Winchester 94 Restoration

Written By Anna Salemo

Restoring a pre-64 Winchester 94

A customer brought in his pre-64 Winchester 94 for a restoration service.  His father had purchased it a long time ago and had taken really good care of it. But, when he passed away, the rifle acquired some rust and it needed to be restored to its original condition.

To begin the restoration, we removed the rust with sandpaper.  Then, we proceeded to polish the gun with a finer grit sandpaper.  For restorations, our goal is to change the rifle as little as possible.  We want to finish everything to match the original and current look of the gun. Polishing to match is a highly detailed process which takes a few hours. After prepping the surface, we reblued it to its original factory finish.  If you’re interested in learning more about our bluing process, you can read our bluing blog here.

This lever-action was one of the most popular and best selling hunting rifles for over 100 years—with over 7.5 million manufactured by 1983. Many called it a national institution.  In fact, the millionth model was given to President Coolidge and the two millionth to Eisenhower.

History of the Winchester 94

Oliver Winchester

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1646931

In 1855, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnered to manufacture “Volcanic” lever-action guns.  They created the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, and Oliver Winchester, a clothing manufacturer, was the largest stakeholder. But these “Volcanic” guns had little success and the company went bankrupt within a few years. With the company’s collapse, Oliver Winchester purchased the assets and created the New Haven Arms Company in its place.

The Henry rifle, a predecessor to the Model 94 and one of the most popular rifles of its time, was developed by Benjamin Henry and manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company in 1860. Henry became upset about his compensation and argued to the state legislature that he should be awarded ownership of the company. To avoid losing New Haven Arms and the rights to the design of the Henry rifle, Oliver Winchester reorganized the company under the name Winchester Repeating Arms.

Just a few years later, Winchester’s company had improved Henry’s design and created the Model 1866, the first Winchester rifle. In addition to creating a series successful of lever-action rifles, Winchester developed cartridges and manufactured ammunition.

1860 Henry and 1866 Winchester Musket.

By Hmaag - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5536964

In 1883, Winchester started to explore smokeless powder.  Not only was this powder less corrosive, but it also enabled projectiles to travel farther distances with flatter trajectories.  This was an incredible development in the history of firearms, but it required a rifle capable of handling the new power packed load.  And who better than John Moses Browning to design a rifle specifically for this new powder?

So, in that same year, Browning partnered with Winchester to design several iconic rifles. The Model 94 was preceded by two other lever-actions created by Browning, the Winchester 1886 and 1892 models. Browning’s Winchester 94 was predicated on the Model 1886’s design but was built for smokeless powder—instead of black powder—and longer cartridges.  Much like Browning’s other designs, the mechanisms are complicated but extremely reliable.

This rifle gave rise to the popular .30-30 Winchester cartridge. When it was released in 1895, Winchester began to manufacturer the Model 94 from a stronger steel in order to handle the power and pressure of the smokeless powder.

Along with the popular cartridge, the Winchester 94 was both prolific and iconic. And just like Browning’s other designs—the 1911, the BAR, and the Auto 5—the design of the Model 94 is genius. And yet, right before the turn of the century, Winchester terminated its partnership with Browning over a payment dispute. Instead, Browning partnered with FN in Belgium where he went on to design the A5 and the Hi-Power.

Post-1964 Models

While the design has remained mostly the same for over a century, three major changes have occurred in Model 94s. And many insist on the distinction between pre-64 models and post-64 models—almost as if they are two different guns.

In 1964, when Winchester came under new ownership, they changed the manufacturing process of the Model 94 in order to save on production costs. Winchester replaced the forged steel receiver with sintered steel—resulting in a purple instead of blued finish. Other changes occurred as well, including the use of hollow roll pins instead of solid steel pins. 

Winchester 94 made in 1966

By Picanox - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94253742

For many, this was blasphemy.  A shameful decline in quality.  And the prices of original models compared to post 1964 models still reflect this sentiment today—even though most recognize that the rifle’s performance was not impacted by these changes.

Another major change to the Model 94 happened in 1982 to accommodate the increasing popularity of scopes. Because the cartridge ejects from the top of the receiver in the Model 94, it couldn’t have a top mounted scope. In fact, some blamed a decline in Model 94 sales on the rifle’s inability to use a scope during this period.  So, almost a century after the initial design, Winchester changed the angle of the cartridge ejection to allow for a scope. 

Once again, many originalists were mortified. After all, they claimed, the Model 94 wasn’t built for long range hunting.  You shouldn’t need a scope for it, they said. But the worst was yet to come.

In 1989, FN Herstal of Belgium took over Winchester with the goal of making it a worldwide brand. Isn’t it fitting that the company at which Browning finished his career is now in control of both the Browning and Winchester brands?

Just a few years after taking over the production of the Winchester 94, FN added another design change which had traditionalists up in arms. They eliminated the half-cock safety and replaced it with a cross-bolt safety—allowing it to be sold on the international market.  With massive blowback from consumers, FN quelled the criticisms by moving the safety to the tang behind the receiver in 2003. But soon thereafter, in 2006, production of Model 94s in New Haven ceased. 

In 2011, a Japanese company called Miroku Corp began production once again.  These are the new, imported Winchester 94s seen on the market today. And while some are angry that an American national treasure is being manufactured in Japan, many wouldn’t even touch a Winchester 94 made after 1964 no matter where it was made.

Anna Salemo
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