Original Finish Win 94 (title edited)?

[Ognat]

I have one from 1949. What would the finish have been with new? I want to protect it in the field, but the old finish seems to be some kind of lacquer or varnish. I'd like to remove the remains of that and just use BLO on it. Either way, i dont want to leave it as some varnish and some nothing.

Og

 

[Lee Enfield]

Be very gentle with your M'64, as they are becoming quite collectible.

The original finish was varnish, I'll talk to some people & see what they recommend.

D

 

[Ognat]

Sorry, that's a typo, it is a pre-64 (obviously) model 94. Not rare.

 

[ninepointer]

Ognat,

On my 1949 Model '94 the wood was pretty good. No scratches or dents and the colour was uniform. The only thing was that the shiny laquer was rubbed off in places. Because the finish was still decent, I didn't want to strip and refinish it. What I did was gently rub the stock and forend with fine steel wool to get a uniform flat sheen. I then polished the whole thing with multiple coats of Carnauba wax. Looks great! Note: this will not give you a "new out of the box" finish. It will give you a "well taken care of" finish that suits a 56 year old gun.

Ninepointer

 

[stubblejumper]

I had my 1950 model refinished so it looks like new.The stock was finished with an oil finish that was not as shiny as the original and it looks great.

 

[Mike]

Here's a link for a company in the states that sells an oil that they say is a good match to the original red-brown winchester finish. I've never used it, but the photos on their website are purdy. I've thought about buying some for an old '94 I've got but I haven't got around to it.

http://www.winrest.com/

 

[John Y Cannuck]

My 1949 appears to have an oil finnish, not a varnish.
The problem with guns that old, is that anything could have happened.