Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General A very old 94 with light primer strikes

I recently inherited a very old Winchester 94 that has been sitting in a closet for probably 50 years. It came with a dozen boxes of Winchester Silver Tips. Cleaned it and took it out to test fire and the sights were still dead on and the accuracy good. The only problem I have with it is light primer strikes and misfires. IF I pull the hammer all the way back manually and pull the trigger it fires every time. I suspect a weak spring but wanted to check here with those in the know about old 94 and see what the consensus is on what the problem could be and what the solution is.

Thank you in advance.

I'm a bit confused. Are you saying that you have to hold the hammer back past the point where it normally catches and release it from there for it to fire?

It has been a long time since I've had a 94 apart, but I would tear it apart and scrub the bejesus out of it. Look for any burrs or rust that may be inhibiting the hammer and or firing pin and correct as needed. You may be able to bend the mainspring to add a little more umph to it but that is something I haven't tried or done and I would expect it to increase the trigger pull weight. You would probably be better off with a new spring if that is the problem and if they are available.

Find some good instructions to follow before disassembly, the 94 has several pieces inside.

It does not fire consistently with the hammer cocked in the normal firing position. While sighting it in I had it in a lead sled so safely tried pulling the hammer all the way back from cocked position, and it fires every single time. The spring seems to be the likely culprit so I will order one and take it down and clean the hell out of it and install the new spring and see what. Super handy rifle, I forget how cool these were.

I'd bet that you'll be in good shape after that. Let us know.

I’m not a 94 expert, so the following may (or may not) help. First, a deep clean and lube is in order. Check to make sure the mainspring strain screw is all the way in. It may need a new mainspring? They are about $35 at gun parts corp or Jack first.

Schematic

Mainspring

Mainspring

Gunscrubber could well be a good idea. Spray it down into the firing pin chamber as the gun sits upright. I bet you get black juice run out... I don't lube firing pins as the lubes tend to collect fouling. I lube the bolt and locking blocks with synthetic oil or transmission fluid.

A good cleaning and/or a new spring will likely fix your problem. However I had an older one that the sear and full cock notch on the hammer were severely worn and wouldn’t set the primer off reliably. To check, open the action slowly and see if the hammer is riding on the bottom of the bolt ahead of the “hump” at the rear. The hammer should not touch the bolt after that hump passes over it.

Thank you so much. This is super helpful.

You are welcome. Let us know how it turns out.

Plus 1 on disassemble and clean. Several years ago I did that to my grandfather's 1894 made in 1906, before taking it hunting again. There were 60 years of fossilized gun oil and dust in every open space inside the receiver. Cleaning solvent and small picks are your friends.

Would not argue at all with what's been said. A good cleaning sometimes eliminates all ills. But, other things to look at also. I.bought a early 80's 94 AE in 7-30 Waters. It shot fine with that vintage red box federal ammo. At a gunshow last spring I found a bag of virgin nickle plated Federal 7-30 cases and bought them then loaded some test loads. I had more than a few light strike misfires. This gun isn't old enough or used enough to have a crud build up. Finally occurred to me to break out my dial calipers. SAAMI spec on the 30-30 family cases is a rim thickness of .063". The new nickle plated cases were only .051" thick some brass fed 30-30 was.059". So using the nickle fed cases gave excess headspace but the brass cases in fed stamped 7-30 were .058". So a few thousands weren't a big deal but .012" were. Get your calipers out and check your rim thickness takes only a few seconds. Check the simple stuff first..mb

After you have checked and done the good advice above...remove the mainspring screw, mainspring, carefully note the surface angle on the mainspring 'foot' (the side opposite and underneath the screw head, that bears on the tang) take it to the grinder and gingerly grind a new angle to increase spring tension. It'll be good for another generation or two.

just an added note to Flintlocke's advise. have a water bath next to the grinder and dunk that spring in it every couple seconds of grinding. if you see blue you are not dunking soon enough.