New (to me) Winchester 94 - pics and a couple of questions

[White Horseradish]

I picked up this Sears-branded Winchester for a ridiculously small amount of money. It's in great condition, with bluing worn where it would be carried and a perfect bore. This is a pre-safety gun, possibly from the 1970's. Store-brand guns are apparently not worth a lot to collectors, but I didn't get it to look pretty, I wanted a working lever gun.

The major differences between this and a standard 94 seem to be the buttplate and the bands. A regular 94 has steel ones, where these are aluminum. I'm pretty sure that if the fancy strikes me I could put steel ones on, but I would need to get a different forend.

I took it apart and gave it a good cleaning. It didn't have a whole lot of crud. The mag follower was in backwards.

There are a couple of things I noticed that may be problems, but not having any experience with leverguns I can't tell. First, loading seems to be a bit tough. The gate/spring seems pretty stiff and if I put in a cartridge all the way in it is very hard to get the next one in. Is this something that is inherent in the design or can it be remedied by different loading gate?

Second, if I don't cycle the action quickly enough, a cartridge pops under the lifter instead of above it. This requires a slight disassembly to fix. Is this common? Is there a fix for it?

The lifter and the loading gate are stamped steel.

 

[szembek]

That looks like a nice gun, just curious, how much is a "ridiculously small amount of money"?

 

[W.E.G.]

I have a 1974-era Model 94. The loading gate is very stiff.

 

[whited]

.

The gate/spring seems pretty stiff and if I put in a cartridge all the way in it is very hard to get the next one in.

This is because you are supposed to leave a bit of the tail end of each
round sticking out - and then push it completely in with the nose of the
next round until the desired number of shots have been loaded.

 

[White Horseradish]

That looks like a nice gun, just curious, how much is a "ridiculously small amount of money"?

$150

This is because you are supposed to leave a bit of the tail end of each round sticking out - and then push it completely in with the nose of the
next round until the desired number of shots have been loaded.

I tried that, but the round gets pushed back out. Is there a trick to it?

 

[White Horseradish]

I've been trying to find more info on this, but there just isn't a whole lot. Would it be safe/a good idea to weaken the loading gate spring a bit?

Also, I read that loading gates were machined, but mine seems to be spot-welded from two pieces. Is this an old style/new style thing, or is it a store-brand cost savings thing?

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

There should be enough spring tension behind the loading gate that it'll hold the last-loaded round in place- leaving about a 1/4 inch or so exposed to push through with the next round. If that doesn't work, try depressing the loading gate enough for the heel of the cartridge to bear against it enough to hold it open to a degree where you can start the next round in without undue pushing against either the gate or primer of the loaded round. It should hold about 6 or 7 rounds total. I've never known a loading gate to be welded, but I'll check my 1966 and 1979 vintage 94's sometime soon and see what they look like.

As far as price, you're a bandit.

I don't have a s/n list handy but I'd say it's probably late 1960's to very early 1970's vintage, as Sears decided to get out of the firearms business about that time- surely no later than 1975. Does it say Ted Williams on it anywhere?

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Since you don't know the guns history and it is new to you it might be a good idea to have a Gunsmith give it a look-over. If there's a problem with the loading the Smith can fix it plus take a good look at the whole rifle while he's at it.

 

[Float Pilot]

I had a late 60s or early 70s M-94 that had the same problems. A little rough on chambering and the exact loading gate problem. It was a case hardened, semi fancy version with the Winchester band name, so it was a production problem and not just your rifle.

I have a few older M-1892, M-1886s and model 71s that don't have any of those problems. But those are a better action...

I wish I could remember how we fixed that M-94, A gunsmith in Pendleton Oregon (was in college there) showed me back around 76-77...

 

[GigaBuist]

This is because you are supposed to leave a bit of the tail end of each
round sticking out - and then push it completely in with the nose of the
next round until the desired number of shots have been loaded.

I've found this technique will sometimes permit my Marlin 1894C to spontaneously unload itself.

I quit doing it that way pretty quickly.

 

[White Horseradish]

There should be enough spring tension behind the loading gate that it'll hold the last-loaded round in place- leaving about a 1/4 inch or so exposed to push through with the next round.

This work for the first three rounds. After that the mag spring pushes the round out.

If that doesn't work, try depressing the loading gate enough for the heel of the cartridge to bear against it enough to hold it open to a degree where you can start the next round in without undue pushing against either the gate or primer of the loaded round.

The gate spring is pretty stiff and my thumb complains. I tried pressing the gate in, and if I push hard enough I can get it to push the last round back into the mag, but it's tough going. I wonder if there is something that can be done about the shape of the back of the gate.

It should hold about 6 or 7 rounds total.

It holds 7

As far as price, you're a bandit.

I don't have a s/n list handy but I'd say it's probably late 1960's to very early 1970's vintage, as Sears decided to get out of the firearms business about that time- surely no later than 1975. Does it say Ted Williams on it anywhere?

I tried an online list but it appears that store brand guns had their own serial number ranges. It does not say Ted Williams, only Sears. Might be before they used that brand.