Daisy Museum Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > Daisy Airguns > Questions
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Saddle ring on Daisy 1894
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Saddle ring on Daisy 1894

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
BB1Shooter View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member


Joined: April-23-2019
Points: 392
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BB1Shooter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Saddle ring on Daisy 1894
    Posted: September-02-2020 at 4:33pm
What year did Daisy start putting a saddle ting on the 1894?

What year did Daisy change the 1894 from metal receiver & lever to plastic, and add the safety switch to the receiver?

Thanks
Back to Top
twocompassheads View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: March-21-2017
Location: Kingman, AZ
Points: 368
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote twocompassheads Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-02-2020 at 7:28pm
BB1shooter,
    Gerald, from what I have gathered because there is not any paperwork or hard evidence on the changes that Daisy did on the 1894 over the first 15 to 20 years of production.  the early guns didn't have a saddle ring until the late 60's, about 67 to 69 or so.   The changes that I've noted is that the slip on front site was changed to a screwed on one with the hole under the barrel in the center of the site along with the changing of the metal band to the black plastic one.
    At this period of time the saddle ring came out and the stock and forearm was still the darker reddish color.  This was probably for a year or two and then the change in stock and forearm to the lighter tannish colored stock and forearm came out.  You can see this in the Buffalo Bill, NRA, Yellow Boy octagon and the Golden Boy Centennial guns were all lighter colored and they stopped the red colored ones in 69 or 70 is my best guess. 
   There were four modifications in the barrels that I see from 1961 to about 68 to 70 at the location of the two top receiver screw holes that are the little tiny short screws.  The original barrel from 1961 to 1962 had no reinforcing on the barrel to make it thicker so the tiny short screws didn't strip out.  In the pictures the bottom barrel is a 61 and 62 barrel with just the wall thickness of the barrel for the screw hole.  These screws were finer thread than the replacement screws when they reinforced the barrel.  The next one up was the first type of reinforcing and it was a strip of metal that covered both holes on each side of the barrel.  The front hole is never used but they covered it anyways.  Then they started putting on just the little tab of metal on the screw hole.  But there was a problem with the barrels splitting open when the gun jammed or the cocking lever broke and the plunger or something caused the barrel to split at the factory seam.  So the top one shows a metal band going around the barrel and covering both screw holes.  This was the last of the modifications at this location until 1986.
Hard to tell how long the mods were in use until they changed again but from 1961 to 1967 or 68 would be my guess for the four different barrel mods.  If anybody has any input or knowledge of these or other changes please mention it.  
   Most of the advertising that you see is always the right side of the 1894 so you can't see the saddle ring and when it was introduced.  The earliest one I've seen was 1969 and the saddle ring was on it.  And we know that from 70 on it was always there from all of the guns had them.  One exception I see is Sears didn't put the saddle ring on the stock 1894's right away except for the octagon guns.  I have several Sears stock guns that don't have the saddle ring and they are all reddish colored stocks and forearms.
    Also the early barrels didn't have the cocking lever reinforcing bracket spot welded on, it just slipped on, another reason for the barrel to split if this was left of after servicing or resealing the gun, you can see it on the bottom barrel in the picture.
    These items and more help to figure out what the years are and the changes that occurred on the 1894's.
    The safety switch on the side started in the 1992 to 1997 production run and I'm not sure about the plastic cocking lever,  don't deal with those years after 1986.  That was the start of the decline of the 1894 and the regular production runs.  Then it all stopped

   One item to remember are the patent numbers on the 1894's,  the guns with only one patent number 2,758,586 was applied for in 8-18-53 and that was for the plunger, spring, air tube, seals and what not to improve the overall design.  It was granted 8-14-56.  The second patent number was 3,245,392 and it was applied for in 6-25-1962 after the gun was released in 1961 and was not granted until 4-12-1966.  We know one thing is that all 1894's with one patent number is for sure a 66 or later gun.  So did Daisy stop production and immediately modify and redesign the stamping on the barrels for the new patent or did it happen over the next couple of years or so.  They had the patent so was it necessary to get it on the gun right away?   I just check ten guns with no saddle ring and two with and they all only had one patent number and the reddish colored stocks, I also have some that have both patent numbers with the saddle ring and the reddish colored stocks.  I believe this was just before the change over to the tannish colored stocks and a whole new look for Daisy around 1969 to 70.





