bluing was stripped off of the gun leaving it in the "white" (bare steel), or

    (2) It was nickel plated outside of the factory.
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  • Fatstrat
    Were there any factory nickeled 1890's? I thought there were.
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by Fatstrat
    Were there any factory nickeled 1890's? I thought there were.


    Yes, there were a few that were special ordered. That said, the internal parts were never factory nickel plated, and the person who started this topic stated that the internals also appear to be stainless.
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  • dandak1
    I know some stainless steel is magnetic, but most of it isnt, did you try a magnet on the barrel , receiver, and other parts??
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  • David Nunn
    Stainless steel contains iron, so it will be attracted to a magnet. If it contains no iron, then it is not steel.
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  • dandak1
    Nunn, the magnetic properties of most (but not all) stainless steel is so much weaker than CrMo or other tool steels that a magnet can often be used to distinguish it. Most will be only weakly magnetic compared to nonstainless steels. I keep a magnet on my work bench just for checking suspect steels at work before I machine anything. The first thing I would do if I owned this gun would be to try to stick a magnet on it. If it was strongly magnetic it would prove nothing, but if weakly magnetic I would suspect it truly was stainless steel.
    You can have iron in a compound and have it not be magnetic. I believe when nickel is added to stainless steels it binds with the iron and reduces or eliminates its magnetic properties.
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by dandak1
    Nunn, the magnetic properties of most (but not all) stainless steel is so much weaker than CrMo or other tool steels that a magnet can often be used to distinguish it. Most will be only weakly magnetic compared to nonstainless steels. I keep a magnet on my work bench just for checking suspect steels at work before I machine anything. The first thing I would do if I owned this gun would be to try to stick a magnet on it. If it was strongly magnetic it would prove nothing, but if weakly magnetic I would suspect it truly was stainless steel.


    I can guarantee you that a factory original 1902 vintage Winchester Model 1902 was not made with stainless steel.
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