The Born Again Winchester Project

[TINCANBANDIT]

I bought this sad looking Winchester model 250 lever action .22 that was in a house fire.....



after some parts searching, lots of cleaning and sanding, then rebluing, the gun looks like new again


Here are some before and after shots














Blog posts documenting the work that was done

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 1

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 2

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 3

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 4

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 5

[Texas by God]

Great work on a great gun. My brother still has his model 250 that he got when he was 14 years old. Yours looks better!

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[Finster101]

I'm thinking maybe that rifle didn't look that good new!

[bandsmoyer]

Excellent job

[Chad5005]

im with finster,i don't think that rifle ever looked that good from the factory,nice job

[nagantguy]

Hoes it shoot? Any concerns of untempering or brittleness of Metal after the fire? I’ve never restored a fire damaged rifle but may have a chance to hence my curiosity.

[EMC45]

Looks better than new

[725]

Masterful. Well done.

[OldBearHair]

Look at the polished metal parts of the rifle (trigger sear, sliding bolt, etc.) to see the "color". If still shiny, the temperature was under 450 degrees. Purple designates over 600 degrees F. Then think how hot is your pot temp when adding sawdust and it catches afire? Wooden stock is still good. Aluminum parts (on some guns) begin to deteriorate at 1050 degree range, melt at 1175 degrees. A heavy dark purple usually mean the hardened steel is no longer hardened. The temper is gone. I once saw a guy in hunting camp tending the fire with his purple colored hunting knife.

[bedbugbilly]

Beautiful! A great job! Did you hang a name on it? Something like "Smokey Joe"?

[nagantguy]

Look at the polished metal parts of the rifle (trigger sear, sliding bolt, etc.) to see the "color". If still shiny, the temperature was under 450 degrees. Purple designates over 600 degrees F. Then think how hot is your pot temp when adding sawdust and it catches afire? Wooden stock is still good. Aluminum parts (on some guns) begin to deteriorate at 1050 degree range, melt at 1175 degrees. A heavy dark purple usually mean the hardened steel is no longer hardened. The temper is gone. I once saw a guy in hunting camp tending the fire with his purple colored hunting knife.

Thank you for that knowledge. I asked partly because of curiosity partly because I have a chance at a 22 that was in a house fire and partly because I remember in 8th grade a teacher we liked had a house fire days later he had a badly cut face; one of his salvaged axe heads exploded after he put a new handle on it and was using it to knock down the one wall of his garage the fire left standing

[TheGrimReaper]

WOW!!! Amazing transformation.

[nekshot]

awesome job! Let the good feelings roll on that one. Never saw one of them other in pictures.

[indian joe]

I bought this sad looking Winchester model 250 lever action .22 that was in a house fire.....



after some parts searching, lots of cleaning and sanding, then rebluing, the gun looks like new again


Here are some before and after shots














Blog posts documenting the work that was done

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 1

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 2

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 3

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 4

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: The Born Again Winchester Project part 5

I had a 150 (LA carbine straight stock) model when I was younger - really good barrel - plain wood - the diecast and stamped metal action was a piece of junk that wore out - a perfect example of winchesters diecast and plastic post 64 cost cutting phase - I panel beated (peened) the internal parts enough to get it to fire reliably again and sold it. After having that one it amazes me that there are any of these out there that still actually fire. They look nice and mine did too but the lockup arrangement wore to the point it would no longer go bang when the trigger was pulled. Hope yours is better!!!