Alan in Vermont
03-13-2015, 09:54 PM
Finally managed to get the $ together to bring home a very nice 94, early 80s manufacture date. Overall condition is in the high 90% range, not even any rub marks on the loading gate. One very tiny split in the stock where it appears to be a little tight on the inletting, I will need to see about relieving that to see if the crack closes back up.
Only real issue is with the Lyman 66a sight on it. If you look at the close-up of the sight you can see where the rear face of the aperture is not at 90° to the plane of the top of the receiver. Bad enough so that you see the inner end of the aperture which makes it appear as an oval, really nasty to use like that as you tend to lose the nice clear spot in the middle of the aperture. The cross slide that the aperture screws into is very loose in the slot, allowing the aperture to wedge itself upward as it is tightened into the cross slide. If you don't tighten it it is free to move upward probably .050-.060" which is apt to cause stringing. I have no idea how I'm going to fix that short of replacing the sight.
Front sight is a round silver bead, not round with a flat face but hemispherical, which tends to make the spot you aim with chase the light. I pulled that off already and put on a Firesight front bead I had used on my older 94.
On the good side, it shoots! Only tried it on the 50' indoor range as it was nasty chilly and damp outdoors and the outdoor range had either 2" of mud or a sheet of ice to navigate to get to the targets. NOE 311008 over 5.0 of Bullseye stayed in one ragged hole and the sights put them right on the point of aim, even with the oval aperture driving me nuts. My wife hasn't shot anything in years and she was very close to matching my efforts(damn these aging eyes!).
This one belongs to my wife. Our other 94 is mid-70s and fairly rough, a perfect candidate for a JES conversion to 35/30-30. That one was "hers" too and to get it away from her I had to find another 94 that was in better shape than "hers" and preferably would shoot better, a relatively tough order in itself. Initial trials indicate that she has a winner in this one.
I think we got it for a decent price although I might have dickered more had I realized the rear sight has issues. $425 out the door, which includes 6% sales tax.
Only real issue is with the Lyman 66a sight on it. If you look at the close-up of the sight you can see where the rear face of the aperture is not at 90° to the plane of the top of the receiver. Bad enough so that you see the inner end of the aperture which makes it appear as an oval, really nasty to use like that as you tend to lose the nice clear spot in the middle of the aperture. The cross slide that the aperture screws into is very loose in the slot, allowing the aperture to wedge itself upward as it is tightened into the cross slide. If you don't tighten it it is free to move upward probably .050-.060" which is apt to cause stringing. I have no idea how I'm going to fix that short of replacing the sight.
Front sight is a round silver bead, not round with a flat face but hemispherical, which tends to make the spot you aim with chase the light. I pulled that off already and put on a Firesight front bead I had used on my older 94.
On the good side, it shoots! Only tried it on the 50' indoor range as it was nasty chilly and damp outdoors and the outdoor range had either 2" of mud or a sheet of ice to navigate to get to the targets. NOE 311008 over 5.0 of Bullseye stayed in one ragged hole and the sights put them right on the point of aim, even with the oval aperture driving me nuts. My wife hasn't shot anything in years and she was very close to matching my efforts(damn these aging eyes!).
This one belongs to my wife. Our other 94 is mid-70s and fairly rough, a perfect candidate for a JES conversion to 35/30-30. That one was "hers" too and to get it away from her I had to find another 94 that was in better shape than "hers" and preferably would shoot better, a relatively tough order in itself. Initial trials indicate that she has a winner in this one.
I think we got it for a decent price although I might have dickered more had I realized the rear sight has issues. $425 out the door, which includes 6% sales tax.