Malfunctioning 94 Winchester

[oneb]

This is my first 94 Winchester and operator error is definitely a possiblity.

It is an XTR in 7-30 Waters that I bought used. It was in very good shape -- no signs of use externally, but cleaning the barrel was a chore as it had a build up of crud including some superifical rust but no pittin that i could see.

Today the rifle malfunctioned about every other shot at the
range. I would lever a round into the chamber, pull the trigger
and it would not move! Of course the hammer did not fall
either. On inspecting the round it had a very slight firing
pin indentation on the primer -- clearly not enough for ignition.
It did not seem to matter if I energeticly worked the lever
or loafed throught the movement. (I was using Federal 120 gr FN
commercial rounds; extraction and feeding were flawless.)

Also, probably not related, the rifle would only accept one
round in the tube at a time.  You had to chamber one round and
insert another one into the tube/magazine. I suspect the
previous owner used flat nose bullets and aded a plug to
keep anyone from using pointed bullets that might ignite in
the tube.

When working right, it shot nice groups but I only had
access to a 50 yard range as my regular Isaac Walton range has
been closed down.

Thanks for any help on this one,
oneb

[jgalar]

Is the gun slipping off full cock and going to half cock?

[oneb]

jgalar,

No, what happens is that when I close the action, the lever falls down about an 1/8th of an inch, then two stids -- one directly behind the trigger, theotehr about an inch back also drop down from the receiver about the same amount. The rifle wilnot fire until I squeeze the lever back up and force those two studs back into the action.  In short, I need to squeeze and hold the lever up[ tightly in order to make the hammer drop. This makes for pretty sloppy trigger control on a rtrigger that alreadyt has lots of take-up.

oneb

[jhm]

Oneb :  Thats exactly the way the winchester is designed to shoot, you have to maintain enough preasure on the lever to close it on the protrudging ear for lack of a better word, thats a safety feature i believe    JIM

[Geno]

as jhm states, this is the way the WIN 94 is designed, enough pressure needs to be maintained on the lever, squeezing it to compress the little tab right behind the trigger. this insures you action (toggles) are completely locked up and wont allow the hammer to drop unless it is. The round feeding problem in the tube magazine, that sounds like you are inserting a round and allowing it to fall behind the side feed gate where cartridges are inserted. If more than one round is desired in the magazine, I usually insert a round about 3/4 of the way in, then with the next round, push it all the way in until this round is 3/4 of the way in, continue this until mag is full, then manually push the last round fully into the mag.

[oneb]

Thanks for the tips.

I can see I'll have to spend range tiem with this rifle and getn used to its quirks.

Ignorance is terrible thing. Stupidity is worse.

oneb

[Shorty]

I once had a '94 brought to me that would not perform a solid enough hammer strike for reliable ignition.  I learned that the owner had been lubricating it with SALAD OIL!  :roll:  The firing pin was so gummed up that it would barely move. :eek:

[frank405]

You may want to take apart the magazine and clean out the tube and spring. Also you may want to modify the STUPID AND DANGEROUS rebounding hammer thing. My Waters worked fine for a while then would misfire at any time until I ground off about .035 from the thingy that contacts the back of the trigger. I don't know what the factory calls this thing but it is what drives the hammer forward and retards the hammer from going all the way like on my Model 64 Deluxe.  I now have a safe and reliable rifle that goes bang when I pull the trigger. All the new winchester levers are plagued with this crap but it pretty easy to rid your rifle of this.

[Oldtimer]

I bought a used 94 and had a similar problem with having to squeeze really hard to disengage the lever safety.  I took it to a gunsmith who determined that the lever had been bent, so he bent it back to the original shape and the gun works fine now.  It might be worth checking it out.