I have a Model 94 made in 1913 it has a heavy rifle barrel either it is a cut down rifle or a special order gun. Anyone ever heard or know if one could order a gun like this from the factory or is this a cut down rifle?

Welcome to the forum ssi.john. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

You know during the time period Winchester was doing some drastic custom work on all the products they offered so it certainly could be from their custom shop or it could be something a gunsmith did for an owner.

Hopefully some of our resident winchester folks can help you better.

Someone told me you could contact Winchester and have them look up the serial number and find out what the gun left the factory as. Anyone no where to contact for this???

Try here ssi

http://www.winchesterguns.com/

Google " Cody Firearms Museum " as they have the records. Records for some years were destroyed in a fire and not available. There is a fee for a letter but you can use their e-mail link with your serial number and they will tell you if they have any records.

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I do not think that Cody will have records on your gun, it will be beyond the serial number range in their files.

To answer your question about "short rifles", yes, Winchester did make them with shorter barrels on special order. Check the muzzle diameter, it should measure 11/16 inch. If it does, it is most likley a factory made rifle. If it is larger than that (by more than a few thousands of an inch) it is probably a gunsmith cut off. I say "probably" because there is no absolute rules with the factory but a good collector can usually tell by other indicators if it is factory.

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Page 420 of The Winchester Book, by George Madis shows a heavy barreled rifle with a 16" barrel. This rifle, serial number 647546, was also from 1913. If you can find a copy of the book you will get an appreciation of the variety of configurations which were once available on special order.

The barrel is about 19 3/4 long and the dia is .73 inch. I can't seem to up load a photo they are too big