Questions about restoring a Winchester 94

[Joe Link]

I'm going to purchase a Winchester 94 tomorrow for $75. I believe it's chambered in .30-30. According to the guy he got it from his younger brother who used spray paint and tried to paint it silver It'll need a firing pin and a refinish. I'm pretty positive I can't do the refinish myself if I want a good job, am I right? I've seen some guns my cousin has refinished and they look like butt. I have a media cabinet at our shop so I could blast the paint off before I have it refinished but I want to make sure this won't damage the gun. The cabinet should take the paint off with one swipe and not harm the metal. Lastly, can I replace the firing pin myself or do I need to take it to a smith? If I can do it myself, how much does a pin cost? If I need a smith, how much do you think they'll charge (ballpark)? Do you guys think $75 is a good deal for this gun? My brother inherited my grandfathers because I got the Colt Anaconda .44 and to be honest I think he got the better gun. It's chambered in .30-30 and I can hit a pie tin with it at 150 yards using the open sights easier and more often than any other rifle I've fired. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures.

 

[ScottsGT]

First, you need to check and see what year that Winchester was produced buy doing a serial number check. If you have a pre '64, I'd just try some mild paint stripper and get the original finish back or send it to a gunsmith that knows what he is doing. The pre 64's are collectors items.
If it was made around 1974, the steel the receiver is made of will not accept a standard bluing. It is made up of a different alloy, so Winchester iron plated the receiver to take a bluing. Over time the iron poped off in small flakes, commonly refered to a "Freckeling" Check out the photos of the one I have for sale in the rifle classifieds. I have a good close up photo of the freckeling. I've often though about parkerizing mine, or sending it off for a good bluing. I understand that the same bluing chemical used for stainless will work on these receivers too.
You also need to be careful with the media you blast with. It may be clean, but it could be too rough of a finish.
Honestly, it is a great price no matter how you look at it. Numriich gun parts should have your firing pin. If it is a pre '64, you could easily triple (at least, if not more) your money by just reselling it as is. If it is a later model, nothing lost as an experiment on how to ruin or not ruin a gun. I've often thought about sending mine of for a hard chrome finish, but I just don't care for the Winchesters after owning a Marlin.

 

[Joe Link]

Sounds great, thank you! Why do you prefer the Marlin over the Winchester? I've never shot a Marlin lever action. My first gun was a Marlin .22 Model 70 my grandfather bought me when I was 8 (I think), it's one of the best guns I own. I'll post pics when I get it.

 

[MountainBear]

More on what Scott said. Any serial number higher than 2,700,000 must either be rust blued or finished another way. ABove this serial number they also apparently started copper coating (of some sort or another) some of the interiors. This will react with the salts in a hot blue tank and mess up the finish (just like putting aluminum in a hot blue tank). If you have a competent gunsmith, he should be able to do a rust blue job that will give you a beautiful finish.
I plan on doing the same thing to a 94 I have in my safe (refinish). Keep in touch, we can exchange pictures when we finish them.

 

[Onmilo]

Most all Model 94 receivers will not reblue well unless you know the type of receiver steel used.
This applies to pre 64 and post 64 receivers.

Pre 64 receivers were made of a proprietary nickle steel and they won't take a conventional hot blue any better than the alloy-steel receivers of the post 64 rifles.

Belgian and rust blues don't always work on the pre 64 rifles either.

If you aren't looking to have the rifle restored to original finish and you don't have a local gunsmith who is familiar with the 94 blueing techniques I might recommend having the rifle matte black Parkarized.
All the receivers will accept Parkarizing and will form color shades ranging from medium to light gray.
This can be dyed to a matte black color after the initial finish is applied.

Strip-Eze will remove the paint but use the stuff liberally.
If it migrates into the action you can cause some corrosive problems you don't want to deal with. HTH

 

[Wayne02]

I have an old 94 that has been in the family for generations that I'd like to breath a little new life into. I'd like to learn more about the black matt parkerized finish. Is this something that can usually be done by a local gunsmith, or even better yet something I can in my own shop?

