1894 Winchester flips cartridge out of gun

norseman1867

norseman1867

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I have a very old First Model Winchester 1894 in .38-55. When the action is levered the cartridge carrier flips up with a snap and seems to be aligned properly to feed the cartridge. The problem is that when the carrier rises with a snap the cartridge flips out of the gun! This gun has the cartridge guides with the external screws so very rare to find parts for I am sure. It has been like this for more than 50 years at least and I have always used it as a single shot but I am renewing my interest in this old companion and would like to see it working properly if possible.
 
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Very common occurrence with the newer model 94's and 92's chambered in the Cowboy shooters pistol calibers but not so much in the older guns such as yours chambered in the longer rifle cartridge calibers.

What I would suspect has happened with yours is that early in its life it may have gotten a lot of use and had a wear spot appear in the area where the lever and elevator mesh. This causes "short stroke of the elevator", not lifting it high enough, causing cartridge jamming on the feed ramp. When this happens usually some well meaning soul with a welding torch and a coat hanger for a rod adds a bunch of metal to the wear spots...if this isn't done properly the mesh isn't formed to work the same as the original and drastically speeds up the elevator causing the cartridge to be launched right out of the frame.
 
fingers284, Thanks for this information. I am not certain that the carrier is original to the gun but it appears to be from the one photo found on the internet of a First Model 1894. There does appear to be a part missing on the left side cartridge guide however now that I have looked more closely. This might explain the problem although yours does as well since the gun has obviously seen lots of use since it left the factory in early 1985. Parts for these very early 94 guns must be pretty much unobtainium.
 
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