New England Westinghouse Barrel Marks
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The conventional wisdom is that there are five New England Westinghouse logos. Two "curved" with different arcs on the top line, two "straight" with 2mm and 3mm tall letters, and one with Cyrillic letters. While the two curved ones are well documented, the Cyrillic one is not, other than some written references to it. As for the straight logos, if there is a difference in the height of the letters it is much more subtle than 50%. The lettering on observed rifles measures slightly over 2mm but is not nearly as large as 3mm. However, there is a difference in the spacing and alignment of the letters.

Pictured below are nine different New England Westinghouse barrels in chronological order based on serial number. Only two of them, the 6th (#643,760) and the 7th (#707,801), are identical. Two others, the 2nd (#205,874) and the 9th (#1,158,882), are very similar but have slight differences. In some cases the distinctive spacing of the letters is identical in one area of the two logos, but different in another area. Information on twelve other rifles gathered from pictures on the Survey Forum at Gunboards.com is also included. Some of these are identical to each other or to the pictured rifles, while others are unique themselves. The pictured rifles are numbered 1 through 9 for ease of identification and the numbers are not meant to indicate logo "types". Rifles not pictured are referenced by their actual serial numbers. Unlike the Russian arsenals which started over at "1" each year, New England Westinghouse began with serial number 1 and continued to the end of production. Ironically, all New England Westinghouse M91s are dated 1915 regardless of the actual year of production, which continued until 1918.

Besides the style and spacing of the lettering, the imperial eagles also exhibit differences in their several features. Some have sharp lines while others are softer, the mark on the breast alternates between a diamond and a shield, the wing feathers are different widths and point down or up and to varying degrees, and the tail feathers are abbreviated or prominent. These features are used in various combinations to produce eight distinct eagles on the nine rifles pictured on this page.

Other marks found on the rifles pictured include the provisional black powder proof (top left #1), final black powder proof (top center #1), OTK/office of technical control mark (bottom center #1), Finnish SA property mark (bottom left #3), Finnish D chamber modification mark (bottom center #3), Finnish Civil Guard =S= acceptance mark (middle right #8), Russian point of aim mark (top left #9), New England Westinghouse M with arrow inspection mark (top center #9), Russian concentric circles accuracy mark (top right #9), and German LTII Luft Transport II mark (bottom center #9). Rifle #2 is Romanian INSTRUCTIE marked on the receiver and has had the Imperial eagle scrubbed.

In conclusion, there are certainly more than five different New England Westinghouse logos as over a dozen are documented here not counting various combinations with the different eagles or the reported Cyrillic logo. Even more interesting, there doesn't seem to be much correlation between logos or eagles and serial numbers. However, in general terms it can be said that the large curved logo is early, with the small curved logo following, and the various straight logos used for the balance of production. The curved logos are certainly less common which could be due in part to attrition during World War I. While there doesn't appear to be a significant difference in the height of the letters among the straight logos as reported elsewhere, the W and the last E in Westinghouse seem to "flair out" to a larger size on two of the straight logos (#4 and to a lesser extent #8) and the small curved logo (#3). This could explain the reported "2mm" and "3mm" letters. Because many of the differences among the logos are so slight it would be fair to say that there are three basic types; 1) large curved, 2) small curved, and 3) straight; with many sub-types of each. It seems that when collecting New England Westinghouse M91s the trick is not to find different logos, but rather to find two that are alike.

Number Logo Description Eagle Description Picture/Serial Number
  Large curved, identical to #60,157, similar to #1 and #510,444, different spacing on bottom two lines.

79 before following rifle.

Identical to #1 60,078
  Large curved, identical to #60,078, similar to #1 and #510,444, different spacing on bottom two lines.

79 after previous rifle, 28,949 before following rifle.

Identical to #1 60,157
1 Large curved logo with NEW ENGLAND in a "90 degree" arch over the eagle and WESTINGHOUSE COMPANY below it.

28,949 after previous rifle, 116,768 before following rifle.

Sharp lines, diamond on breast, narrow wing feathers pointing up and down. 0120.jpg (48183 bytes)
2 Straight logo with the N in WESTINGHOUSE slightly to the left of the P in COMPANY. In all other logos documented on this page the N is distinctly further to the left of the P or overlapping it slightly with the exception of #9 (serial number 1,158,882) where the second N in ENGLAND only slightly overlaps the U in WESTINGHOUSE rather than overlapping it approximately half way as it does on this logo.

