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lever gun help

T

tomcatmv

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Minuteman
Apr 13, 2017
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Central Texas
I had posted a couple pictures of a couple old Winchesters in the vintage section under "not snipery but vintage thread" and asked a question about how to remedy the rather hard cycling of my model 94 .30-30 but got no response. So once the breech bolt contacts the hammer it is hard to continue the cycling. Is there a fix for this? I have a newer (about 15 year old) model 92 Puma in .357 mag that is really slick and I'd like to get the old (1917) 94 to be almost as smooth.
Any advice?
 
The action of the 94 is not like the action of the 92. You may be able to polish the mating surfaces a little but the 94 will never be as smooth to operate as a 92.
 
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Hes right on the ones ive seen.... you can clean and smooth and lube of course. It WILL help things vs not doing it. But all things being equal the 1892 will be smoother and lack that catchy feeling of the 1894 model.
 
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You're trying to move a 30wcf vs a 357. The longer throw of every single component is going to make it harder to move. Then you couple that with the fact that your lever only moves the same amount, and you're multiplying the torque required by the lever to move everything.


You can slick it up. In my experience that generally means "polish it until it's 99% worn the fuck out".

If you shoot it enough it will polish itself. If you polish it, it'll be worn out quicker.

Dealers choice. You do what you want, it's your gun.


My personal opinion, run it like you mean it. Move the lever with the attitude of forcing it to function, and it'll move right quick and in a hurry.

My personal lever guns, the sharp edges of the lever itself have been broken so I can run it hard without feeling it. All the pinches and general discomfort I had were from the lever, not the force required to run the action.
 
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chevy_man said:
You're trying to move a 30wcf vs a 357. The longer throw of every single component is going to make it harder to move. Then you couple that with the fact that your lever only moves the same amount, and you're multiplying the torque required by the lever to move everything.


You can slick it up. In my experience that generally means "polish it until it's 99% worn the fuck out".

If you shoot it enough it will polish itself. If you polish it, it'll be worn out quicker.

Dealers choice. You do what you want, it's your gun.


My personal opinion, run it like you mean it. Move the lever with the attitude of forcing it to function, and it'll move right quick and in a hurry.

My personal lever guns, the sharp edges of the lever itself have been broken so I can run it hard without feeling it. All the pinches and general discomfort I had were from the lever, not the force required to run the action.
Click to expand...
Good advice, thanks. I'm thinking adding some sort of padding to the inside of the lever may help, maybe some moleskin or something similar.
 
A good lithium grease will help too. My Glenfield was brutal til I polished up the internals and added some grease. Slicked it up right nice
 
I’ve got a 1964 model 94 in 30-30, and it cycles like butter. Give it some good use and it will smooth out.
 
Be careful about polishing the wrong area, it can affect headspace.
I think there's a spewtube video about it....might try a search.
 
tomcatmv said:
Nevermind. Found some sources, Google is your friend.
Click to expand...
I think I'm also going to try to put some longitudinally split surgical tubing under the leather for some more padding. I have some lying around that I use for various fishing rigs. It's just at 72 my arthritis in my hands make it a little painful.
 
IIRC the Winchester 1894 “pulls its pants down” when cycled so more stuff moving likely means more resistance / friction until the parts are worn in.

Once you install the leather lever cover, watch Patton and Godfather 1 and Godfather 2 and cycle your rifle while watching all three films. After that it should start to smooth out.

-Stan
 
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't receive a response on the forum. As for your question about the hard cycling of your Winchester Model 94, there are a few things you can try:

Make sure that the rifle is properly cleaned and lubricated, as this can sometimes solve the problem. Inspect the action of the rifle and make sure that there are no obstructions or foreign objects that could be causing the hard cycling. Make sure that the springs in the rifle are in good condition and properly tensioned.
 
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