Keep On Plinking
Back to Top
cobalt327 View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: November-15-2013
Points: 3140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cobalt327 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-03-2020 at 10:29pm
Wow Dennis- great post!!
Back to Top
twocompassheads View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: March-21-2017
Location: Kingman, AZ
Points: 368
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote twocompassheads Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-04-2020 at 10:53pm
Thanks Mark, 
    I'm going to post some pictures and descriptions of small changes to the 1894 that Daisy made over the years from 1961 to 1986.  I have discovered these things from rebuilding them and have tried to nail down the years which is tough.  But little items were improved by Daisy because of the part being damaged earlier than it should of lasted depending on how many BB's were fired through the gun.  Also parts failed because they were weak or material thickness.   Dennis
Keep On Plinking
Back to Top
cobalt327 View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: November-15-2013
Points: 3140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cobalt327 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-05-2020 at 12:35am
That'll be very helpful, I'm sure. And I can relate to the difficulty in pinning down dates when changes were made. I did that with the 880 and a few others, and it's definitely a challenge!
Back to Top
cobalt327 View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: November-15-2013
Points: 3140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cobalt327 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February-20-2021 at 2:05pm
Dennis, if you happen to see this post, I wanted to add that after rereading the fascinating history of changes you wrote, the passage about "a whole new look for Daisy around 1969 to 70" caught my eye. It turns out, that timeline coincides with when Daisy was in cahoots with Heddon-Victor as Daisy/Heddon, Division of Victor Comptometer. And there were a lot of changes all across the Daisy line in that era, including things like the introduction of the light frame (400, 401, 403, 404, others?) and wide body (450, 452, 453, 454, others?) pellet guns, the 499 in '76, the 880 in '72, the 86/70 Safari, automatic slider safeties, plastic lever wear inserts, the 21 double barrel, various Spittin' Image guns, the VL caseless .22 firearm, and others I'm sure. I just thought it was an interesting footnote.

Back to Top
twocompassheads View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: March-21-2017
Location: Kingman, AZ
Points: 368
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote twocompassheads Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February-21-2021 at 4:07pm
Mark,
   That's right, a few things changed in that time frame with the 1894 and Daisy / Heddon may of been the reason these things happened.  The change from reddish brown stocks and forearms to the tan colored ones happened around that time and the saddle ring came out on the 1894 and on the Buffalo Bill Scout. We also saw the switch from metal forearm bands to plastic and the introduction of the octagon barrel, the yellow boy and the golden boy.
   I finished that Sears 880 Golden Boy and it turned out great, the only thing I don't care for was the clamp down shot tube and the seal underneath. Ron was a big help and sure knows his way around the 880's.  He said to pump it up and let it sit for 5 minutes to test to see if it's holding air pressure.  Well I forgot about it on the bench and the next day pulled the trigger and a good pop of air came out so it was holding good.  These pump up air guns are a whole different animal than the spring type guns, I believe the spring guns are more forgiving than the pump up type.
Dennis
Keep On Plinking
Back to Top
cobalt327 View Drop Down
Red Ryder Member
Red Ryder Member
Avatar

Joined: November-15-2013
Points: 3140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cobalt327 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February-21-2021 at 7:25pm
Thanks for those additions, I've made a note of them

Ron has become an 880 repair guru. He used to ask me a lot of questions, Now, I ask him more questions than he does me!

I agree about the shot tube to valve body seal of the early type 880s. It's a weak point. Hopefully the newfangled seals he has will hold up well. I have seals like them that I got from GEO when he was first active doing 3D printing at GTA and so far, so good. The pressed-in shot tubes used later on work well... until they don't. I've actually had a new style shot tube try to work its way out the front of the gun because it was so loose in the VB! Now, if I feel any movement at all, I epoxy the tube to the VB.

I like the 880 shot cycle. And the accuracy, it's usually outstanding. The pumping, not so much. But the lack of any significant recoil while putting lead downrange at well over 600 fps always impresses me. They're very forgiving of how they're held, too.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 11.03
Copyright ©2001-2015 Web Wiz Ltd.