116,768 after previous rifle, 247,480 before following rifle.

Scrubbed/unknown. 0177.jpg (60478 bytes)
  Small curved, identical to #3.

247,480 after previous rifle, 3,099 before following rifle.

Identical to #3 453,354
3 Small curved logo with NEW ENGLAND in a "60 degree" arch over the eagle and WESTINGHOUSE COMPANY below it with the W and E in WESTINGHOUSE taller on the outer ends.

3,099 after previous rifle, 1,810 before following rifle.

Sharp lines, diamond on breast, narrow wing feathers pointing up only. 0121.jpg (35718 bytes)
  Small curved, identical to #3.

1,810 after previous rifle, 38,800 before following rifle.

Identical to #3 458,263
  Straight, similar to #7 and #8, identical to #806,910.

38,800 after previous rifle, 13,381 before following rifle.

Identical to #3 497,063
  Large curved, unique, similar to #1 and #60,078, different spacing on bottom two lines.

13,381 after previous rifle, 86,607 before following rifle.

Identical to #1 510,444
4 Straight logo with the L in ENGLAND "over" the H in WESTINGHOUSE distinct from all other logos on this page and with the W and E in WESTINGHOUSE taller on the outer ends.

86,607 after previous rifle, 8,737 before following rifle.

Soft lines, shield on breast, wide wing feathers, pronounced tail feathers. 0122.jpg (45724 bytes)
  Straight, identical to #5.

8,737 after previous rifle, 4,597 before following rifle.

Identical to #5 605,788
5 Straight logo with the Y in COMPANY "under" the S in WESTINGHOUSE distinct from all other straight logos on this page, but similar to the large curved logo (#1, serial number 60,157).

4,597 after previous rifle, 10,776 before following rifle.

Soft lines, shield on breast, wide wing feathers, abbreviated tail feathers. 0173.jpg (39262 bytes)
  Straight, unique, similar to #4.

10,776 after previous rifle, 22,599 before following rifle.

Identical to #5 621,161
6 Straight logo with the first S in WESTINGHOUSE to the left of the C in COMPANY distinct from all other logos on this page with the exception of #8 (serial number 1,070,117) where the E in ENGLAND is over the I in WESTINGHOUSE rather than to the right of it as it is on this logo.

22,599 after previous rifle, 64,041 before following rifle.

Sharp lines, diamond on breast, narrow wing feathers pointing up. Similar to #3 (serial number 456,453) but the feathers point up more and other subtle differences.
7 Identical to #6.

64,041 after previous rifle, 99,109 before following rifle.

Identical to #6. 0176.jpg (60733 bytes)
  Straight, similar to #7, #8 and #1,230,527; identical to #497,063.

99,109 after previous rifle, 94,796 before following rifle.

Identical to #7 806,910
  Straight, identical to #4.

94,796 after previous rifle, 117,547 before following rifle.

Identical to #4 901,706
  Straight, unique, similar to #5.

117,547 after previous rifle, 50,864 before following rifle.

Identical to #4 1,019,253
8 Straight logo with the first S in WESTINGHOUSE to the left of the C in COMPANY distinct from all other logos on this page with the exception of #6 and #7 (identical logos, serial numbers 643,760 and 707,801 respectively) where the E in ENGLAND is to the right of the I in WESTINGHOUSE rather than over it as it is in this logo. The W and E in WESTINGHOUSE are slightly taller on the outer ends but not to the extent of #3 and #4.

50,864 after previous rifle, 88,765 before following rifle.

Sharp lines, diamond on breast, narrow wing feathers pointing up. Similar to the #6 and #7, but with tail feathers more like #3 (serial number 456,453). 0175.jpg (38863 bytes)
9 Straight logo with the left side of the second N in ENGLAND lined up with the right side of the U in WESTINGHOUSE. Very similar to #2 (serial number 205,874) but with subtle differences.

88,765 after previous rifle, 71,645 before following rifle.

Soft lines, shield on breast, wide wing feathers, pronounced tail feathers. Similar to #4 (serial number 597,051) but with even wider tail feathers. 0174.jpg (46791 bytes)
  Straight, unique, similar to #8 and 806,910.

71,645 after previous rifle.

Likely the same as #6, but possibly #3 1,230,527


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