pre-64 win 94-built in compass

[HoldinBanks]

I just got back from the local trading post. I got a winchest model 94, 30-30, pre-64. the stock is dark, very nice, no scratches. On the top of the butt-stock there is a compass, built into the wood. I paid 459 for this rifle, I live in NY. did I get a good deal?
I will post pics of this rifle in a few minutes.

 

[rcmodel]

Somebody drilled the stock and installed the compass.
It probably says Marbles on it.

That was never a 94 feature, or extra cost option from the factory.

$459 probably isn't too out of line for a nice Pre-64, as long as you like the compass.

I can say it didn't help the Pre-64 collector value any though.

rc

 

[Smokey Joe]

compass...

How could a compass that close to a large mass of ferrous metal (the rifle's bbl & receiver) point to magnetic north accurately?

 

[DPris]

Quick & easy, actually.
Aim North & the compass should quickly confirm it.
Denis

 

[HoldinBanks]

yea, the compass is dead on accurate, i think its pretty neat. it doesnt say marbles on it though. the wood is in really good condition, the barrels are clean, the chamber? is a little bange up on one side, it has some pock marks, like spots where there may have been rust, and someone saved it before it corroded the metal, and a spot where it has been scrapped, brushed against some concrete or metal, other than that its a beauty. is there anyway i can sand out the marks, and the scratch?

 

[rcmodel]

i can sand out the marks, and the scratch?

Not on the metal parts.
You will do much more damage trying to sand it out.

I'd suggest you get a Birchwood-Casey Presto bluing touch-up pin and just cold blue the blemishes.

rc

 

[dprice3844444]

it will get the job done

 

[dirtyjim]

if the compass looks like this its a poly-choke, they were made up untill the early 70's.

i sold this one a few months ago, and have no more of them.
the compass is held in the base very snugly with a snap ring & the white dot is used to mark waypoints or directions to a camp or stand, etc.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

It's probably a Marbles compass.

 

[Still Shooting]

Compass in the Buttstock - 1950's

As it happens, I now have 3 rifles with the same (brass rim) compass in the comb of the stock. My Grandfather's Remington Model 14 deer rifle was modified after it became my Dad's in the early 50's. My maternal Granddad had one installed in his Winchester '07. And a year ago, I picked up a nice Winnie 94 locally at a good price - with the same compass in the stock comb!

I live in the southeastern Adirondacks, and both my Dad and maternal Granddad hunted a club up north of here with a 14,000 acre lease. It would be easy to get lost in there, and a whole mess of the members got those little compasses installed. Of course, there are places in that club land where the iron ore deposits make any compass needle turn lazy circles, but that's another story...anyway, it was a fad of sorts in these parts from the late 40's into the mid-50's.

 

[HoldinBanks]

yes the compass is the one in the picture. since they were installed over 50 yrs ago, does it add any value? also what would this gun be worth in 20 years?