Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Who [here or otherwise] will rebarrel a Winchester 94?

...I have a little project I want to undertake. I have several post 64/pre-AE Winchester 94s. All are 30-30 carbines. I see that Green Mountain Barrel has 32-40 octagon barrels in the #3 contour.

I want to rebarrel one of my 94's, changing it to a full length rifle. Of course I would need to find a rifle length/style foreend, and foreend metal, and a full length magazine tube.

I have always been intrigued with older Winchester lever guns, I own several that I hunt with, but have never been able to get my hands on a 32-40. Either the bore looked like a sewer pipe or they had a price tag approaching two grand.

Any 'smiths here want to give her a try? Can anyone point me in the right direction? I will handle the blueing, or perhaps the browning, myself.

Thanks!
Joe

I'll talk with Chris today and see if he's willing to tackle the job. There shouldn't be anything much to it so long as the barrel bands will fit the new barrel. What about sights? Want the slots cut? They take time and time is money.

Another problem is a reamer. Not many 32-40 reamers around and I'm not interested in buying one since I've not had a call for one since I've been in business. Do you want to buy it? If so, you'll own it and take possession of it when we're finished.

Be forewarned this will wind up being pretty costly. The timing on making an octagon barrel fit properly is time consuming. (See comment above on time ) You could very well have several hundred dollars invested by the time you're through.

Same dream I've had for years other than caliber choice I'd do mine in 25-35 Win all the used ones I find have sewer pipe barrels.Seems like it would be smart to start with a old rifle with all the right parts and rebarrel but the newer AE is stronger giving sighting options.I had a new M94 Short rifle on order when Winchester pulled the plug on them a few years ago. Magnum Man

.32-40 reamers are common - just not with the modern crowd. And rebarreling with an octagon is no big deal by those who do it all the time. But before you jump in, there might be a couple other things to consider.
1. A #3 is a pretty hefty barrel for a lever rifle.
2. Most .32-40s are going on singleshots and most singlshots are shooting very heavy (long) bullets because they have no restrictions on OAL and they are generally shooting benchrest targets at 200 yds.
3. By rebarreling, you disqualify your rifle for NRA lever silhouette competition. This game is driving the values of lever action rifles these days, esp. the older ones. You can have it rebored (but from .30 to .32 probably won't go, but .30 to .38-55 would), or you can have it relined. This will maintain more of your rifle's value (and its patina it has one).

Relining with a TJ's liner in the correct twist for the bullets you want to shoot (200 gr lead?) is the only way I would go if I was determined to have a .32 from a .30. You will have to go elsewhere to get a good estimate on what a good twist rate should be. Lots of smiths can, and do, do this. But you might take a poke down at the BPCR forum here or better, some place like marlinowners.com or SteelCity.com, or a few other places where lever guns, and 19th century rifles are a bit more "normal". This is a stainless and plastic bolt world for the most part.

I can definately pick up a 32-40 reamer, that's no problem. I would at least need the slot cut into the barrel for the front sight; I wouldn't be concerned with the rear as I would be, more than likely, using a tang sight.

As BrentD mentioned, the #3 may be a bit heavy for a 1894 action, that was going to be one of my questions for the 'smith. I don't see on the Green Mountain website, any lighter contours bored and twisted for the 32-40.

Worst case scenario, I would take a new 26" round barrel, as opposed to the octagon. I am more concerned with having the 32-40 chambered rifle itself, I just thought an octagon barrel would be nice, and would match the 1892 (early 1900's vintage) 25-20 that I have. It wears a 24" octagon barrel.

MColeman, if you would'nt mind getting back to me via PM on some prices/options, that would be fantastic!

Thanks.

I'm not sure why you really want to rebarrel. Again, you may not want the twist of those GM barrels. And relining is a much better option for what you want to do.

and two more options:
1. put a search on Gunbroker and Ebay for a take-off barrel.
2. trade your 30-30 for a .32-40

Chris and I talked about this yesterday. Brent has a point re: the contour. I am not familiar with Green Mountain's #3 and have no point of reference since a barrel maker can assign any value to any number that suits his fancy it really doesn't tell us much without dimensions.

Brent also has a valid point in relining. There are plenty of smiths that do this and do it very well. We, however, are not among their number.

In light of all this information and the fact that it's a radical departure from our normal jobs Chris and I think you'd be better served by dealing with a smith with experience along these lines. Be sure to ask for references and not just believe their sales spiel.

Good luck and we'd enjoy following your progress here.
Mickey

A Green Mt. #3 is the same as a Winchester singleshot #3. It is a medium heavy barrel for a highwall or a Stevens type of singleshot. It is really WAY heavy on a lever gun and may not interface well with the receiver.