I picked up a couple mid 70s Winchester 94's yesterday for dirt cheap, but they are in fairly rough shape. Both sets of bores actually cleaned up nicely, but they do have a decent amount of external pitting and rusting. One of the guns cleaned up OK, but the other has more pitting. Wood on both is good, but will certainly need refinishing. The guns are mechanically sound, just need a lot of TLC.
I've always wanted to do a Marlin Texan clone with a 94, except cutting the barrel down to 16" and chopping down the mag tube half way. I have two Marlin 30 TK's, which were basically the KMart version of the Texan, and now I want a Winchester to match. I've also always wanted to rechamber one in .30-30 Improved, and have been sitting on a set of dies for the eventual conversion for years. Now, I know some people just run in a reamer and call it a day, but everything I've read recommends setting the barrel back enough to cut a new chamber. My goal would be to keep .30-30 velocities, but in a 16" barrel.
How difficult is it to remove and headspace a 94 barrel? I know it headspaces on the rim, but most suggest setting up the dies on the Improved to headpace on the shoulder. I'd like to do everything myself, and keep cost down...its just not worth throwing a lot of money at the guns. I have a barrel vise, but not sure what type of action wrench I would need. I know I will also have to recut the extractor notch at the 12 o'clock position, but that shouldn't be too difficult. I have a lathe, so cutting and recrowning the barrel won't be a problem.
Any suggestions? I know the actions can't be reblued, so I will look into some kind of coating for them....but still do a homemade hot-bluing on the rest of the parts.
