My gun is full of wax.... what the...???

H Wally

H Wally

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
193   0   0
Location
Canada/New Zealand
Well, this is a new one. My evans rifle arrived a few days ago, and now I'm in the careful process of opening it up to figure out how it works and what to know about it.

Thing is.... the whole reciever is full of wax!:confused: The gun is so clean and so well looked after there isn't even the typical old light black powder residue hiding in the nooks and crannies! It's not exactly like it's built up cosmolene and dirt!

I've got two theories here.

1) The gun was stored fully loaded and muzzle down. It sat in the sun, and all the externally lubed bullets warmed up and the wax/lube melted and ran down and pooled inside the reciever. The wax is lighter than full bees wax, but not by much. There are also a few evenly spaced rings of wax on the magazine cylinder, that would suggest bullets holding wax were the source. Also, the magazine holds 34 rds at a time, so it's entirely possible that there was more than enough wax to do this.

2) The gun was shipped and stored with wax in it intentionally, acting as a kind of preservative/grease.

Ideas guys? I certainly am not taking the wax out until I know it isn't supposed to be there!

7128e167.jpg


502b9ac0.jpg
 
Judging by the exceptional condition of that rifle, I'd certainly assume that it was taken apart and cleaned/oiled at least a few times in its' lifetime, during which time the excess wax would've been cleaned off. Also, the sitting outdoors in the sun & bullet wax accumulation theory is unlikely... just because the rifle looks too damn good for such harsh treatment!

Unless of course it was intentional: I think that maybe the forestock was rattling because of a piece of it being missing and someone who didn't want to alter it permanently simply poured some melted wax in there, then replaced the forestock and let the wax set. A large quantity of solid wax could prove quite effective for such a purpose (fills up gaps and prevents rattling - kind of like epoxy, but without the permanent bond/mess on the surface). Maybe.

:confused:
 
762mm said:
Judging by the exceptional condition of that rifle, I'd certainly assume that it was taken apart and cleaned/oiled at least a few times in its' lifetime, during which time the excess wax would've been cleaned off. Also, the sitting outdoors in the sun & bullet wax accumulation theory is unlikely... just because the rifle looks too damn good for such harsh treatment!

Unless of course it was intentional: I think that maybe the forestock was rattling because of a piece of it being missing and someone who didn't want to alter it permanently simply poured some melted wax in there, then replaced the forestock and let the wax set. A large quantity of solid wax could prove quite effective for such a purpose (fills up gaps and prevents rattling - kind of like epoxy, but without the permanent bond/mess on the surface). Maybe.

:confused:
Click to expand...

I had thought more likely in the sun at a range or sun through a window.

However, there are also two kinds of wax in there. Failed attempt at casting the bore? Eh. All I know is it's a sweet gun:D
 
Yep - he's as confused as me - he knows his antiques far better than me, and had never taken it apart. From being inspected by other very knowledgeable board members the general theory is that it hasn't been fired for at least 100+++ years, and that some former owner used the wax as a protectant. Certainly hasn't been fired since because the wax around the chamber is clean! Heck, the whole gun is clean :p

(Can you tell I'm a little excited ;) )
 
Very nice rifle.I don't know anything about wax but I'd like to to ask if you are planning to shoot it?Can we get a range report with pictures if you do?
 
I would be a little nervous about wax in the receiver area. If it happened to get broken up in use and a chunk happened to get shoved into the barrel ahead of a cartridge, and the chunk rolled half way down the barrel before firing, maybe you would get a bit of a bulge at that point. Of course, I've never tried this, so maybe nothing would happen, but I don't like the idea of a hard chunk of wax sitting in the barrel just before firing.
 
donor said:
Very nice rifle.I don't know anything about wax but I'd like to to ask if you are planning to shoot it?Can we get a range report with pictures if you do?
Click to expand...


I'm considering it:D Right now the gun is so clean it's almost a pity to shoot it. Ve Shall See ;)

Win 38-55 said:
I would be a little nervous about wax in the receiver area. If it happened to get broken up in use and a chunk happened to get shoved into the barrel ahead of a cartridge, and the chunk rolled half way down the barrel before firing, maybe you would get a bit of a bulge at that point. Of course, I've never tried this, so maybe nothing would happen, but I don't like the idea of a hard chunk of wax sitting in the barrel just before firing.
Click to expand...

Mmmmmyes. by and large it's separated from the major parts of the action by the lever and bolt assembly, but I know what you're saying. My suspicion would be that it would just blow out of the way, wax being rather fragile, and in order to get down the barrel on it's own it would need to be smaller than bore diameter, and likely warm from firing. I'll likely remove all the wax if I decide to shoot it.
 
In case members are wondering what the ammo looks like for these guns, thought I throw up a couple of pics. Being from the east coast and these guns were made in Maine, we used to see alot of these in N.B. I actually have owned a few in the past and shot one. Go ahead and get the heat gun out, melt the wax and get to the range.

DSC03103.jpg

DSC03104.jpg

Both od these cartridges are Winchester head stamped.
1) 44 EV. N.M. W.R.A.Co. (Long)
2) 44 EVANS W.R.A.Co. (Short)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom