Breaking in a new old stock Winchester 94 in 30-30

[Bedfordtec]

About 25 years ago I used to do the Dale City Virginia Gunshow. Near Quantico and the FBI.
Bought 5 new Winchester Model 94’s. The guns were pristine but the Boxes with blue lettering were old and crushed. Instructions and hang tags were included. The owner gave me a deal. His father who had been a Marine like him set up his basement to look like Matt Dillon!s office on the TV show “Gunsmoke” and had the five Winchesters chained in a rack like the TV set. He showed me pictures….. WOW. These are plain Jane 94s. No Checkering 20 inch or so barrel. Serial numbers date to the early 1970s. This is before Winchester became US Repeating Arms. Two of them were sold years ago to friends. A couple of weeks ago I decided to shoot one of them and the action was really stiff. Oiled it with CLP and over the last month I worked the action just over 2,000 times. Took down the number of times each day in a calendar. Sometimes over 100 a day in groups of 10. It actually seems to have gotten tighter especially when the bolt pushes back on the hammer. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[LAH]

Sounds like time to tear it down.

 

[roscoe]

About 25 years ago I used to do the Dale City Virginia Gunshow. Near Quantico and the FBI.
Bought 5 new Winchester Model 94’s. The guns were pristine but the Boxes with blue lettering were old and crushed. Instructions and hang tags were included. The owner gave me a deal. His father who had been a Marine like him set up his basement to look like Matt Dillon!s office on the TV show “Gunsmoke” and had the five Winchesters chained in a rack like the TV set. He showed me pictures….. WOW. These are plain Jane 94s. No Checkering 20 inch or so barrel. Serial numbers date to the early 1970s. This is before Winchester became US Repeating Arms. Two of them were sold years ago to friends. A couple of weeks ago I decided to shoot one of them and the action was really stiff. Oiled it with CLP and over the last month I worked the action just over 2,000 times. Took down the number of times each day in a calendar. Sometimes over 100 a day in groups of 10. It actually seems to have gotten tighter especially when the bolt pushes back on the hammer. Any suggestions? Thanks

Is there some rust where the bolt rides the hammer back? That should be smooth. And is the hammer itself stiff? That seems like the problem area.

 

[243winxb]

Break Free CLP glued my Browning Citori ejectors in place. 20, 28 & 410 gauges, while in storage.

It's good stuff, but any excess must be wiped clean.

The fix, spray with WD40. No need to work the action more then a few times. No need to take gun apart.

I worked the action just over 2,000 times

Plz, no debate on WD40 Ty.

 

[Charlie98]

The fix, spray with WD40.

I would agree with that... although CLP will work to break down the yuck, granted you use a BUNCH of it, and then flush it out.

I use a product called GunScrubber, I think it's a Birchwood Casey product, but there are others out there that do the same thing. It's sort of like carb cleaner, but isn't supposed to hurt the wood, etc. Flush all that old junk out, then use your lube of choice to get it back in action. Understand, an aerosol cleaner like GunScrubber will strip all oils and grease away... leaving the metal bare. You have to lube it with something else to protect the metal.

I also wonder... if these rifles were just unboxed and sat in a display... there may be some rust in the action. Taking apart a Winchester is not my favorite thing to do, but it may be warranted here... but I would try flushing the action with GunScrubber, first.

 

[doubleh]

I would use the WD-40 to get everything moving again and then get rid of it with a spray cleaner like gun scrubber. After that it is dry, compressed air is quick or simply let it set for awhile, and then lubricate it with your choice of oil.

 

[Seedy Character]

I would be willing to take that piece of junk off your hands and tinker with it.

 

[d2wing]

WD-40 can turn into glue over time.

 

[jmr40]

The 1970's were a low point in Winchester quality. But most of them are serviceable. It's not unusual for both Marlin and Winchester lever guns to hang up occasionally. Lever guns are one of the most complex actions with lots of moving parts to mess up. If some parts don't fit together perfectly this can happen to all of them. And someone may have used WD-40 on it years ago. If left inside the guns internals it turns to a varnish over time and really gums up.

The combination of poorer quality and improper cleaning, then left to sit for years is what I suspect. You might be able to use a gun scrubber or other solvent and spray it liberally inside the action to loosen up gunk. But it may need to be disassembled. It wouldn't hurt to try cleaning it without taking it apart. But you might need to take it to a gunsmith for a professional disassembly and cleaning.

 

[Bedfordtec]

I took it out of the safe and went to the downstairs patio in bright sun. Hit it with WD 40 and sure enough in the bright light I saw rust inside the action. Put a ton of it and took a small toothbrush to it. It is noticeably easier but the action is still hard to work. Definitely have to unshoulder it to work the action. Far cry from my Browning BLR. I am not going to disassemble it but will take the stock off so I can use Gun Scrubber.
May take it to a Gunsmith and have him clean the action. Plan to check out the other ones this week and post a note. Thanks for the help.

 

[Charlie98]

May take it to a Gunsmith and have him clean the action. Plan to check out the other ones this week and post a note.

If you can see rust in there, a teardown is your best bet, I'm afraid.

BTW... love the CUCV in your avatar...

 

[Pat Riot]

Whatever you use. WD40, Gun Scrubber or even brake cleaner, I would follow it up with Hornady One Shot CLP….everywhere. I would also Grease or heavy oil (Mobil 1) the bolt / frame rails. Also like the lever linkages and locking bolt.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Bazoo]

I don’t really have any advice on smoothing the action except take it down and look to see if you got rust. Maybe on the hammer / mainspring interface. Pretty cool story though and I for one would like to see pics.

 

[Bedfordtec]

If you can see rust in there, a teardown is your best bet, I'm afraid.

BTW... love the CUCV in your avatar...

Bought it 12 years ago from Richmond DLA Surplus Sales. Completely restored with USMC Tac Marks. Has 524 and 47 radios and has won several shows in military class. Background is USMC Museum in Quantico.

 

[Bedfordtec]

Took the stock and forearm off and hit it with Gun Scrubber. Used WD 40. A big difference! Checked the oither two in daylight. No rust. Their action is hard but not as bad as the first was. Thanks. All

 

[Speedo66]

I’ve read WD-40 has a tendency to gum up and solidify long term.

Perhaps something which functions like a penetrant, i.e., auto. trans. fluid and acetone, in actuality a lubricant and solvent, might work well.