sticky wicket

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vega

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Hey, I bought a pre-64 94 carbine at the Kamloops show. Excellent throughout condition.

Problem: Had it out today, and found extraction of fired case VERY sticky. I have had lots of these guns over the years, this is the first time I encountered this problem. From what I can see looking at the cases, headspace is perfect, and can find no visual clues as to the nature of the problem. After messing about for a while, I came to the conclusion that the problem may be a tight chamber, although the cases show only the amount of swelling I would expect.

Any ideas?

Tnx
 
vega said:
Hey, I bought a pre-64 94 carbine at the Kamloops show. Excellent throughout condition.

Problem: Had it out today, and found extraction of fired case VERY sticky. I have had lots of these guns over the years, this is the first time I encountered this problem. From what I can see looking at the cases, headspace is perfect, and can find no visual clues as to the nature of the problem. After messing about for a while, I came to the conclusion that the problem may be a tight chamber, although the cases show only the amount of swelling I would expect.

Any ideas?

Tnx
Click to expand...

How is the chamber? Sounds like it might need polishing.
 
tnx

Thanks Jet. You may have it, but with a lever action how can you get at the chamber to polish it without removing the barrel?

Cheers
 
There are only a few things that can cause sticky extraction, either burr or roughness of the chamber or some trouble with the linkages in the lever or the locking lug.
Disassemble the rifle, polish the chamber from the rear with a bore brush wrapped in steel wool so it tightly fits the chamber, using a portable drill and a short cleaning rod.
Use a Dremel tool and felt polishing tip w/ polishing compound to smooth out the linkage and bolt locking surfaces ( do NOT grind them, just a light polish!) Apply a light coat of good gun grease or even better the graphite based gunslick to moving parts. Re-assemble.
Presto - smooth action and easy extraction.
 
good ideas

Thanks a lot guys. I'm pretty sure the problem is in the chamber, because the guns is minty to the point that the lands retain their blue, there is no copper wash on the grooves and the thing is in fine shape cosmetically and mechanically. No problems at all cycling the action on a live round.

As you know, there is usually a little bit of primer back-out on most '94s, but this one does not exhibit that, so things are tight. The cases show only normal swelling above the web, save about a quarter inch bright ring in the middle of the swell, which seems to me might indicate a bit of chatter from the reamer that needs to be polished.

My trouble is that I really didn't want to dismount the action as no matter how careful I am, I always manage to leave some slight indication that the screws have been torqued, which kinda puts me off from an aesthetic point of view.

Any ideas on how one could get a visual on the chamber without removing the bolt?

Also, I kinda hate trying to polish with a rod from the muzzle for fear of damaging the crown. Any insight there?

Many thanks.


Kilo Charlie said:
Could the problem just be a dirty chamber? Some of those old rifles get almost a varnish inside over the years. I'd try lots of solvent and a chamber brush first.
Click to expand...
 
If you use gunsmith screwdrivers that are a tight, proper fit, you will not damage the screw heads in any way. If you use carpenter scewdrivers, screw head damage is 100% guaranteed. Brownell's sells good screwdrivers.
 
vega said:
Also, I kinda hate trying to polish with a rod from the muzzle for fear of damaging the crown. Any insight there?
Click to expand...



You can make a quick & easy muzzle guard out of a cut down 270 case or similar. Cut the base off the case and insert the case neck carefully into the muzzle. Run your cleaning rod through the case and have at it holding the case in place with your fingers.
 
I agree with you about not wanting to take it apart. Also, that was good advice about protecting the muzzle. However, even with the muzzle protected I would be very leary about spinning a cleaning rod by a drill, inside the barrel. In short, personally I would not do that.
As has been said, it may just be a hard film, of some kind, on the chamber walls. I would use a cleaning rod by hand to try and clean, or maybe brighten up, the chamber.
 
good stuff

More good ideas all, thanks a lot.

Longwalker:

I have good screwdrivers, and have dismantled LOTS of guns over the last 40 years, but have never been able to do it without at least some little marring to the blue in the bottom of the slot, and sometimes a wee bit of flaring of the top cut. I also once took a high grade english shotgun to a british trained smith for some work and the same problems were evident from him. Other than a white-on-egg fit of turner and screw do you have any other tips?


Thanks to all of you for your generous input.

J
 
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