Pre-64 Win 94 with worn blueing and D&T for sidemount - would you buy it?

TheCoachZed

TheCoachZed

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Got a local guy offering me a 50's era Win 94 with worn blueing and D&T for sidemount for under $275. Wadda y'all think?

I have a buddy that's out of work who needs a deer rifle. I was thinking of buying, lending it to him for the season, then selling; I love 94s, but I don't really need one, as I have an SKS that is just as functional; if I was gonna buy another deer gun, I'd buy something that could handle moose better as well.

Is there any demand for a well-worn pre-64 rifle anymore, or do people just want collectors?
 
You have a buddy who is out of work for how long (none of my business) but wants to go hunting and that is a good thing when one has been without work. Makes for good therapy.
Do you have a spare gun you could lend him thus lessening the financial impact to him and his family ....
Anyways, those are some important thoughts , but really does the gun function , does it go boom when the trigger is pulled with no fuss?
For $275.00 and the gun has NO Known Operational issuses then $275 for someone tight on funds for a short period of time just might be in the cards for the guy.
Rob
 
Under $275? If you have the spare cash and believe in karma then why not? Perhaps take it to the range to confirm that it shoots well enough and that there aren't any other issues, then talk to the seller about your plan. I would suggest just giving your pal the gun and pay it forward - loaning anything can be disappointing, especially if he doesn't take care of it as well as you might want him too...
 
Thanks for the advice, fellas.

I have no doubt this guy can take care of any gun. He's a great handyman (used to be a master plumber in Germany) and knows how to take care of things.

He's been in and out of work for a few years and is a good man; I'd like to help him out so I figured this might be a good gesture. I'm not rich enough to buy rifles and give them away, but I would like to help him, as he has no idea how to buy a gun (just got his PAL).
 
You don't mention where the receiver was drilled and tapped?
Some came with holes predrilled.
If I had the cash, I'd do the same thing to help a buddy along.
Why not, easier to pack the game out of the bush and as you
mention, he's a good buddy.
Test the worthiness of the $275 investment and go'onner.
Sounds like a world of win all the way around.
Bett'in you won't find that deal here?
 
kamlooky said:
You don't mention where the receiver was drilled and tapped?
Some came with holes predrilled.
If I had the cash, I'd do the same thing to help a buddy along.
Why not, easier to pack the game out of the bush and as you
mention, he's a good buddy.
Test the worthiness of the $275 investment and go'onner.
Sounds like a world of win all the way around.
Bett'in you won't find that deal here?
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Has four holes D&T'd on left side of receiver.

Seller says he shot it, shoots straight but he had a couple ftf on the third round (inconsistently, and it would load if he worked the action slowly :sok2 ). I am guessing it's his uncle's old rifle that was under the bed for 40 years or something.

All I know about Winchester 94 guts is that, like most early sporting rifles, the internals are rather complicated and fixing tricky parts can be, well, tricky. A ftf could be something easy, or something hard. Last time I took an old sporting arm apart was my 10 gauge double and my wife managed to scatter the bits before I re-assembled it :( I can take almost any modern arm apart and put it back together with no issues, but older ones like this give me cause for concern ... anything that requires jigs, etc. ... f:P:2:
 
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TheCoachZed said:
I had a really worn 94 once (DOM: 1898!) and would love another that was that broken-in. I've had other 94 AE models since, and there is no comparison. The hand-fitted Pre-64 models are amazing.
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Not the well worn part that bothers me, it's the drilled and tapped part. I don't like unnecassary holes drilled in a gun.
It's almost as bad as when someone scratches their SIN on the reciever and/or barrel. Just uglifies it, IMO.
 
You Tube is full of videos showing how to take 94's apart and put them together. So I wouldn't sweat the "coaching" needed to deal with the steps needed.

I'd say that there will always be a market for crusty looking guns because some folks want user/shooter grade guns that they can hunt with and beat around without feeling worried.

There's also folks like me around that would buy such a rifle and tart it up as a project where they refinish the wood and clean up and re-blue the metal and make up plugs for the screw holes. Such folks love lower cost guns.

For either crowd I'd suggest that $225 to $275 would be a going price on a Winchester 94. I know that I'd be willing to buy such a gun sight unseen for the lower to mid end of the range and more than happy to pay the higher end even up to $300 if I was able to inspect it in hand and the barrel turned out to be just fine.

The jamming you report suggests an easy fix. Likely the magazine tube has never been apart and there's some rust inside holding back the follower. Or there may be some dirt or rust in the action that needs cleaning out to let the action lift and guide the rounds more cleanly and properly. Certainly the fact that it works OK on some rounds but not others suggests that there's nothing major wrong in this case.

Mind you if you would be looking at having a gunsmith clean and fix any issues then the cost goes up FAST and you may as well pay $400 or so for a fully functional "user grade" 94.
 
A 94 for $275???????????????? In a heartbeat. Well worn, D&T, no matter. I wouldn't hesitate. A good cleaning, couple of shots to check if it is shooting minute of rock, and away we go!!!!!!!
 
The fact that the FTF occurs only after two rounds tells me it likely isn't a bend in the mag tube (this would affect all rounds), but a weak mag tube spring that is taking its time pushing the third round to the point where it can be chambered....

The fact that it will feed successfully if you work the action slowly indicates that thi sis giveng the spring some extra time to do it's job....
 
Hit it like its lying on an anvil. Lend it to buddy and if I doesn't come home, tant pis as the French say. You'll feel good for it and make a deposit in the karma bank.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Hit it like its lying on an anvil. Lend it to buddy and if I doesn't come home, tant pis as the French say. You'll feel good for it and make a deposit in the karma bank.
Click to expand...

I love this advice... furthermore, and just a warning, if your buddy makes memories with it he may want to keep it... be prepared to sell at a loss and gain karma points...
 
I don't think the D&T for a side mount is a biggie in a $275 gun. I have a pre '64 ('56 if I remember correctly) that was fitted for a Williams peep sight. Its a working gun not a collector's piece with worn bluing on the receiver. Lots of working guns are worn like that. Just check the rifling and bore.

FTF could be as simple as crud. I thought I was having extractor problems with mine when the problem was that I was being too gentle with cycling the lever. The solution was to not baby the action because it was old.

I say go for it if the rifling and bore are good.
 
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