Winchester 1894 - won't eject live rounds

[Airspeed-Alive]

Hey guys,

I tried firing my recently acquired Win 1894 32 Special.

I noticed that I needed to 'force' the lever up to chamber the live round. After it's chambered, the lever won't swing back down to eject it. I had to fire the round, and then I could easily cycle the action.

Any idea on what's up? The internals are as clean as a whistle. I tried both Remington and Winchester rounds - yielding the same problem. Could it be that the bullet or case are too long?

 

[G P]

I guess it was just born to shoot.

 

[JohnC]

just a dark suspicion - but does the barrel say .32 special? Does it appear to be the same vintage as the receiver?

 

[Win 38-55]

I've had that happen, but only with reloaded rounds where the case had not been resized after being fired in a different gun, making it tight to chamber, or the bullets were not seated deeply enough and were hitting the lands before the cartridge was fully chambered. Put a round in the chamber and start closing the lever just enough to start feeling resistance. When you feel resistance, pull the round back out and examine it carefully for shiny spots where it was binding. First, check the bullet to see if there are any shiny spots caused by it hitting the rifling. Then check the case to see if it is binding somewhere. After firing, the case comes out easy because there's no bullet jamming into the rifling, and the case has just been fireformed to fit your chamber. Something is not right with your rifle. Factory ammo should slide in smooth as silk.

 

[BrotherRockeye]

are there any marks on the rim of the case head?

 

[Airspeed-Alive]

Thanks for the input. I just got home from work - going to bed, but I'll do some investigating in the morning. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[Airspeed-Alive]

Well I took another look at her today. The rounds are sliding in and out with no resistance when the action is open. I checked for loose screws inside the receiver and found nothing. I guess it's a trip to the 'local' gunsmith...

 

[mbogo3]

Are you using reloads improperly sized or OAL ? Does it do this with factory ammo?Harold

 

[migrant hunter]

I had the same problem with handloads. I had'nt trimmed the cases, so when I crimped them some bulged a little at the mouth.
Trimmed the cases, tried again, no problems.
It may just be in need of a real good scrubbing, with levers being a little awkward to clean, most people don't bother.(chamber/bolt face area)