Winchester 94AE takedown help needed

[Shuz]

I have a Winchester 1894AE in .44 mag that I was gonna takedown to do a thorough bbl cleaning from the breach as I've done before on my 1894AE Trapper, but I can't figger out how to get the lever to disengage from the bolt! Is there a certain way I need to hold my face or? I've taken the usual 3 screws out,but the carrier and the lever are still connected and I can't figger out how to get the carrier and lever free fron the underside of the bolt.

I was also gonna try and cut a coil off the hammer spring, but the spring hole at the end of the rod guide with a pin in it, is encapsulated in such a fashion with the bottom of the lower tang, that a guy can't remove it!! How do you go about that?

Thanks for any help.

[Mk42gunner]

It has been a few years since I took down my Model 94AE in .357 and I am too lazy tonight to dig it out to look; but did you take the big headed screw out of the left side to push the pin out of the bolt?

From what I remember, I didn't have any problems removing the mainspring so I could polish the strut it rides on. I know I didn't clip any coils from it though.

Hope this helps,

Robert

[Shuz]

but did you take the big headed screw out of the left side to push the pin out of the bolt?

No I did not! At what point in the take down sequence do you do that?

From what I remember, I didn't have any problems removing the mainspring so I could polish the strut it rides on. I know I didn't clip any coils from it though.

My mainspring, or hammer spring as I call it, has a little arched hole in the guide that precludes taking the spring out after the tension is relieved by inserting the pin. I wish I knew a trick on how to remove my gun's spring with that crazy set up! After polishing the roll pin that the hammer rides on, as well as the other engaging surfaces as well as the sides of the hammer where it was marred by the receiver, and lubing the dickens outta the trigger mechinism, the trigger pull was still at least 10 lbs! It burried my gauge!

Hope this helps,--yes I think we're making progress, I didn't know there was a pin holding the lever to the bolt.

Now if I can only figger out how to remove the hammer spring!

Thanks Robert for your insight.
Ray aka Shuz

Robert[/QUOTE]

[oneokie]

First thing you do.

[nekshot]

I don't know if you cut the spring yet but leave that as the last resort and when you do take 1 coil at a time and try it. I did mine and wished I didn't. About the time you like the function of the spring it might not hit hard enough to detonate primer but that can be fixed by adding material to the spring kizmo that holds it on the metal rod type thing. If you want a liter trigger now is the time to take care of that but only a little stoning at a time. The AE are not as easy to get a good trigger as the others, at least from my experience.

[KLR]

I don't know if the 94AE in 44 mag is the same as my 94AE in 30-30, but mine had a rebounding hammer and a really stiff spring. The guys on another forum told me that messing with the hammer spring would bring dire consequences including male pattern baldness and ED. So I went to the hardware store and found a replacement for less than two bucks. I now have a crisp 4 lb trigger, lighter action, and several hundred rounds without a problem.

Can you post a pic of your hammer/spring assembly?

[Patrick56]

If you got a Android tablet or phone, go to the Google Play and get the Winchester 94 explained app by Gerard Henrotin. It is great! Covers also the .44mag version.

[robg]

google mohave gambler shows complete strip down of 94ae. hardest bit is taking out cross bolt saftey

[Shuz]

If you got a Android tablet or phone, go to the Google Play and get the Winchester 94 explained app by Gerard Henrotin. It is great! Covers also the .44mag version.

I looked at that and it doesn't cover my 94AE which has a different trigger assembly.
Now that I've been given the advice about the pin in the bolt/lever that is soooo unlike a Marlin, and how to remove it, I'm concentrating on how to remove the trigger spring from the encapsulated carrier. Those who have a rifle like mine might be able to describe the removal dilemma better than me!

[fecmech]

Shuz--Just put a paper clip in the hole and capture the spring. Remove the lower tang,trigger,and hammer together. Once you have it out cock the hammer and remove the paper clip. Now, slowly let the hammer go forward till the tension is off the spring and you can remove it and the strut. To reassemble put the spring on the strut. The rear of the strut into the slot on the tang and with the hammer all the way forward capture the front of the strut in the recess on the hammer as you bring it back compressing the spring. Once the strut capture hole is past the strut guide put your paper clip back in to hold the spring while you reinstall the lower tang. Once it's all together cock the hammer,remove the paper clip.

