My Winchester 94 and Question.

[Horse'nround]

Sweet little gun. Mine is a 71' in 30-30. They're nice guns to have just because of the history. My vote is Don't touch it. Love it for what is. Every mark is a story, whether you know the story or not when you pick it up it talks to you.
I got to hold an 86' once at a gun show. OOoooo! Makes me shudder just thinking about it. I guess the owner could tell I was dying to touch it. He said go ahead and pick it up. It was standing up in the original finger jointed wood box with the Winchester name still on it and box of UMC 45-90's at the bottom, the lead bullets were fuzzy white with time. A well worn leather saddle scabbard was on the table in front of it with a placard telling its story. When my hand touched the forearm it was like an electric shock went through me. The rifle was covered with patina and the octagon barrel heavily pitted and had some smooth ware marks from the scabbard. As the story goes, the guy is the 4th generation owner. His great grandfather got the gun in 1887 in either Texas or Oklahoma to work a cattle drive. He drove cattle form Texas to Montana in to the late 1890's before getting his own ranch in Wyoming. I couldn't begin to imagine the stories that gun could tell. To hold a of piece history like that!! Coolest day at a gun show EVER!!

Don't take away it's stories.

[Lonestar grips.]

nice rifle . pre 64 models are very desirable so if it were me I would not refinish it.

Henry makes a fine rifle and you can't go wrong with one. two other options would be a Rossi model 92 or a Marlin 1894. I've heard a lot of great things about the Rossi and on the Marlins it can be hit or miss. when Remington bought them out the quality really tanked but I have heard they are getting better. and I believe this year they are reintroducing the 1894 in the 357. of course if you can find an older JM stamped gun it's bound to be a shooter.

[BlackKnight]

Thanks guys!
There are some areas of pitting and rust. The guy I bought it from took it from a guys who just threw and kept in the trunk of his car.
Still, I will keep it as is.

[sdmc530]

Originally Posted by BlackKnight

Thanks guys!
There are some areas of pitting and rust. The guy I bought it from took it from a guys who just threw and kept in the trunk of his car.
Still, I will keep it as is.

glad to hear this. You can treat the issues to keep it from getting worse. However overtime if it gets bad enough a redue might still be in order. I am a fan of never messing with history!

Good luck.

[AFJuvat]

Originally Posted by BlackKnight

Thanks guys!
There are some areas of pitting and rust. The guy I bought it from took it from a guys who just threw and kept in the trunk of his car.
Still, I will keep it as is.

As it happens, I do firearms restoration as a hobby.

I agree, if it is a piece that has collectable value, it should be left as original as possible.

But, to expand on what Charlie was mentioning earlier, there are two different techniques for restoring a firearm.

Restoration: Bringing the firearm back to a new or original state.

For your rifle, this would not be appropriate, but the second option:

Preservation: Stopping or halting active deterioration of the firearm or its components while preserving as much of the original finish as possible.

If you have active rust on the firearm, it needs to be removed and halted.

Try this for a low impact method of removing the rust, stopping any further rust, and still keeping the finish original.

Brush off any loose rust.
Clean/degrease the areas completely. Use denatured alcohol or acetone.

Once it is degreased, do not touch the areas without wearing gloves.

Boil DISTILLED water on your stove.

Either submerge the part in the boiling water (it it is small enough) or hold the part in the steam for 15 - 20 minutes.

If everything was cleaned correctly, the red rust should turn to a dark blue-black, which is magnetite.

Rub off any dust with 0000 steel wool

Coat the area with oil Dirty motor oil works GREAT for this.

Allow it rest for about 24 hours.

Clean off the oil and reassemble.

Congratulations, you just did a repair on your firearm that turned all that red rust into black iron oxide and left everything original.

[RKP]

Originally Posted by AFJuvat

...... Preservation: Stopping or halting active deterioration of the firearm or its components while preserving as much of the original finish as possible.

If you have active rust on the firearm, it needs to be removed and halted.

Try this for a low impact method of removing the rust, stopping any further rust, and still keeping the finish original.

Brush off any loose rust.
Clean/degrease the areas completely. Use denatured alcohol or acetone.

Once it is degreased, do not touch the areas without wearing gloves.

Boil DISTILLED water on your stove.

Either submerge the part in the boiling water (it it is small enough) or hold the part in the steam for 15 - 20 minutes.

If everything was cleaned correctly, the red rust should turn to a dark blue-black, which is magnetite.

Rub off any dust with 0000 steel wool

Coat the area with oil Dirty motor oil works GREAT for this.

Allow it rest for about 24 hours.

Clean off the oil and reassemble.

Congratulations, you just did a repair on your firearm that turned all that red rust into black iron oxide and left everything original.

GREAT info, thanks for sharing !!

[BlackKnight]

Originally Posted by AFJuvat

As it happens, I do firearms restoration as a hobby.

I agree, if it is a piece that has collectable value, it should be left as original as possible.

But, to expand on what Charlie was mentioning earlier, there are two different techniques for restoring a firearm.

Restoration: Bringing the firearm back to a new or original state.

For your rifle, this would not be appropriate, but the second option:

Preservation: Stopping or halting active deterioration of the firearm or its components while preserving as much of the original finish as possible.

If you have active rust on the firearm, it needs to be removed and halted.

Try this for a low impact method of removing the rust, stopping any further rust, and still keeping the finish original.

Brush off any loose rust.
Clean/degrease the areas completely. Use denatured alcohol or acetone.

Once it is degreased, do not touch the areas without wearing gloves.

Boil DISTILLED water on your stove.

Either submerge the part in the boiling water (it it is small enough) or hold the part in the steam for 15 - 20 minutes.

If everything was cleaned correctly, the red rust should turn to a dark blue-black, which is magnetite.

Rub off any dust with 0000 steel wool

Coat the area with oil Dirty motor oil works GREAT for this.

Allow it rest for about 24 hours.

Clean off the oil and reassemble.

Congratulations, you just did a repair on your firearm that turned all that red rust into black iron oxide and left everything original.

That. Is. Awesome! Thank you!