Winchester 1894 need advice.

drslav

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My friend gave me a barreled receiver he found. It says its a Winchester 1894. Looks rough but I do think its cool. Is it worth anything? My main question is: is it worth completing to have as wall hanger? How hard is it to find cheap parts to complete it? Any thoughts will be appreciated.
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Scrub heck out of the bore, see if there is anything there that's usable.

Parts are available just about everywhere, but they can be expensive.

If the BORE is shot, then you have either a wallhanger or a money-pit.

OTOH, even if the bore is finished, it can be restored to wallhanger condition with second-hand parts, out-of-spec parts, worn-out parts, all that fun kind of thing.

Anything CAN be restored IF you are willing to expend ENOUGH time and $$$. MY problem is that if it looks like a Lee-Enfield, I am will to pay out 100 bucks, add on $200 worth of parts and $300 worth of labour..... to end up with a $250 rifle to take to the range. Likely YOU aren't that far gone, so you know what is best for you.

Be sure to check the SERIAL NUMBER: these things were in production 5 years before the cutoff date for US C&R status. In Canada, of course, these all still are deadly weapons because they are repeaters and we have garbage-cans filled to overflowing with .25-35 and .32-40 ammo just standing around everywhere.

It's something NEAT to play with.

Go buy a lottery ticket; you're on a roll!
 
If you have to buy all the rest of the parts to restore it you will have a lot in it, probably way too much. You could buy a complete working gun for a lot less.
 
The serial is 100 3xx i think...Yes I realize I can buy one for around $300 in working condition. But if I could find some worn out parts I wouldn't mind it. It won't be a shooter. I hope someone can help me out. One if my other friends said he may have a few parts kicking around. If anyone here can donate something or sell cheap i will pay shipping and I will greatly appreciate it. Let me know. I'm not in a hurry so this can be my bucket list project hehehe... Thank you for all your opinions.
 
Cleaned up the bore a bit. Surprisingly the rifling is quite strong. It's pitted slightly and I have seen a lot worse. Did I mention its a 30 WCF?
I looked up the serial... It indicates 1897 is this right? 100,3xx
 
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.30 WCF is .30 Winchester Center Fire. We call it the .30-30 because the original loading used 30 grains of smokeless powder.

As to the date, that sounds about right; they were turning them out about 30 to 40 thousand a year, kept it up for a LONG time.

That may not sound like a LOT of rifles, but they were still making the 1873, 1885, 1886, 1892 and 1893 Models at the same time, not to mention the Lee Straight Pull for the US Navy.

They were a bunch of busy little beavers, they were!

Sounds like it might be worth some effort.

You need the MAJOR parts, mostly. You have a King's Loading Gate, spring, screw and the internal rails already.

Have at her!

And do let us know your progress from time to time.
 
hehehe i like your attitude. I am the type that if something can be done i will do it. I just feel sorry for this old gun and like to at least see it on my wall as a conversation piece. Who knows maybe even fire a round out of it. As said earlier... can't spend too much on it cause i can just go out there and get one for $350 which i don't have right now. But if i can find some stuff and make it work i will.. just cause its so old and cool.
 
If it's just a wall hanger & you have interest in trying your hand at woodworking and metalwork, sounds like a fine candidate to try your hand at stock work & fabricating a faux mag tube, lever etc etc.

Use birch or something along those lines, even a soft wood since you aren't shooting it (but birch is a wonderful wood to work with & really makes a fine gunstock - and nowhere near as $$$ as fancy maple or walnut). Regular flat bar stock for the metal work, if you have a wire feed and some patience...it should turn out very nice

Good luck
 
Can't tell from your pics if it is a rifle or carbine. I'm assuming rifle as carbines came standard with a saddle ring at that time. You can order stocks from Precision Gun Works in the US, they ship to Canada. Butt(rifle style) is $75.00 and forend(rifle style) is $53.00 and they are VERY close dimensionally. Fitting is pretty easy and walnut quality is good.
 
I won't be making stocks anytime soon. I can only wish I could.
I have a line on a used set for good price. Hope I can get it. Will be a start.
 
Might just be the photo's, but that rifle looks to me like its been in a fire, if that's the case its probably not safe to shoot. have it checked out by a good GS before firing.
 
Very quick check for fire damage: press in on the Loading Gate.

If it springs back out, the Spring is okay, meaning that likely the Receiver is okay.

Springs are usually the first thing to lose their temper in a fire.

I only lose MY temper when I see someone doing something dumb with a Ross Rifle!

Sometimes you run into a rifle that some idiot took part, forgot about and then trashed. This could be one.

Hope this helps.
 
NEAT!

Now scrape off the paint at the bottom front of the Receiver.

That should give you the Serial Number, which gives you an exact DATE.

BTW, just HOW long IS that barrel?

You could get over-length barrels for an extra dollar an inch, which means they came out of the Custom Shop...... and a factory DOCKET exists for every one.

Standard Rifle barrel was, IIRC, 26 inches, Carbine was 20. I have seen Specials as long as 30 inches, short as 14.

That was not restricted to the 94, either. I have extra-length barrels here on a '73 and a '92, both in .32-20.
 
You have right there one of my DREAM projects!

Looks absolutly dreamy, how does the threading in the screw holes look?

Just awesome!!

Wanna trade ;)

Guys are restoring those Nepali gehendra rifles into shooting shape and they were all hand made in Nepali shops in questionable conditions , this is a American made receiver and barrel made with 1st grade steel in America during the period of time when quality was #1, heck even IF the rifling is gone you can make her a smoothbore fun little plinker.

100% worth the effort to restore.

Oh and IF your friends find anymore old winchester barreled receivers I would love a shot at it!
 
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thank you for that... well i am one of them who like to get the impossible happen.
Barrel is 20 inch i think. Made in 1896 or 7. i will be looking out for more. I think i seen some at the gun shows.
 
1 wreck of a 1894, two good men and 3 free parts. Hehehe... Some people are just great. Thank you to the donor who remains anonymous one step forward. Did need some fitting but parts work great.
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Got a good trade and received some parts. Also bought a screw set. Made a couple of pins.
Now internals are all there. Trigger group parts are next step. I think I found fore end too.
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