Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

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Shasta
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Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Shasta »

This is a very long rehash of one of my posts from the old Leverguns forum, but I thought it was worth updating and re-posting the story of this very fine rifle.

Back in 2006 I bought an unfired Winchester 1894-1994 commemorative rifle. This version is a 30-30 with a half-round barrel, checkered pistol grip stock, half magazine, engraved receiver, and the dreaded rebounding hammer and a cross-bolt safety.

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The first thing I did with it was remove the rear barrel sight and mount a Marbles tang sight. Like most rebounding hammer Winchesters, it was prone to misfires, so the rebounding hammer system had to go.
Using Joe Miller's idea for a lower tang swap that replaces the rebounding hammer system with the old traditional half-cock hammer & trigger, and with the help of lower tang pictures posted by Marc, I bought an early 80's coil spring lower tang assembly on Ebay. It was a straight tang, but the needed spring, strut, and hammer fit perfectly in my curved lower tang. By clipping 2 coils from the spring, stoning the sear, and polishing the moving parts, I now had a three pound trigger that breaks clean and no more misfires.

Next, I removed the useless cross-bolt safety. This left a large cone shaped void in the upper rear right side of the receiver. Tycer's idea of using a 30-30 cartridge head to fill the void left by removing the cross-bolt safety looked mighty good to me. The hole passing completely through the receiver was 17/64" diameter, so I took a long 5/16" mild steel bolt, cut off the head, chucked it in my drill, and filed the diameter down while the drill was turning it. When the bolt was reduced enough to pass snugly through the receiver hole, I cut it to the proper length, then polished and cold blued the bolt. Then I used super glue to attach the cut off cartridge head to the filler bolt.

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Removing the cross-bolt safety left a tiny hole in the right rear inside area of the receiver. I put my new filler bolt in with the cartridge head oriented correctly and marked where this tiny hole lined up on the bolt. I removed the filler bolt and used a 4-40 tap to thread that tiny hole in the rifle receiver. I then drilled a shallow hole in my filler bolt at the marked spot just large enough and deep enough to freely accept a 4-40 x 1/4" set screw.

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With the filler bolt in place and the set screw tightened, everything is quite secure. I can easily remove the filler bolt, which is necessary to do if I want to disassemble the rifle's action. Looking at the left side of the receiver, I contemplated cutting a slot in the exposed end of the filler bolt to make it look like a screw, but decided to leave it alone.

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My intention for this rifle was silhouette shooting, for which it was well suited except for one thing. A silhouette relay is five shots, but my rifle’s short magazine held only four rounds, forcing me to do a one round reload each time. I decided to extend the magazine enough to hold five rounds. I changed out the half-magazine tube for a 2/3 tube, and now the rifle will hold six rounds in the magazine. I posted a thread some time back explaining how I did the magazine tube extension job.

The latest changes were swapping the Marble’s tang sight for a cool Montana Vintage Arms Soule Vernier and changing the front bead sight to a Lyman 17A globe sight. Silhouette rifles don’t come much better. I just wish I was a better shot!

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Shasta
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avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
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gamekeeper
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by gamekeeper »

That's a interesting story with lots of very valuable information.....thanks for sharing.... 8)
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hondo1892
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by hondo1892 »

I always thought that was a great looking rifle if it just didn't have that cross safety. I don't like the tang safeties either but they make a much better looking rifle overall.
Ray Newman
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Ray Newman »

Outstanding modification! Well done.
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JOG
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by JOG »

Does anybody know when Winchester made there Canadian model 94? It's the one that has the octagonal 27 inch barrel with the maple leave on the receiver. My gun shop has one in near mint shape! I think they wanted around $ 700.00 for it. If it's pre 64 I guess it's not to bad for the times we are in now! Shasta you did a nice job on that Winchester!
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Scott Tschirhart
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

I think that all of the commemorative rifles were made post-1964.

That does not mean that they are bad rifles.
JOG
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by JOG »

Scott Tschirhart wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:00 am I think that all of the commemorative rifles were made post-1964.

That does not mean that they are bad rifles.
Thank you Scott! I like the long octagonal barrel on the Canadian model. I'm not a fan of any of the commemoratives. After further research the were made 1967 and 1968.
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Old Savage
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Old Savage »

Have one of the 1894-1994s, excellent shooter. Velocity for 150s out of the 26" barrel is about 2450 fps. Safety doesn't bother me.
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Rusty
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Rusty »

Very nice Shasta. Those short mags with the longer barrels sure do look nice.
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Camel73
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Camel73 »

Nice!
That's really neat.

I always liked the idea of a tang sight, but have never been behind one.
It's always nice to up the enjoyment factor on existing pieces.

Nice work!
My first child - '94 30-30
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Shasta
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Re: Winchester 1894-1994 Commemorative Rifle Modifications

Post by Shasta »

Well, after only 14 years my 30-30 cartridge case head that was super-glued to the end of the cross-bolt filler bolt went AWOL. Silver solder would be a much better bond here, but I really suck at soldering. I made up a new cut-off cartridge case head, cleaned the two attaching points, and went with another super glue bond. I probably won't last another 14 years so I figure it is now someone else's problem!

Shasta
California Rifle & Pistol Association LIFE Member
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member


http://www.hcrpclub.org/schedule.html

avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
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