Improvements of A series and B series Winchester Model 1893

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

I've searched the internet till my fingers are sore and can't find any documentation on the improvements made to the Model 1893 shotgun from new through the A improvements and through the B improvements. It is well documented what changes were made to create the Model 1897 and what the C, D, and E improvements are.

 

One thing I found in comparing my A series and B series is that the B series has an 'action slide lock' in the lower left side of the carrier, the A series does not. You can unlock the A series by simply depressing the firing pin fully and moving the slide rearward. This is as it was designed. Pressing the firing pin on the B series does not unlock the action, although lowering the hammer fully does. I know that a Model 1897 has a sort of cam surface on the side of the hammer that, when lowered, pivots the action lock so you can open the gun, so I assume this is the same.

 

My take on the above is that the action slide lock was added as an improvement to cure some perceived flaw for safety sake. However in the event you need to open the action to remove an unfired shell to make the gun safe you would have to manually lower the hammer on a live round, which seems to me to be less safe than the previous design of simply gently pressing in on the firing pin and unlocking the gun. So a trade off of sorts was made to fix what was considered a more dangerous condition at the expense of creating a new, user induced condition.

 

And, I know that Winchester eventually added a button to the right side of the Model 1897 receiver to allow the action slide lock to be depressed allowing the action to open.

[Marauder SASS #13056]

Here is the info that Illapath RED provided:

http://marauder.homestead.com/97info.html

 

The first 10 changes listed were made to the 1893.

Then they changed to the 1897 in about 1898

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

Thanks Marauder, I found that same info on your website as well as a couple others. However, those are the changes that made a 93 into 97. I'm looking for what improvements made a 93 into a 93 A and then what additional improvements made it a 93 B model.

 

In my post, I described the one difference I noted in comparing my 93 A and 93 B model, the addition of the action slide lock. There had to have been enough changes to the 93 to call it an A and then more changes to call it a B. Maybe this info was never recorded or has just become lost.

 

ETA: a little more research and I found the 1893 was originally chambered for 2 1/2" shotshells, most info states 2 5/8", so maybe the A was that modification.