Win 94

[jcw1970]

So i picked up a 94 that had been parkerized. I got it pretty cheap. Not a good idea to parkerize. It's flaking off where there is movement. The handle hinge, loading port, you name it. I was think of just having it reblued. Anyone have an estimate of what it would cost? Another question since this is my first 94. If you have the gun cocked and lower it the firing pin goes with it. I'm thinking that's not right.

[missionary5155]

Greetings jcw1970...
Well what year , model, caliber is your Winny? I got my first lever in 1964 .. a marlin 336 in 32 Win Special. Down here I have a 1892 SRC 44-40 . I am a firm happy lever flipper... :)
As far as yours... I would get it striped down and leave it bare... it will begin to take on a nice dull metal look like it was a 100 yeras old... but maybe it is.

[jcw1970]

don't know the year but by the serial number it's a late 70's model. standard 94 20" barrel. 30-30.

[calaverasslim]

I strongly suspect your receiver is Cast and if I am right, then it won't take a blue. I had a 94, made in 76, that the bluing was off. Previous owner hunted with it and carried it by the receiver. I stripped the rifle and took it to a gunsmith and he told me it was cast and wouldn't blue. Not much they could do.

Suggested parkerizing or painting it black. I don't think so.

Good luck

[NickSS]

It may be that the parkerizing is really paint. I bought some to refinish the gas cylinder on my M1 garand. They are made from stainless steel and do not blue at all. I used baked on parderizing paint That actually looks quite good on my M1. On a 94 Winchester it looks poor expecially if its pealling. The recivers that Winchester made from about 1964 till the end of manufacturing last year was a cast aloy. They tried several things to make it look good including hard black chrome. However from the 70 on they plated the finished reciever with a thin coating of iron and blued that. It looks good and wears about as good as a blued steel reciever. The only problem is that the thin iron plating wore off along with the blue. What was under it will not take bluing. I had one that I got at a bargan price but it had a pitted and warn reciever. I cleaning it up and painted it with black overn baked paint finish. Looks better than it did and it protects the action.

[Junior1942]

.... If you have the gun cocked and lower it the firing pin goes with it. I'm thinking that's not right.Explain better, please.

[jcw1970]

if you cock the lever and the hammer is back, you can see the round cylinder that the hammer makes contact with is sticking out. if you tip the gun towards the ground, the cylinder falls back into the receiver. you tip the gun up and it comes back out.

[oneokie]

if you cock the lever and the hammer is back, you can see the round cylinder that the hammer makes contact with is sticking out. if you tip the gun towards the ground, the cylinder falls back into the receiver. you tip the gun up and it comes back out.

Normal for any 94.

As the others have suggested, one of the bake on finishes would be a good product to refinish with.

[Leadforbrains]

I strongly suspect your receiver is Cast and if I am right, then it won't take a blue. I had a 94, made in 76, that the bluing was off. Previous owner hunted with it and carried it by the receiver. I stripped the rifle and took it to a gunsmith and he told me it was cast and wouldn't blue. Not much they could do.

Suggested parkerizing or painting it black. I don't think so.

Good luck


About what time frame did Winchester start using cast frames? I have a 94 that was made in 1951, so I know I am safe with that one. I am looking to buy another in the future and I really wan't to stick with older style forged and milled receivers.

Hey I found the info by re reading everything that was posted on this subject. I guess I deserve an F for reading comprehension.[smilie=1:

[Trailblazer]

The cast receivers were used from 1964 until the Angle Eject was introduced in 1981 or 1983-don't remember which. Everything since then is once again forged steel and blues just fine. The rifle pictured above has the cast receiver. You can tell because the screws are different on the pre-64 and it is not an Angle Eject. Therefore it is cast.

Real Parkerizing will not flake off.

[missionary5155]

Greetings If the Winny was mine I would stripe off that stuff and rub it down with apple.. Real Apple every day for a while... It will soon take on a nice brownish old look. Give it a try with a carbon knife blade or a file handle...
Your rifle has little collector value. There is also Dura Coat.... they have 70 some colors now so there may even be a Winnny blue available. I bought a rusty one last time up there and rebarreled it to 375 Win.. and shoot it as a 38-55. No loss on value and I like it 100% better in 375.

[jcw1970]

great so the rifle isn't parkerized. do you think it's the bake on stuff? to me it doesn't matter what it looks like. I've always wanted to own a 30/30 lever action. i got a good deal on it so i'm pretty happy. does it really matter that it's not a pre 64? do the pre 64's shoot better? i buy guns to shoot, not for collectors value.

[Leadforbrains]

great so the rifle isn't parkerized. do you think it's the bake on stuff? to me it doesn't matter what it looks like. I've always wanted to own a 30/30 lever action. i got a good deal on it so i'm pretty happy. does it really matter that it's not a pre 64? do the pre 64's shoot better? i buy guns to shoot, not for collectors value.

No I guess it shouldn't matter to much if your not into collecting. I didn't even know that Winchester used cast receivers before now. If it were my rifle I would just shoot it and enjoy it. Post an update and let us know how everything turns out.:Fire::drinks:

[Trailblazer]

I have one of the cast receiver 30-30's and it is very accurate. More accurate than I can shoot with iron sights. There is nothing at all wrong with the cast receivers except they don't blue well. Mine works just fine!

[Jon K]

Cast reciever.....................here's mine, just cleaned up w/fine scotch brite pad & burlap soaked w/Shooter Choice bore solvent.

I don't see any need to replate/blue.

Jon

[C A Plater]

My 70's vintage 94 never did shoot worth spit. I eventually pulled the barrel and attached a .38-55 and refinished the receiver. Not wanting it to come out purple, I had it hard chromed. I think it came out pretty well.
http://tcbunch.com/kiosk/hard-crome-1.jpg

[RadioactiveMarine]

The bluing problem really has nothing to do with it being cast. A current example is both Ruger rifles and S&W revolvers which are blued, but all start from castings today. The problem with the 70's Winchesters was the alloy steel they used in the castings. Winchester found that the alloy would not blue so they did a flash plating of iron on them that did blue. Now today, when the blueing/iron plating wears off, they can' be reblued because the plating is gone. Best bet is to plate using a black Robar coating or Duraguard finish. The hard crome also works nicely and I have seen one which was done in black chrome. Anyway, remember it's the alloy, not the casting. I have a '71 and a '75 Winny.

[Boerrancher]

In actuality the cast receiver is is stronger than the old ones that were forged. The reason for this is the same reason they turn purple or orange when you try to blue them, NICKEL. I guess none of you have ever messed with the old P-17 Eddistone 30-06 rifles. They also have a high nickel content and are hard to blue, not as hard as the post 64/pre angel eject 94 Winnies, but still difficult.

One of the things that I use to do for people once they wore the blue off of their 94's was to polish it up real well, warm it up to about 200 degrees F and start adding cold blue with a Q tip. I would make lines, streaks, drops, and blotches. By the time is was done it had a nice colour case hardened look to it. By keeping the receiver around 200 degrees the cold blue will last for years, and with the high nickel content of the receiver, you will end up with some really nice colours, lots of dark blues, purples, golds, and blacks.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[acemedic13]

Brake paint works good and lasts long. It is some tough stuff.........I personally like a finish that is intended for guns....specifially. We all got our tricks though. I have used brake paint on some guns that were worn out and not really worth selling or putting the money into. I just stripped them down and touched them up.