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Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JSTUART #8764881 04/09/14
Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 8,896 Montana P prairie_goat Campfire Outfitter
prairie_goat Campfire Outfitter P Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 8,896 Montana	I was giving the OP the benefit of the doubt that he would do a function test, make sure the barrel isn't full of dead bees, and give the internals at least a rudimentary spray down and scrub before he goes to blasting stuff.

GB1

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 prairie_goat #8765497 04/10/14
Joined: May 2009 Posts: 18,508 Mississippi JohnMoses Campfire Ranger
JohnMoses Campfire Ranger Joined: May 2009 Posts: 18,508 Mississippi	PG, you know better than that man. A stuck firing pin in one of those turns into a bomb. You can't see the bolt or much of the internals from those pics, chances are it's fine, but that's quite a chance to take. I've seen OBD fling hammers off, blow the hammer spring through wrist of stock, not to mention the parade of brass shards and gas that pours out of the top. Likely to break the digits in the lever as well. I might be overly cautious, but if I can keep someone from getting hurt its worth it.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JohnMoses #8765530 04/10/14
Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife J JFKinYK OP Campfire Member
OP JFKinYK Campfire Member J Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife	Thanks for all the tips, everyone - safety and otherwise. I'm pretty fond of my face and will try to not blow it off! I have a 30-06 that's does all my hunting duty, so this isn't a necessary rifle that will see much action. I'm not even sure there is a gunsmith in town, or else I would have started there. I'll also do a bore and mag check, and post some more pics.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JFKinYK #8765592 04/10/14
Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 20,824 Hollywood irfubar Campfire Ranger
irfubar Campfire Ranger Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 20,824 Hollywood	If that was my gun I would disassemble it and soak the parts in a bucket of diesel fuel for a few days. Then dry, reassemble and test fire. If everything worked ok and it shot well, I.E. the bore was good etc... I would disassemble again, bead blast and Cerakote the metal, refinish the stock and it should be good to go for at least a 100yrs. Originally Posted by Judman PS, if you think Trump is “good” you’re way stupider than I thought! Haha Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JFKinYK #8765673 04/10/14
Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 14,800 J JoeBob Campfire Outfitter
JoeBob Campfire Outfitter J Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 14,800	I doubt there is anything seriously wrong with that rifle. Honestly, I've seen guys carrying and using 30-30s that looked worse than that. Their rifles lived under truck seats or on tractors in Arkansas and had more rust on them than that after the first summer.

IC B2

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 websterparish47 #8765792 04/10/14
Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 1,418 Fairbanks, Ak. Bear_in_Fairbanks Campfire Regular
Bear_in_Fairbanks Campfire Regular Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 1,418 Fairbanks, Ak.	Originally Posted by websterparish47 Originally Posted by JohnMoses You need to let a smith disassemble, clean and inspect before you try to run a round through that thing. The outside can be fixed, it's the inside that would have me worried. Chances are the magazine tube is full of crap, the spring is toast and there is the possibility of a rusted, protruding firing pin sending one down range as soon as you lever it...or it becomes stuck after firing the first shot and you get a surprise bang levering it for a 2nd... An out of battery ignition isn't something you want to experience with a gun in that condition...Especially with a lever gun that has top ejection - Good bye nose and eye. If you want to keep the rifle, spend the coin to have a smith give it a good going over. Money well spent. ^^^^^^^ What he said. What they both said. In spades. B.I.F. "Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes." Amazingly, I've lived long enough to see a President who is worse than Carter. And finally, Gun control means using two hands.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JFKinYK #8768382 04/11/14
Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 12,651 6491 Feet Above Sea Level Coyote_Hunter Campfire Outfitter
Coyote_Hunter Campfire Outfitter Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 12,651 6491 Feet Above Sea Level	Originally Posted by JFKinYK Hello Campfire- I recently acquired an old 30-30 that has seen better days. Any advice where to start? Is it worth trying to save it myself? Get professional help? Thoughts on value in current condition (if any!)? ... ... That is one rough looking rifle. Frankly, unless there is something special about that particular rifle, it needs more work than I'd be willing to put into it if paying a 'smith to do the work. I know prices have gone up but I paid $250 for a very nice Marlin 336CS in 2005 and I still see an occasional bargain. When was the rifle made? Any historical or sentimental value? I'd probably tear it down and clean that rifle up as best I could, then replace the springs and maybe the firing pin. If the bore is bad I might get it rebored to .35 as someone else suggested. Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE! No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's. A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 Coyote_Hunter #8769173 04/11/14
Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife J JFKinYK OP Campfire Member
OP JFKinYK Campfire Member J Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife	Not much sentimentality to the rifle. But it was free, so figured I could give it a good home. It was previously sitting outside in a shed for years. I took some more pics last night, best I could, of the bore and some other parts. From tracking down the serial, it's a 1966. Serial starts with 29xxxxx. Most of that fuzz in the bore is just dust I think, not rust. I haven't even ran a cleaning rod through the gun yet.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JFKinYK #8769216 04/11/14
Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 6,369 Idaho D drover Campfire Tracker
drover Campfire Tracker D Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 6,369 Idaho	A 1966 Win 94 in good shape does not have very much value. Keeping that in mind, if it checks out mechanically and the bore is ok, consider using 0000 steel wool and oil to clean the rust off. Then degrease the metal and spray the metal with black Krylon and you will have a perfect "beater" rifle. drover 223 Rem, my favorite cartridge - you can't argue with truckloads of dead PD's and gophers. 24hourcampfire.com - The site where there is a problem for every solution.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 drover #8771044 04/11/14
Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 27,500 Going BACK to Africa this year... safariman Campfire Ranger
safariman Campfire Ranger Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 27,500 Going BACK to Africa this year...	I have made guns that looked worse than that, run and shoot fine with some elbow grease properly applied. If you are not too excited about the gun anyways, I will pay you a fair price for or trade you a good working gun for it then and use this one to build my long desired 30/30AI. This rifle is just the ticket to be the donor for a project like that. LOVE God, LOVE your family, LOVE your country, LIKE guns and sports. About 2016 team "R" candidates "We definitely need a crew with a sack of balls the size of hot water bottles, bloviated estrogen leaking feel-gooders need not apply." Gunner 500