PS--I got my trigger down to 2.5 lbs with the stock mainspring but had to change the sear angle.

[Shuz]

Well, Folks, I got the hammer spring off, but it wasn't a pretty site. You see I cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger before putting in the pin, just to see if I could remove the strut and spring from the front. You see, if I put a pin in the hole that is exposed after the hammer is cocked, there is an arch that precludes removing the spring and strut from the lower tang. Well, the spring and strut flew into orbit in my shop and after a small search, I found the two. Now I'm gonna go to ACE hardware tomorrow and see if I can find a replacement spring to mess around with before any attempt to re-install. Thanks for all the help and advice so far....it sure is fun here at Winchester gunsmithing school! By the way, the bolt comes out easy once you know the secret behind the lever pin!

[Patrick56]

I looked at that and it doesn't cover my 94AE which has a different trigger assembly.
Now that I've been given the advice about the pin in the bolt/lever that is soooo unlike a Marlin, and how to remove it, I'm concentrating on how to remove the trigger spring from the encapsulated carrier. Those who have a rifle like mine might be able to describe the removal dilemma better than me!

Interesting Winchester that you have. Could you post some pictures of the trigger assembly?

[Shuz]

Interesting Winchester that you have. Could you post some pictures of the trigger assembly?
Patrick56--It is not possible at this time for me to take any pictures of this trigger assembly. Perhaps some other owner of a Winnie AE in the 5,448,7XX area that is also a .44 mag could help?

[fecmech]

Don't worry about the spring Shuz. PM me you mail addy and I'll send you a replacement for the 94. I have a couple left from my 94 days.

[Patrick56]

Patrick56--It is not possible at this time for me to take any pictures of this trigger assembly. Perhaps some other owner of a Winnie AE in the 5,448,7XX area that is also a .44 mag could help?
Ok, would be nice to see how it differs from my 30-30 Winnie AE XTR 52512XX. My Winnie in .44 mag is the old top eject model with a leaf spring ( 44500XX) made in 1976?

[KLR]

Shuz, I'm not trying to be rude, but have you tried going to Google or Bing and doing an image search? My wife bought me a 94AE for Christmas and my son thought it would be a better surprise if it was given to me in multiple boxes. The largest part was the barreled receiver. I had no experience with the Win 94, but I did a search on the net and found a great video on Youtube. In 30 minutes I had it back together.

[Shuz]

Don't worry about the spring Shuz. PM me you mail addy and I'll send you a replacement for the 94. I have a couple left from my 94 days.

Thanks for the kind offer! PM sent!

[Shuz]

Shuz, I'm not trying to be rude, but have you tried going to Google or Bing and doing an image search? My wife bought me a 94AE for Christmas and my son thought it would be a better surprise if it was given to me in multiple boxes. The largest part was the barreled receiver. I had no experience with the Win 94, but I did a search on the net and found a great video on Youtube. In 30 minutes I had it back together.

Thanks, but I live out in the country and my internet access is such that videos on sites like You Tube don't work well and cost me a lot in download usage bits. I'm so remote that they have to pump sunlight to me, and right now that's real hard due to all the smoke from the fires!

[KLR]

Thanks, but I live out in the country and my internet access is such that videos on sites like You Tube don't work well and cost me a lot in download usage bits. I'm so remote that they have to pump sunlight to me, and right now that's real hard due to all the smoke from the fires!

Ok, I understand. Sounds like a great place to live. (except for the fire part)

BTW, my spring replacement ended up being about four coils shorter than the stock spring, but the same wire size, ID, and OD.

[Shuz]

Well, I got some springs from ACE hardware, and today I installed one of them in the trigger mechanism. Slight problem tho, the spring is about 10 coils shorter than the heavy duty stock spring, and it a tad wider in diameter so that it binds a tad bit when the butt stock is installed. Seems to work well, action is a lot easier to work and it sure lightened the pull, but it still buries my 72 ounce gauge! I'm now awaiting one of the springs offered by fecmec, and we'll see how that one works. We finally got some rain today, first in about 3 months and I hope to get out within the next couplea days to see if this new hammer spring has enuf oomph to set off the primers.

[Shuz]

I got the hammer spring, graciously sent to me by one of the board members, cut two coils off and re-assembled the gun. It seems like the trigger is lighter, but it still buried my gauge. I hope to give it some real trials today, weather permitting.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions--Shuz