Old guns

[#juan]

Any old rifle fans out there?
I just bought a rifle. My wife and I got ourselves into an estate sale and among all the chairs and tables and old fashioned lamps was a sign saying Winchester rifle $25.00.. I walked over and picked up a model 94 that seemed to be in pretty good shape. I got jumped on fairly quickly.....The twenty five dollar gun was on another table and it was missing the lever. The lever was broken right in the middle of the trigger guard and the other piece was gone.

My neighbor has a milling machine and I think we could make another lever. I already have a model 94(my brother does) and we could likely copy the lever from that. I don't as yet have a big investment in it. With a new lever and a good clean up, re-do the wood parts and the bluing and it should be worth a lot more than $25.00.
What do you think?

 

[taxslave]

You could buy the part from a gun shop. Don't know of any in Nanaimo but I do know a gunsmith in Campbell River. This is not an expensive rifle but reasonably accurate and light. Works well on west coast deer. A little sketchy for bear unless you are up close and personal or a really good shot.

 

[bobnoorduyn]

I can't see where it is broken, and judging by the photo it looks nice. Making a new part yourself might be a bit dodgy because they have to fit together fairly precisely, but again I can't tell if the whole lever mechanism needs replacing, (unless the photo is of your brother's gun);-).

It is an extremely popular rifle with hundreds of thousands made since 1894, you could google the serial number, find its age and possibly get a replacement part on ebay or the manufacturer or many sources of parts on the internet. I know of even replacement parts that still require a bit of smithing to work properly but usually can be done fairly cheaply.

Depending on its age and historic value, I wouldn't spend too much on it, unless it is a special model, they tend to depreciate once used. I still see used gold plated commemorative '94s selling for close to their original late '70s price of around $450. Keep in mind that a basic model sells new for around $490 with John Wayne models reaching $2500 so you can base your cost of repairs on that. Heck, you might get a fine looking and working rifle for another 25 bucks and some elbow grease. Good luck.

Maybe post a closup photo of where it's broken.

 

[#juan]

I can't see where it is broken, and judging by the photo it looks nice. Making a new part yourself might be a bit dodgy because they have to fit together fairly precisely, but again I can't tell if the whole lever mechanism needs replacing, (unless the photo is of your brother's gun);-).

It is an extremely popular rifle with hundreds of thousands made since 1894, you could google the serial number, find its age and possibly get a replacement part on ebay or the manufacturer or many sources of parts on the internet. I know of even replacement parts that still require a bit of smithing to work properly but usually can be done fairly cheaply.

Depending on its age and historic value, I wouldn't spend too much on it, unless it is a special model, they tend to depreciate once used. I still see used gold plated commemorative '94s selling for close to their original late '70s price of around $450. Keep in mind that a basic model sells new for around $490 with John Wayne models reaching $2500 so you can base your cost of repairs on that. Heck, you might get a fine looking and working rifle for another 25 bucks and some elbow grease. Good luck.

Maybe post a closup photo of where it's broken.

Sorry, that photo is just a web photo of a model 94. We only have one digital camera in the house and my wife is using it this week-end. I will post some pictures of the rifle early in the week

A previous owner had been really generous with the grease and the serial number is clogged up a bit but it appears to be 3055660. I think I should be able to tell the age of the gun from that.

 

[DaSleeper]

Check here.....Winchester Model 1894/94 Dates of Manufacture
According to this web site, the date of manufacture is 1967....

 

[L Gilbert]

Juan, it is better if you find an existing lever. The closer to original the gun is, the more it is worth.
We have a M1 Springfield made in 1849 that needs a mainspring and a ramrod. I was going to have them made but the Springfield armory told me to just look for replacements rather than have them built.
BTW, our old Winch. is about 66 years old. (Also an M94)

 

[#juan]

Juan, it is better if you find an existing lever. The closer to original the gun is, the more it is worth.
We have a M1 Springfield made in 1849 that needs a mainspring and a ramrod. I was going to have them made but the Springfield armory told me to just look for replacements rather than have them built.
BTW, our old Winch. is about 66 years old. (Also an M94)

Ron (Regina)sent me a link to Winchester parts place that looks pretty good. If the price is not too high it will be a lot easier than grinding one out with the milling machine.