IC B3

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 safariman #8771205 04/11/14
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 3,353 State of Jefferson Rogue Campfire Tracker
Rogue Campfire Tracker Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 3,353 State of Jefferson	7-30 Waters

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 safariman #8771683 04/12/14
Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 7,437 Tennessee T TNrifleman Campfire Tracker
TNrifleman Campfire Tracker T Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 7,437 Tennessee	Kroil and OOOO steel wool are your friends. μολὼν λαβέ

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 safariman #8771930 04/12/14
Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 19,237 B Blackheart Campfire Ranger
Blackheart Campfire Ranger B Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 19,237	Originally Posted by safariman I have made guns that looked worse than that, run and shoot fine with some elbow grease properly applied. If you are not too excited about the gun anyways, I will pay you a fair price for or trade you a good working gun for it then and use this one to build my long desired 30/30AI. This rifle is just the ticket to be the donor for a project like that. I'd not want to put money into a 1966 '94 as a donor for a project. They were some of the poorest quality '94's ever produced. Stamped sheet steel carriers known for mis feeding. Walnut stained hardwood furniture. Cast receivers that required plating because they won't take conventional hot salts bluing.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 Blackheart #8772041 04/12/14
Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife J JFKinYK OP Campfire Member
OP JFKinYK Campfire Member J Joined: Nov 2012 Posts: 156 Yellowknife	I'm in Canada, so that kills any transactions unless you are up here too. Thanks for all the offers though. Sounds like a consensus is forming around dis-assembly to check some potential faulty parts, steel wool and elbow grease. I had a member offer to send me some schematics to help. Once those arrive, or I find some online, I'll start tinkering. Thanks, everyone.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 JohnMoses #8772242 04/12/14
Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 8,896 Montana P prairie_goat Campfire Outfitter
prairie_goat Campfire Outfitter P Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 8,896 Montana	Originally Posted by JohnMoses PG, you know better than that man. A stuck firing pin in one of those turns into a bomb. You can't see the bolt or much of the internals from those pics, chances are it's fine, but that's quite a chance to take. I've seen OBD fling hammers off, blow the hammer spring through wrist of stock, not to mention the parade of brass shards and gas that pours out of the top. Likely to break the digits in the lever as well. I might be overly cautious, but if I can keep someone from getting hurt its worth it. Easy to test. Run some primed brass through the rifle. If an OBD occurs, it will occur in a safe manner.

Re: Advice needed for old, rusty 30-30 prairie_goat #8772287 04/12/14
Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 5,567 WY & FL oldman1942 Campfire Tracker
oldman1942 Campfire Tracker Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 5,567 WY & FL	The best post was the fellow who said soak it in diesel (after removing the wood). For several weeks over very low heat outside. A 66' 94 is not worth spending much on. Once you get it functioning with dummy rounds, replace the magazine spring, polish the inside of the magazine tube, magazine follower and inside of chamber. Have the headspace checked, if okay, then buy a NECO kit and firelap the barrel. Then fire 20 factory 170 loads. (tie the rifle to a tire) I would not waste a dime on the outside unless you have an old can of spar varnish or oil based paint around. Way too much work for a rifle that was never much to start with but projects are always fun. Free is good !

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