What Is This Lever Action Rifle?

J

Juan For All

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Please don't have a massive coronary when you see what was done to this poor girl.

The blue paint is so thick I can't hardly read anything on it. The owner that painted it said the bluing was completely gone so someone told him to paint it (decades ago) to keep it from rusting. He said that Winchester is stamped in it but can't see it anymore with the paint. The only things I could read are:

"30-30"
"30WCF"
"specially for smokeless powder" (or some version of that).

Anyone know what this likely is?

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Thanks
J
 
It is a Model 1894 Winchester octagon barrelled .30-30 rifle - as opposed to the more common round barrelled 20" carbine. If you can decipher the serial number, you will be able to date it.
 
tiriaq said:
It is a Model 1894 Winchester octagon barrelled .30-30 rifle - as opposed to the more common round barrelled 20" carbine. If you can decipher the serial number, you will be able to date it.
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Thanks Tiriaq! I think some paint needs to come off of this.

J
 
Who knows what is under the paint? It may have protected the metal very well. Paint remover should deal with the paint. The wood looks pretty grim. If the bore is good, it could be an interesting rebuild project.
 
The tape is covering a split in the stock. Oh well, a refurb is always better than not having one at all :)

J
 
Ya some excellent chemical strippers out there, in my experience the chemicals do a faster and far more effective job than blasting - and without beating the tar out of whatever is under there (including stampings, should leave the stamps sharp). Baking soda or something like that might work OK in a bead blast cabinet but you'd be hard pressed to get the paint out of all the nooks and crannies in any reasonable amount of time (well more hands-on time anyway).
 
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But hurryhurryhurry anyhow; this should be an old one!

Winchester wnt through a lot of changes in 1935, slimmd the company down, got rid of a bunch of old designs, parts cleanups on others.

Among other things, they stopped doing the octagonal-barrel thing on the 1894, only revived it for commemoratives in the '60s.

This is no recent-day commemorative, so it has to be 1935 or earlier.

Hurryhurryhurryhurryhurry!

(Yeah, I know: I'm a pain in the butt. But this could be interesting.)

This is like a treasure hunt..... with the treasure right in front of us.
 
skoal said:
Get it blasted and refinished and you could have yourself a sweet rifle.
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^ Do not do that. As said paint thinner on small inconspicuous spot first then if it works without damaging the rifle thin out the rest.

Looks like a great specimen for a restoration. What harm can you do at this point :p.
 
smellie said:
But hurryhurryhurry anyhow; this should be an old one!

Winchester wnt through a lot of changes in 1935, slimmd the company down, got rid of a bunch of old designs, parts cleanups on others.

Among other things, they stopped doing the octagonal-barrel thing on the 1894, only revived it for commemoratives in the '60s.

This is no recent-day commemorative, so it has to be 1935 or earlier.

Hurryhurryhurryhurryhurry!

(Yeah, I know: I'm a pain in the butt. But this could be interesting.)

This is like a treasure hunt..... with the treasure right in front of us.
Click to expand...

Lol.

J
 
It's already identified as an 1894 Winchester, never heard of a "plains man". It is a standard octagon barrel sporting rifle with a 26 inch barrel. A 30 inch barrel would be a very special order item and hard to find. They were available with barrels of up to 36 inches in two inch increments from the standard 26 inch e.g., 28,30,32,34 and 36 inches. At least until early into the 20th century.
 
I would remove the wood and try a heat gun on the paint. Chemical strippers will remove any bluing that might still be there and that would not be good, although i suspect bubba probably sanded it down really well before he painted it. Heat gun will make less mess and work about as well as chemical paint strippers in any case.
 
jethunter said:
I would remove the wood and try a heat gun on the paint. Chemical strippers will remove any bluing that might still be there and that would not be good, although i suspect bubba probably sanded it down really well before he painted it. Heat gun will make less mess and work about as well as chemical paint strippers in any case.
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Nice - have never tried a heat gun for this sort of thing. Good idea.
 
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