Winchester 1894 wood.

pharaoh2

pharaoh2

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I have with me my Uncle's trusty Winchester 94 .30-30. He asked me to clean up the metal on it but I'd like to surprise him and re-do his stocks as well. If the wood is walnut I'd like to give it a nice oil finish. However I cannot tell what kind of wood it really is as the factory finish is dark. The rifle is at least a 1980 model, but I would guess mid 70's. I never ran the number but I know it's at least that old. Common sense tells me it is indead walnut but I don't want to start stripping the old finish off unless I know what's under there. It's finished under the butt pad too, so no help there. What's everyones experiance with these? Anyone ever run into beech on this old of rifle?
 
Well, if the finish is not glossy now (like really shiney) it should have been oil finished from the factory, but could be some other type of material. As long as it porous, you can just work with that finish. If it is totally hard and glassy, then you may need to strip it down a bit with some 300 to 400 grit sandpaper to take the gloss off. There are three products from Birchwood Casey. 1) the Tru Oil, 2) the Stock prep/conditioner & 3) and a really nice Wax. After giving the stock a real good cleaning, using some bore cleaner or lighter fluid if needed. First, give it a good going over with the stock prep/conditioner. A couple to 10 times may be required. See how it looks, if the stock buffed out nice with the conditioner, then apply the wax. Light coats, letting it dry up in between, maybe 10 to 20 coats. If the conditioner didn't buff the stock up nicely, then sand the stock lightly as mentioned above and begin applying the tru oil with your fingers (sounds weird but even they recommend that). Lightly sand in between coats, letting each coat dry thoroughly. You could be looking a 15 to 30 coats, depending on how nice you want to make it. Once you are finished with the oil process, then use a couple coats of the conditioner, then wax it up. I did a Walnut wood guitar once, with about 100 coats of Oil, and 20 to 30 waxings. each coat of Oil took about half a day to dry thoroughly to my satisfaction, so you can figure our how long it was in the finish stage.
 
Just a thought-if there is a surface finish IE varnish and you strip it DO NOT sand it. The wood was already prepped to finish when the varnish was applied. Maybe use a bit of 0000 steel wool with some stripper on it but keep the sandpaper away from it. Entirely unnecessary step. All you will do is raise grain and create more work for yourself.
 
Thanks guys for the tips. I was going to strip it completely to remvove the dents, scrapes and dings but I think I'm just going to touch up the light spots and seal it. Those dents and dings are propably memories and I have no right to do that without asking. :)
 
pharaoh2 said:
I have with me my Uncle's trusty Winchester 94 .30-30. He asked me to clean up the metal on it but I'd like to surprise him and re-do his stocks as well. If the wood is walnut I'd like to give it a nice oil finish. However I cannot tell what kind of wood it really is as the factory finish is dark. The rifle is at least a 1980 model, but I would guess mid 70's. I never ran the number but I know it's at least that old. Common sense tells me it is indead walnut but I don't want to start stripping the old finish off unless I know what's under there. It's finished under the butt pad too, so no help there. What's everyones experiance with these? Anyone ever run into beech on this old of rifle?
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Heres a link to a site that will tell you the age of your Uncle's trusy 94.

http://cowichanbay.net/winchesterguns/serial94.html
 
I'm using a Miles and Gilbert kit on an old Mauser. Works great so far and easy to follow DVD of instructions. Thought about doing the old linseed oil like the original finish but after reading about it I found out people only used it because it was cheep and didn't really give a good finish. You'll need seal the stock and then fill the pores for a good smooth finish.
 
Any of the post-64 Model 94s made before Angle Eject have the receivers that turn purple if you try to reblue them. The original finish was some sort of plating. Angle Eject 94s can be reblued conventionally.
 
dan belisle said:
Be careful redoing the receiver. Using normal bluing techniques the late 94's come out plum colored if you just dump them in the bluing tank. Something to do with the alloy that the receiver is made of (if memory serves), I have a really nice purple one in my basement to remind me. - dan
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The famous Winchester mystery metal. Sometimes it won't take bluing at all.
I have an early 70's model, the finish is almost like an enamel not a blue, there is a spot where it appears to have chipped, yet it looks like blue. Aggravation, as I should be refinishing it.
I should get busy and do some research.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
The famous Winchester mystery metal. Sometimes it won't take bluing at all.
I have an early 70's model, the finish is almost like an enamel not a blue, there is a spot where it appears to have chipped, yet it looks like blue. Aggravation, as I should be refinishing it.
I should get busy and do some research.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that these receivers were made of sintered metal. Don't know if thats true or not.
 
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