Winchester 1894 commerative forearm dovetail bracket broke today!

[45coltnut]

Well,

I took my "new to me" and overall praticaly new 38-55 legendary frontiersman to the range today. I bought this lever gun to be my first primary cast boolit gun. And, I've been working on developing my loads for it.

So, after only 4 shots from sand bags, I noticed the forearm has slid forward over 2"! After inspection I discovered the dovetail bracket that goes into the bottom of the barrel had broken. Split into and jumped completely out of the dovetail. The gun was made in 1979 but this part looks to be a MIM part. The loads I was shooting were all mid range H322 loads straight from Hodgdons site. They aren't stout by any means while around 1400-1500fps.

I've looked all over the dang Internet for a parts schematic for the commerative models and I can't find one anywhere. So, I guess I'll see how good Winchester's warranty is.

On a brighter note, I did a 2.5" 3 shot group out of the first load I was shooting :grin:

Has anyone else ever had or seen this happen?

[NSB]

Make the call but I don't think you're going to get any service from them. http://www.winchesterguns.com/customerservice/partsservice/index.asp

[45coltnut]

We'll, I hope the stand by it. If not, I'll gladly purchase a new one as it shouldn't be much. But, I sure wish I could one on brownells or somewhere that is better made!

[NSB]

We'll, I hope the stand by it. If not, I'll gladly purchase a new one as it shouldn't be much. But, I sure wish I could one on brownells or somewhere that is better made!

To be fair to Winchester/Browning, they didn't make that gun. They bought the name only. They'd be fixing someone else's defect. I bought a couple of guns recently knowing that, but just figured I'd pay to get them fixed if the need occurred. Good luck with it, I don't think it's going to be too bad to fix.

[45coltnut]

I agree. I have many browning bolt actions and love them. But, when they purchased Winchester they also purchased all warranty related issues along with the spare parts inventory. Therefore, I do expect them to at least send me the part. The only thing I'm worried about is finding a part if they don't. So far my search has not been very productive. I guess if it comes down to it I can always have one machined by local machine shop.

[NSB]

If you look at the history of Winchester, they went bankrupt and sold the company to their employees who in turn went bankrupt. There may have even been one more "owner" after that. It wasn't a straight sale of remaining product and liabilities from the original Winchester Repeating Arms company. I don't think they purchased the warranty and liabilities. They bought a bankrupt name. All the guns they market now are Miroku made in Japan.

[ammohead]

45coltnut,

See my reply on your 38-55 loads thread.

[jlchucker]

Lots of those commemoratives didn't have that dovetailed hanger arrangement. The forearm was held on by the tension of the screw that went through the forearm cap only. Kind of a crappy arrangement that would loosen up from time to time. My "Classic Rifle" is set up this way. It's held up OK, but that cap loosens up now and then.

[nekshot]

I made my own dovetail hanger on mine after the original tore out. I used a piece of junk barrel for the dovetail part, filed the slot in barrel and tapped it to recieve mount for fore arm fitting. Stays there now!

[45coltnut]

We'll, I called this morning and Winchester/Browning said no can do. I'm really surprised that they don't even have any schematics though. And the guy didn't even offer to point me in any direction of a gunsmith. Simply said take it to one. I have to say that all companies should realize a little customer service goes a long way. I'd expect a statement of, we're sorry bit as we bought Winchester we didn't obtain any of the spare parts or she schematics. However, you should call one of our certified Winchester repair centers as they will be able to take care of you. Here's the number.....

Ok, that's my rant. I guess now I've got to find a gunsmith or I may simply get a piece of cold rolled steel and make my own. Should probably be better.

I'm dying to get back to range for load development!

Thanks for everyone's comment and advice. I love this site.

[451whitworth]

When I bought my NIB Crazy Horse 38-55 back in '04 the magazine tube hanger seperated from the barrel after 6 shots and the mag tube was hanging out past the barrel for 4". The factory hanger was soldiered on to a flat milled into the bottom of the barrel. I made a new slightly oversized hanger with a dovetail mount on the lathe/mill and filed a dovetail in the barrel flat and installed. Obviously trying to resoldier the hanger would have ruined the blue on the barrel and I never blued the tool steel hanger but I kinda like the contrast.

[Junior1942]

On my Buffalo Bill 20" 30-30 the hanger ring broke, and I thought the flat 451whitworth mentioned was dovetailed. I took a hammer to it. Then a bigger hammer. It shattered--ring, flat and all. I've been contemplating fixing it for several years. I've spent ~$100 on rings and they don't come close to fitting. I've been told that the hanger comes with the barrel, and that's the only way to get one. But there's no such thing as a new barrel/hanger.

451whitworth your fix may also be my fix. Make a new flat, and dovetail it, then screw on one of my new rings, then install it on the barrel. A TIG welder would be nice, but there isn't one within 50 miles any direction from me.

[KCSO]

You can adapt parts from a Cimarron 1873 to work or you can make a new hanger from stock if you have to.

[pietro]

After inspection I discovered the dovetail bracket that goes into the bottom of the barrel had broken. Split into and jumped completely out of the dovetail. The gun was made in 1979 but this part looks to be a MIM part.
I've looked all over the dang Internet for a parts schematic for the commerative models and I can't find one anywhere. So, I guess I'll see how good Winchester's warranty is.




Any Winchester M1873/73, M1892/92 or M1894/94 Rifle (model) forearm tenon should fit - Numrich Arms, Wisner's Obsolete Parts, Bob's Gun Parts, Winchester Bob, etc.


Winchester Bob's $12 tenon is already D/T'd for the screws: W94096 FOREND TENON ( DRILLED & TAPPED ) $12.00

http://www.winchesterbob.com/model94.htm



.

[45coltnut]

Junior1942,

After my call to Winchester today I was bound and determined to either find one or figure out how make one. Good news, for $17 bucks you can buy one. And, from the design of the one I bought it should be better than the original. It's twice as long (3/4") as the original is only 3/8" and therefore has more meat around the hole for the screw. Actually, my original one had the top portion of the hole open. So, the only meat was on the bottom portion of the dovetail where its press fit into the barrel. The extra length will still fit fine as I measured my forearm cap. Overall, I hope this is much better as my forearm cap would cant some making the forearm slightly loose.

Oh, the official name is "Forearm Tip Tenion" I discovered.

The sight is http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1396304996.1081&product=Winchester_1873_Winchester_1892_Winchester _1894&pid=1085

I'll let you know when my arrives and how it fits.

[45coltnut]

Hey guys,

Well I final got around to putting the forearm dovetail bracket on tonight. The one I received was not at all identical to the factory one. First off, it was around 1" long and the factory was around 1/2". So, I had cut it down with my dremel. Then, the centerline of the hole (on the edges only) were lower towards the tubular magazine. So, I had open them up some just to get the screw to go through. This meant driving it back out and opening up the screw and the force of the screw was applying too much pressure to barrel and actually causing it push upward, allot. So, after opening the hole up it only has slight pressure. I hope it doesn't affect accuracy but I don't think it will as over tightening the end cap causing it to close up and thus squeeze against the barrel causing it to also rise up.

So, I'll hit the range Saturday morning before the yard work and I hope I can find a good load. I'll report back to everyone here.

Here's a pic of the part

102004

[DougGuy]

I had a 94 AE Trapper in .45 Colt that only used the barrel band to hold the forend from moving forward, which it did a poor job of. I used a 1/4" piece of square keystock, drilled a hole down the center of it, and ran the barrel band screw through that. For the barrel, I filed a square notch in the bottom so the keystock would fit in it well, like a key, and it worked like a champ. It fit between the barrel and the magazine.