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January 21, 2007
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Hey Everyone. I recently picked up a couple Winchester 22 rifles. A model 250 lever and an interesting Model 74 in 22 short. From what I can find online it looks like it’s a 1st year production with serial # 17281. The front and rear sights look original no peep sight as I’ve seen some online with them and no deflector. The action is dirty as hell but I put 20 rounds through it and it fires as fast as I can pull the trigger so pretty happy about that. I really don’t know how to clean th action and unless it’s pretty easy I don’t want to strip it down so any help there would be great ! Can anyone confirm it’s a 1st year rifle please ?
Thanks ! Ed
July 17, 2012
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Hi Ed,
Your Model 74 was made in 1939 (the second year of production).
To clean the 74 it is VERY easy! Make sure the rifle and magazine are empty. You can remove the bolt by depressing the cross pin “button” at the back of the receiver, this should allow the complete bolt assembly to slide out of the back of the receiver. That is all the disassembly that is recommended for routine cleaning. Flush off the bolt, lightly oil and use a bore snake or cleaning rod from the breech end and you are good to go!
A couple of cautions, NEVER EVER cock the rifle with the safety in the safe “S” position! This can (and does many times) completely jam the action as the bolt gets hooked on the safety spring internally and it is difficult to fix. Winchester provided a warning card stating this but most of them are lost to time (see image below).
Also, it is a “takedown” model but be aware of a few things when doing so, first, the magazine tube must be removed or slid rearward for the action to separate from the stock so that is step “one”. There is a small spring in the stock under the end of the magazine tube that provides upward pressure on the tube. It is not held in place by anything other than a little pressure and usually falls out on the floor when you are not looking. The rifle will function without it but will misfeed once in awhile without the constant spring pressure.
Finally, if you take the rifle out of the stock, make sure the trigger spring is correctly reseated (hooked on both sides of the trigger).
Other than those quirks they are GREAT rifles, enjoy!
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
January 21, 2007
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JWA Thank you ! That took me all of about 10 seconds to get the bolt out lol. Man was it bloody dirty 🤣. I used a brass brush and still had to scape crap off the bolt with a dental pick ! I’ll be running a brush done the pipe and clean the inside of the receiver tomorrow night. No need for me to take the action out of the stock I should be able to get everything clean enough now. It does have 2 holes for a scope base so will maybe see what mount will fit as no idea what mounts it was tapped for.
Thank you so much ! I’ll post pics tomorrow night
April 30, 2023
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88 man, there are also some youtube videos that show the process for taking down IIRC…never hurts to look underneath her skirt but you should only do what’s comfortable for you. I can’t stand not knowing if there’s rust or anything growing beneath so personally, I always have to look when I get a “new” rifle! 🙂
…and thanks for the tag pic, Jeff. I may still make one to put on there to remind me!
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