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Ladies and Gents : as this is my first posting after becoming a member on this site, I am afraid I might be jumping in too deep right out of the gate. Given that here goes.
I am a fairly good gunsmith (handguns….mostly revolvers) so I do know a thing or two about restorations. Having said that I have inherited a box of screws, springs, tangs a feed tube and a receiver/barrel (26″ octagon) assembly for a Model 94 that after tracing the serial number; seems to have been made in 1904.
It was given to me by a relative who tried to restore it but I am afraid had absolutely no idea what he was in for or worse ; how to do it properly. Most of the external components have been stripped from the original bluing/browning ……I know…I know unforgivable but he is a youngster and did not know any better.
All the bits and pieces are there so the question becomes, where does one find the “guide” or definitive answers on what are the proper finishes for the metal components?
Hello,
If the Model 1894 is truly a 1904 production piece (the serial number will tell me precisely when it was manufactured), the correct finishes are as follows;
1. Barrel and magazine tube – rust blued
2. Lever, hammer, butt plate (if it is the steel crescent style) – case color finished
3. Receiver frame – machine blued
4. Loading gate and extractor spring – niter blued
None of the steel parts were hot salt (solution) blued.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
You didn’t mention the condition of the wood or whether it continues to exist. If it has to be replaced, Brownell’s used to carry a line of replacement screw sets and slightly oversized, straight grain American walnut stocks and forearms for several of the old Winchester lever actions. The wood required bedding, final sizing, and finishing. The blanks from which those parts were turned contained both heartwood and sapwood, just like post-WWII Winchester factory wood, so staining to even out the colors was mandatory, like they did in New Haven.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Hi Bill,
Both stocks came with me bag-o-parts. A little nicked up but no cracks or ugly former repairs. 
I have restored — that is to say, PAID to have returned to cosmetic normality – a couple of mechanically excellent but defaced specimens, a 92 and a 61, and have done part ot the work on a pre-64 Model 70. Welding and refinishing metal is above my pay grade. Here’s what I think, based on my accumulated scars and bruises:
If you enjoy the work and the gun is a basket case, the disassembly/reassembly process for the gun is set out in The Gun Digest Centerfire Rifles Assembly volume (still in print), which will provide an illustrated narrative on how to completely strip a Model 94 down to its component parts, and reassemble them. I would supplement that with as many YouTube videos on repairing the ,Model 94 as I could find. There’s stuff by Bubba to quickly quit out of but also stuff by really excellent teachers. It’s worth yout time, in the end.
Once you have restored the gun to excellent mechanical function, there are craftsmen who can duplicate the finishes you need, if you send them the parts. If you want the receiver machine blued and the barrel and magazine tube rust blued, you will either have to acquire the tools and equipment (heavy duty machinist vise, blocks,and barrel wrench to fit the stripped action) to remove the barrel; or hire that job out. I would pay to have that done, myself.
There are shops that will rust blue and nitre blue parts for you. Very few are set up to machine blue but there are some. It may bring down the wrath of the perfectionists on my head, but a Smith who knows what he’s doing can get pretty close to the look of a machine (heat) blue with hot salts. The trick is done by not over polishing and keeping the finish light. If you want a flashier look, consider case coloring the receiver, which was once an available option. If you really want to make a statement, emulate Winchester’s “nickel trimmings” option. My understanding for a 94 so finished would be a bright nickel receiver, buttplate, and perhaps the lever and trigger guard. Old catalogs and our WACA Model 94 experts could fine-line the list of parts to be nickeled.
Needless to say, these finishing costs can quickly add up. It’s important to keep a firm grip on reality and remember you are not creating a “Collectible Winchester.” That doesn’t mean it won’t be attractive or that nobody would buy it. But do the work and spend the money for yourself. Assume you will not likely recover the costs of the enterprise if you try to accurately restore it to “factory new” condition.
My betters (and they are legion) among the WACA membership should chime in and correct me if I have gone astray in my advice, here. But this sums up my experience in the matter of restorations.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
My first step would be to fully reassemble the gun to verify all parts present, and that the gun functions and shoots correctly.
If it can still shoot a 2″ group @50 yds, there are two options; (1) strip it back down and correctly refinish all of the pieces and parts, or (2) leave it as is and just shoot it (or sell it).
A full-on restoration is almost never cost effective on a standard Model 1894. It is real easy get in too deep and spend more $$$ that the rifle will ever be worth.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
If you redo the wood, I’ve used this with great success a few times: https://homesteadparts.com/shop/stock-oil-winchester-restorations-4-oz-p-1782.html
You may already know all of it, but there’s a PDF with instructions on that page and has good info. I’ve stripped varnish or lacquer off a few older gunstocks to take them back to a hand-rubbed winchester red oil finish and they turned out GREAT.
Jeremy P said
If you redo the wood, I’ve used this with great success a few times: https://homesteadparts.com/shop/stock-oil-winchester-restorations-4-oz-p-1782.html
I don’t doubt a “great” oil finish can be obtained by the use of this product, skillfully applied, but is it reasonable to believe the factory devoted “30 or more” days to stock finishing for standard grade guns? As John Kay could, restoring stocks one by one, but that’s not a viable system for factory-production. I’m not taking issue with the product, but with the assertion that a similar method was used “until the 1940s.” Catalogs between 1874 & 1918 don’t specify finish methods at all, though it’s plausible those ordered with fancy wood were given some such special treatment. There’s a “special finish” for CC guns only, but it’s not described.
I’ve done some repairs on Winchester wood and just use oil based and some alcohol based stains. I have a cabinet full of stains and I mix types until I get the color I want. There are people that make Winchester stains but remember each piece stains differently. If you seal the wood the stain will lay on top for a more even look across the whole piece if you don’t want to strip all the wood.
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