whatnickname
Member
Kind of a slow day for me, so I thought I would share a project that I had done several years ago. I was living in the Denver area at the time. The LGS I frequented was mostly into tactical weapons but they had an indoor firing range and were nice enough to handle firearms transfers for me on my GB transactions. Got to be pretty good friends with the owner and he generally cut me a good deal on some of the stuff he took in trade that he had little use for.One afternoon I spotted a long wood Winchester Model 94 in the used rifle rack. Like most 94s this one had seen plenty of mileage. Quite a bit of finish wear on the right side of the receiver with the usual dings on the stock. The left side of the receiver and barrel were a complete disaster...Total rust problem but very few pits. Someone had already attempted their own restoration with a wire brush and some cold blue with entirely predictable results! Upon closer inspection the inside of the little 94 was pristine. The serial number range (1,226,XXX) falls in the 1940s dead range. Based on the production from 1940 to 1941 my guess is that my rifle was manufactured in 1940. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. The condition of the barrel was like a mirror with the lands and groves razor sharp. I doubt that the rifle had fired more than 100 rounds in its life time. The extensive rust on one side only, and my venue (Colorado), lead me to conclude that the rifle had spent a good bit of its life on a horse in a leather scabbard. I’m sure the cowboy valued his rifle and took as good care of it as he (or she) could. Otherwise the inside of the barrel would have looked as bad as the outside. I quickly decided that if a deal could be reached, I would acquire the rifle and have it restored. We agreed on a price of $325.
Now the question became where and whom would be tasked with the completion of my project. I’ve always admired the work done by Turnbull Restorations but they get a long buck for their work. I have a lifelong friend that had just recently graduated from one of the top gun smithing schools in the country. He was looking for work himself at the time and did not have his shop set up to do this kind of work. He did however refer me to one of the instructors at the school he graduated from and had become friends with. A quick visit to the instructor and he agreed to do the project...cut me a deal on the price too...on the condition that our transaction remain strictly confidential. The result can be seen in the accompanying pictures. The receiver and lever were color case hardened at my request. The remainder of the metal was carefully polished by hand with 99% of the pits removed. The dents were ironed out of the stock and the nicks were filled in by a process he called “mud-rubbing”. The original Winchester stock stain was applied to the stock before several coats of finish were applied. She looks pretty darn good. She’s been to the range a couple of times and will shoot 1.5” at 100 yards, which is pretty good for iron sights and my tired eyes. I wish I had taken some “before” pictures but I didn’t. I have way more money in this project than the rifle is worth but I don’t care. I just about never have vintage firearms restored but in this case someone had already attempted a restoration. Nothing to lose in my book. Restoring that rifle was just the right thing to do IMO. My guess is that the original owner of the rifle has long since passed away. If he or she is looking down on me I can only say: “Don’t worry partner. I’ve got this for you. She resides in my safe now. When I’m dead and gone, my grandchildren will know what a real Winchester 94 looks like.”
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