 

[L Gilbert]

I used to use Brownell's for lots of stuff.

World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools - BROWNELLS

Sometimes Cabella's:

Cabelas Canada - Hunting, Fishing, Camping, GPS, Optics & Outdoor Gear

Here's a directory:

canadiangunsmith.com - Gunsmith Directory

 

[bobnoorduyn]

Check here.....Winchester Model 1894/94 Dates of Manufacture
According to this web site, the date of manufacture is 1967....

Yup, I did the same thing with a Savage model 99 in .300 Savage I bought from a friend for $100, found out it was made in the '40s, (can't remember exactly). As is, ( the blueing worn off and worn stock) I was offered $350 for it, but it's too damn fine shootin' a rifle fer me to sell.

 

[#juan]

Yup, I did the same thing with a Savage model 99 in .300 Savage I bought from a friend for $100, found out it was made in the '40s, (can't remember exactly). As is, ( the blueing worn off and worn stock) I was offered $350 for it, but it's too damn fine shootin' a rifle fer me to sell.

My brother has an old Winchester 30 30 that is so well used that you can insert a live round in the barrel right down to the bottleneck shoulder.

 

[DaSleeper]

Yup, I did the same thing with a Savage model 99 in .300 Savage I bought from a friend for $100, found out it was made in the '40s, (can't remember exactly). As is, ( the blueing worn off and worn stock) I was offered $350 for it, but it's too damn fine shootin' a rifle fer me to sell.

Is it one you can easily take down for back packing... My Dad had one in .303 and my brother in .300 that the fore stock easily came of and a twist of the barrel would come off and the three pieces would easily fit in a back pack...
I preferred my 30-06 remington with detachable magazine, pump action myself...

 

[ironsides]

Do not see a lever, but you could give them a call to see what they can do to help. Lots of parts.

Firearm Parts and Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts Corp. | e-GunParts.com

 

[bobnoorduyn]

My brother has an old Winchester 30 30 that is so well used that you can insert a live round in the barrel right down to the bottleneck shoulder.

hmmmm...

 

[bobnoorduyn]

Is it one you can easily take down for back packing... My Dad had one in .303 and my brother in .300 that the fore stock easily came of and a twist of the barrel would come off and the three pieces would easily fit in a back pack...
I preferred my 30-06 remington with detachable magazine, pump action myself...

Wow, jeez, I guess I'll have to take it out of the closet to see. Before I try are we sure it's the same one, the lever action model with the 6 round rotary mag. Mine has the original 2.5 power Weaver scope on it too. I only got it about 2 years ago, my buddy was the second owner and never knew about being able to take it down, or never said if he did.

 

[bobnoorduyn]

My uncle had the '99 in 303 Savage, the brass is pretty hard to come by these days.

 

[AnnaG]

Yup, I did the same thing with a Savage model 99 in .300 Savage I bought from a friend for $100, found out it was made in the '40s, (can't remember exactly). As is, ( the blueing worn off and worn stock) I was offered $350 for it, but it's too damn fine shootin' a rifle fer me to sell.

You can have them reblued. We need our M94 reblued, too. A neighbor does rebluing. In the meantime we have covered the bare spots with Bostik Topcote.

 

[AnnaG]

Is it one you can easily take down for back packing... My Dad had one in .303 and my brother in .300 that the fore stock easily came of and a twist of the barrel would come off and the three pieces would easily fit in a back pack...
I preferred my 30-06 remington with detachable magazine, pump action myself...

My Dad has one of those. It kicks like a mule & it's loud too.

 

[AnnaG]

My brother has an old Winchester 30 30 that is so well used that you can insert a live round in the barrel right down to the bottleneck shoulder.

I guess the accuracy is off a smidgeon? lol

 

[DaSleeper]

My brother has an old Winchester 30 30 that is so well used that you can insert a live round in the barrel right down to the bottleneck shoulder.

I guess the accuracy is off a smidgeon? lol

Now, I have never tried this myself, because I've never had a firearm in that condition, but I have been told that it's only one inch or two at the tip of the barrel that gets worn like that and if you cut of that worn piece and mill the end of the barrel to round it off and replace the front sight, you can end up with a fairly accurate rifle...
I would appreciate Colpy's opinion on this....

 

[EagleSmack]

I have a Civil War era Enfield.