OT - Winchester 74

Spiritmaker · Post by **Spiritmaker** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:00 am

I got a model 74 for Christmas and had to go shoot it that day. It wants to smokestack an empty case 60% of the time. It was made in 1941 I think. Using Federal high speed ammo. Any thoughts.

Spiritmaker

Post by **Hobie** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:07 am

Model 74?

Spiritmaker · Post by **Spiritmaker** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:12 am

Sorry.

Winchester 74, 22 long rifle

Spiritmaker

OD* · Post by OD* » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:35 am

Hobie wrote:Model 74?

Mine's a '41 also.

Spiritmaker,
Have you cleaned the extractor thoroughly?

ceb · Post by **ceb** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:41 am

OK, Ok, I had never heard of a Winchester 74. But since I saw my first one at a pawn shop Wednesday, I've seen three posts about them. Thats got to be a sign. Spiritmaker, I can't help with your problem, but I would suspect a worn or broken ejector. Did you clean it well? Sometimes in these older .22s the actions just get gummed up with powder residue, slowing them down enough to cause problems.

Old Time Hunter · Post by **Old Time Hunter** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:48 am

Where's the lever????

Spiritmaker · Post by **Spiritmaker** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:58 am

Yes, I cleaned the whole thing when I first got it. I will look at the extracter again. OD, mine has a larger hole in the stock to load to. Is that common? 1.5" groups at 50 yds. with my old eyes and shaky hands. I love it.

Spiritmaker

OD* · Post by OD* » Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:01 am

Spiritmaker,

Of all the 74's I've seen, the opening in the stock have been about the same as the one in the picture. Not saying yours couldn't be original, just that I'm not familiar with them.

Hairy Clipper · Post by **Hairy Clipper** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:04 am

Gee! A Model 74!

Dad had one back in the 1950's when I was a kid. It was very accurate. But, it had a couple of problems. It liked to stovepipe and it liked to split the empty case up the side nearly the length of the case. He did not keep it very long even though it shot so accurately. If it was mine, I would check the chambers and clean the mechanism very well, inside and out. Also, try different ammo. Many guns prefer one type over another.

Let us know how it turns out.

Hairy

Post by **Hobie** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:39 pm

I thought so but this being a levergun forum and the topic not marked "OT" I wanted to be sure before I opened my pie-hole.

I'd say clean it first, change ammo second. Even if you've been using the same make and load, lots differ enough to sometimes cause problems with a particular gun.

However, I've not got one to which to refer for specifics. Dan will have to do the honors... BTW Dan, it is GOOD to see you here again.

John in MS · Post by **John in MS** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:52 pm

I grew up with a 74 that my dad bought new c. 1940, which is extremely accurate. I once put a 24X Leupold on it and shot it on a 100 yard indoor range (yes, really!). Using a good lot of Eley Standard (their lowest grade practice match ammo), six consecutive 5-shot groups averaged 1.25". My Kimber Super America at the time averaged 1.2" at 100 with the same ammo. These guns made prior to 1954/55 time frame all had cut rifled barrels, and some can give amazing accuracy. Your barrel may very well be dated (2-digit date) on the underside.

In my experience, they are prone to building up fouling, particularly with match ammo that has a waxy lubricant, such as Eley (which I use for squirrel hunting). To clean the bolt, dry-fire it and then push the round button at the extreme rear of the receiver out until it clicks, and the bolt can be removed as a unit. Clean both the bolt and all the little nooks/crannies in the receiver that can hold sludge. A dental pick works great for this. Also, since it is new to you, I would remove the barreled action from the stock, and clean the feed lips of the tubular mag on the underside of the action, and corresponding areas of the tubular mag that are exposed after the action is removed. Check the tension on your mag tube follower spring while you're at it.

Mine will operate reliably on Eley standard vel. ammo for about 100-150 rounds when starting very clean, but will go much, much longer with copper plated high velocity ammo of good quality.

One thing; if you ever decide to scope it, there is a straight, wire spring that engages the safety, that's staked to the inside top of the receiver. You can probably see it just by pushing the safety past its normal limits and removing it. Whatever you do, make sure your gunsmith does not drill through this spring! (Ask me know I know this...

) A REAL gunsmith made us a new spring, installed it, and then installed a high quality one-piece Redfield-type base that was pretty short, and fit very nicely on the receiver. I believe it was from a TC Contender, but can't be sure as that was many years ago. Mine wears a 6X Leupold Alaskan (yes, leupold) with parallax corrected for 50 yards. It's a great scope, with a 7/8", blue-steel tube that perfectly complements the old Winchester. The long-barreled 74 with subsonic match ammo is a stone killer in the squirrel woods -- and is pretty quiet, too!

I'd be willing to bet that a thorough cleaning and finding ammo it likes will probably cure your problem. Don't give up on the 74 too easily -- I'm familiar with several that shoot extremely accurately, which seems to be a characteristic of this model.

Hope you enjoy it!
John

OJ · Post by OJ » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:54 pm

I have a Winchester 74 I bought in 1939 - one year before the model for .22LR came out - mine is chambered for .22 shorts only. That was OK for me since I did all my shooting with .22 shorts - they were two bits a box of 50 and LR ammo cost twice as much. The loading hole in my stock is a little larger than the one pictured above.

That little rifle was very accurate and reliable though the trigger action never smoothed out. The Winchester 74 was produced as a low priced alternative to the elegant model 63 - which was known to be somewhat picky about the ammo it was reliable with but still was considered the top of the line.

There is a write up on Winchester 22 Caliber Rifles (WWII to 1963) by Hollis Flint in the 2008 Gun Digest page 123 that includes a very complete description and history of both models 63 and 74. The 74 had a unique construction that made it easy to clean and work on.

OD* · Post by OD* » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:11 pm

Thank you Hobie, it's good to be here.

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 1:07 am

I had a "large" hole 74. They were late production rifles and do command a premium, with collectors.

RSY · Post by **RSY** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 1:22 am

Ironically, both my grandfathers (one a gun guy, one not so much) had Model 74s.

One thing I recall is that I quickly learned not to over-lube the bolt assembly. Being young and stupid once, I was shooting without eye protection and that rifle spit a good bit of oil into my eyes.

Fair warning.

scott

Spiritmaker · Post by **Spiritmaker** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:21 am

Thanks guys for all the help. Being new to this I didn't know to post OT on a different subject other than lever guns. This rifle is like new so I don't think I will be drilling any holes in it.

Thanks,

Spiritmaker

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:23 am

RSY wrote:Ironically, both my grandfathers (one a gun guy, one not so much) had Model 74s.

One thing I recall is that I quickly learned not to over-lube the bolt assembly. Being young and stupid once, I was shooting without eye protection and that rifle spit a good bit of oil into my eyes. Fair warning.

scott

I learned that lesson ONCE too!

It was getting "fussy", at the range, so I gave it a squirt of Break Free. My shooting glasses looked like a spitting cobra had hit me after the first shot or two.