Is there a site or two somewhere with pictures of this type of finish so I can get an idea of how it looks??

Thanks
Wayne

 

[danang]

Brownells sells parkerizing kits. A couple of you could team up and split the costs. Birdsong's "Black T" is an incredible finish but a bit pricy. If the rifle is not a real collector's item, use the media cabinet...best to use new media to avoid the contamination. Brownells sells a Teflon/epoxy bakeing finish in a spray can. Use that after the media and you'll be good-to-go for years...and for less than $15. Good luck.

 

[MountainBear]

I generally warn against the do it yourself kits. There is frankly a lot of ways you can screw it up. Just take it to a pro, tell him exactly what you want, and pay the difference between his price and the do-it-yourself kits. This way, if it gets messed up the first time around, the pro can fix it.
The paint on kits can streak, flake, etc.
The cold blue kits are okay, but they don't give a great finish.
Hot blue kits are expensive, complicated (experience tells me) and there is a lot of ways it can be screwed up.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I'll post my 94 when I get it refinished.

 

[mnrivrat]

I think you will find the cost of having a 94 refinished by a "professional" service a bit more than your going to want to spend.
Particularly if it is a common post 64 gun , and even if a pre-64 in many cases. The local rebluing cost is over $200 and no gaurantee as to the receiver color match .

If you media blast the paint off you will also etch the metal a bit. Not a problem unless you want to refinish with a polished surface. If you strip the paint with something that will not strip the original finish you may be surprised how good it looks as is . SOmething to be said about honest finish wear.

Parkerizing is not a bad idea, and can be home done using a little care. The spray on finishes I am not familiar with , but have heard good things about them for this type of application.

Firing pin is a rather easy replacement, but you should be somewhat familiar with the take down of the gun to do this. Their are plenty of sources where you can purchase assembly/disassembly manuels or tapes for less than the cost of having a smith do the replacement. Pins can be purchased form Brownells, Gun Parts Corp, or other on line sources.

 

[ScottsGT]

Sounds great, thank you! Why do you prefer the Marlin over the Winchester?

Funny you should ask this. I actually bought a Winchester just to find out the differences. Well, for more reasons than that. I wanted to scope my Marlin 336 for evening hunting so I could have some good light gathering capabilities thru the scope. But I wanted a lever that would look like a lever. No scope, the way they were back when the west was won. So I bought this Winchester: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=229260
After working the action, it is not as smooth as a Marlin. You kind of have to pull down on the lever as you pull back. If you lift it as you pull back, it will lock up due to the design of a cam actuated system in a slot on the lever. The lever has side to side play in it, unlike the 336. On the upside, it is VERY lightweight, once you get use to operating the lever, it comes second nature, and it is a Winchester. OK, by name only...
Only reason I'm selling this one is to buy this:
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/large/UB-1866YellowboyShortRifle.jpg
Or I too would be refinishing the WInchester. Either in a do it yourself home parkerizing kit, or maybe a hard chrome finish.

 

[1911 guy]

Get the paint off.

Before you go whole hog into rebluing, I'd suggest trying to get the paint off and see what kind of wear is under it. Like mnrivrat said. If this is beyond what you can do (stubborn paint or lack of patience for nooks and crannies) I'd take it to a 'smith and have it done right. I've seen enough home brew bluing jobs to know that some come out O.K. and others cost lots of time to get sent to a 'smith later anyway. I'm even guilty of one of those myself. Borrowed a pump 30-06 and took a spill on a gravel road with it. Took a while to do it myself, then the job looked lousy anyway. Weeks of prep work wasted, the smith had it back to me in less than a month anyway. Shoulda gone that route to start with.

I'd try to get the paint off first, then go from there. If it's not pitted or rusty, no reason to reblue yet.