Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Custom Winchester 54 30 WCF

Looks to be a prewar stock job.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/766657785

Wish I had seen it...

Looks very similar to this one.........
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...gazine-sporting-rifle-a-414-c-5c98f0f9f7

wish i had also Gary. something about the 54 gives me tingles up my leg!

Awhile back a M54 in 250-3000 on GUNBROKER had a starting bid of $499, it was a shooter, not a safe queen, and I put it on my watch list expecting it to go for north of $1200. Low and behold it sold for $499......

Nice ol’ piece!!!

yer killing me here!

I picked up a Model 54 in 22 Hornet with a Unertl scope for $1600 a couple of years ago. Comparative Model 70s were twice that and without the $500 scope. I now have Model 54s in 22 hornet, 250 Savage, 30 WCF, and 400 Whelen.

Gorgeous, late model 54 came into LGS a while back in 30 Govt 06. I already had one like it. And really couldnt afford another. Talked a great old customer into it for $695. It was a daisy.

A Winchester M54 in 250-3000 would be a cool deer rifle, no where near as expensive as a pre64 M70, but just as hard to find.

Hey all, long time lurker but new to the site. Love the lines of a 54, my dad bought one recently and can’t figure out how to get the bolt out... without having the rifle makes it hard for me to figure out. So how do I tell him to get it out?

Thanks in advance!

Pull the trigger and open the bolt... It will slide out.. The trigger is the bolt stop.. I had my trigger lightened and the bolt would come out with out pulling the trigger, used a screw as a bolt stop... Other wise very nice rifle..

Distaster struck via UPS.

Wow. Don't have the words. I can only imagine the heartbreak I would have after the anticipation of getting that rifle after getting the deal done. Just bought a model 42 Winchester from Nathan on this board, and the only concern was actually getting it here in one piece. I didn't want to make him mad, but I asked him to please bubblewrap and pad the bottom of butt stock so the apes might not break it if dropped on butt stock. He did and it got here fine. Hope you find some justice in getting this repaired or replaced. Sorry for your rifle ending up like this. I coveted that gun when you first posted pictures of it.

Chuck

So which one of you gun heads won the M54 7X57MM on GUNBROKER a couple of days ago?

That is a heartbreaker of a break. Anything can be fixed, including that. Since it's broken almost square there is not much long grain-to-long grain wood surface for epoxy to give a strong bond to. What will be needed is a solid rod down the middle inside the wrist to provide strength and for glue to bond to. (1/2" or bigger diameter carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc.) Unfortunately with a break like that which goes cross-grain there is no way you will totally camouflage the break line after all is said and done, but it can be made solid enough for shooting and hunting.

Therein lies why it's so important to consider grain flow when selecting wood for a stock. Pretty/highly figured grain doesn't belong in the wrist, it's just asking for trouble down the road. (Not knowing what happened in shipping, and not knowing how well the rifle was packaged, I can't guess as to what could have been done to better protect it. It's why I'm anal about over-packaging guns for shipping- the wooden reinforcements I put into the box ahead of the gun and packing materials add greatly to the bulk and final weight of the package, and drives the cost up dramatically, but at least I never sent a gun that arrived broken. I have received guns broken due to slipshod packaging though. One was a pre-war custom Krag broken exactly like this M54 was- the idiot merely dropped it in an empty box, taped it up, and consigned it to UPS.)

I also always dismantle the rifle and position the barreled action to act as a further stiffener for the wood stock. A PIA maybe for the recipient to have to re-assemble it, but it does make for a stronger and smaller package better designed to withstand the ravages of modern shipping practices. A friend who did a career with UPS advised me that a package really needs to be able to withstand hundreds of pounds of pressure or safe arrival is a crapshoot. Imagine your package being at the bottom of a load of boxes stacked in a tractor trailer, put (thrown) there by a bunch of horny-handed hourly guys working against the clock.

The rifle was well packaged, the only way it could have been better packaged would have been if it had been in a gun case. It is a bummer for sure, but like my FFL said, better have it break in shipping than while shooting. It is in good hands with Dennis Erhardt. You're right though, it is a great example of why grain layout in the wrist is so important. I received a Pre WWI Mauser Type B recently and the box it came in was trashed, rifle was fine though.

Did one of you guys win the M54 Supergrade 250-3000 on GUNBROKER?