Question for the M94 aficionados here... can a saddle ring be installed one of these rifles (post '64) without drilling and tapping the left side of the receiver???

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TMW
ExFed

I don't know how else you would attach one...the receiver on most post 64 guns is made of a type of cast iron that is hard to even blue much less weld. Then how would you get the weld to look right. Why do you not want to just drill and tap the receiver??? I have probably done about a dozen of them, it was popular to do this back in the late 90's/early 2000's. Do not buy a tap until you have the saddle ring you intend to use in your hand...there were several different thread sizes used. The oddest of them all was the pre-64 guns...it was a 1/4 X 24 thread. NC is 20 and NF is 28, why they settled on 24 is beyond me but that can be a tough tap to get your hands on. MSC is about the only seller I ever knew of.
It really is simple to drll and tap though once you have the ring and the correct tap. Good luck.

Thank you sir... my rifle is a post-'64 model and the ring I have has 8 X 32 threads I think. I may just have my local gunsmith look at it to D/T... thanks again... TW

__________________
TMW
ExFed

Or 8 X 36 threads......

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TMW
ExFed

8X32 sounds about right for some of the later aftermarket rings. That is a common thread size...if a gunsmith don't have that tap you probably need a better smith!!! Good luck.

I have a Rossi M94 stainless I would like to install a saddle ring on. Where would I purchase one? Thanks.

If it's a Rossi I bet it's a model 92 instead of a model 94. I don't recall Rossi making 94's.

The saddle ring mounts different on a Winchester model 92 than it does a Winchester model 94.

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- Change it back -

Some post 64 Model 94 Winchesters were factory drilled & tapped for a saddle ring. They were then fitted with a plug screw if not shipped with the saddle ring.
Screw size is 8x36 on these.

Pre-64 used a different size thread on the saddle ring and the same one was used on the 94 & 86.
Guns were factory D&T'd..Don't recall the thread size. Didn't matter as the gun was D&T'd and only one size/fits all ring till '64.

'92's used the U shaped staple type base like the Marlins used. They are simply stake rivited into place from the inside.

I hear this a lot and it's incorrect, or at least imprecise.

The issue with the post-63 Model 94s is that they used a sinter forged process for their receivers. This process creates the alloy by mixing the metals as very finely ground powders that are then placed in a mould and formed under intense heat and pressure. The results are just fine in term of strength, hardness, durability, etc, and the advantage is that the forged part is produced very close to the final dimensions so less machining is needed.

The problem was that the alloy had a high percentage of chromium in it that results in a reddish to plum purple color when it's blued by conventional means.

Consequently Big W had to do something different and over the years Winchester used three separate blackening processes in the post-63 Model 94s:

Mfg. Date Serial Numbers Blackening Process
1964-1968 2,700,000 - 3,185,691 Du-Lite 3-0 Process
1968-1972 3,185,692 - 3,806,499 Black Chrome Plate
1972-1981 3,806,500 - 5,024,957 Win Blue/Oxiblak

The 1972-81 receivers that were Win Blued, were iron plated first, and then blackened with Du-Lite's Oxiblak. This is where the "iron receiver" beliefs some into play. These are also the receivers that often end up with a mottled purple finish when re-blued as the iron plating gets polished off in some places but not others.

In any event, once the original finish is removed, any of the 1964-1981 receivers can be refinished with the Du-Lite 3-0 Process.

Once USRACO purchased the plant, they switched to 4144 steel on the AE models and finished them with the normal Win Blue process.

Okay, it is a Mdl.92, but I would still like to put a saddle ring on it. Any ideas where I could purchase one in stainless? Thanks.

Here's a place that sells a 'universal fit' saddle ring in either blued steel or stainless steel. 8-36 thread on the stud. Looks like it would fit up nicely on a Rossi.
Beartooth Mercantile

I've never done any business with them and know nothing of the quality of the product(s).
Just passing it a along,,,