Working the Winchester Model 1894 Lever-Action Rifle

The Winchester Model 1894 is probably the best known of Winchester’s lever-action repeating rifles and, in fact, holds the record as the best-selling high-powered sporting rifle in U. S. history. Like so many American firearms that seem to look and work perfectly, it will come as no great surprise that this extremely popular rifle was designed for Winchester by John M. Browning.

With the introduction of the Model 1894, Winchester became the first American company to manufacture a sporting rifle chambered for a smokeless-powder cartridge. That cartridge was the then-new smokeless .30-30 Winchester cartridge, which was the first commercially available smokeless-powder round available on the American market. As production and popularity grew, Winchester began offering the 1894 in a wider variety of calibers, like the .25-35 WCF, .32-40 WCF, .32 Winchester Special, and the .38-55.

Among its other first, the Model 1894 was the first sporting rifle to reach a production figure of 1,000,000, and that millionth rifle was given to President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. In 1948, number 1,500,000 was presented to President Harry S. Truman, and the two millionth rifle was given to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. By the time the Model 1894 was discontinued by Winchester in 2006, over 7 million weapons had been manufactured!

In 1964, the manufacturing process was changed to make the firearm less expensive to produce. Because of this, rifles made before 1964 (pre-64) generally command a higher price than rifles made after 1964. Various other versions were offered in the waning years of production, such as an "angle-eject" version, so known because it ejected the spent cases off away from the shooter at an angle.

There were also versions produced for some higher-powered cartridges like the .307 and .356 Winchester (basically rimmed versions of the .308 and .358 Winchester cartridges) and the so-called big-bore .375 (a modified .38-55.) In more recent years, in an effort to capture some of the cowboy-action market, Winchester also offered 1894 Models in handgun calibers such as .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .44-40, and .45 Colt.

Takedown Instructions In the instructions that follow, I’ll use the nomenclature Winchester used for the pre-1964 versions of the Model 1894. 1. As always, start by making sure the rifle is unloaded. To do this, grasp the rifle around the barrel and forearm with your left hand, and while pointing the muzzle in a safe direction, open the action by pulling the finger lever (#39) all the way down with your right hand.

Check to be absolutely sure there is no cartridge either in the barrel’s chamber or laying in the cartridge carrier (#30) within the action. If a cartridge is present in the carrier, the rifle will be loaded when you close the lever. To safely unload a rifle with a loaded magazine, keep the muzzle pointing in a safe direction and your fingers away from the trigger, and operate the lever to the fully open and fully closed positions several times to expel the cartridges in the magazine.

Work the lever until no more cartridg-

Opposite page top: Millions like this Model 1894 Winchester have been produced over the last hundred years or so. This one is a typical pre-1964 carbine in .30-30 caliber. Author photos. Be sure to have the hammer down first, and be sure to take note of how the mainspring fits into the hammer stirrup. es are expelled from the action. 2. To remove the buttstock and mainspring, unscrew and remove the upper tang screw (#28) from the upper tang. This is the rear-most of the two screws behind the hammer.

The buttstock assembly (not shown) is now loose, and you can remove it from the receiver (#10) by pulling it straight to the rear. Now open the lever just far enough to give you access to the mainspring screw (#50). This is the rear-most screw on the lower action tang. After you loosen and remove the mainspring screw, the mainspring (#49) can be lifted out of its seat with the hammer stirrup (#26) and out of the frame. 3.

Remove and disassemble the hammer and the lower tang by closing the finger lever and, while holding the trigger to the rear, unscrewing and removing the hammer screw (#24). The hammer (#25) can be removed by pulling it upward and to the rear and out of the action. Now open the finger lever and pull back on the lower tang (#44), which removes straight out the rear of the receiver (#10). The lower tang also contains the trigger and its spring.

Unscrew and remove the trigger-stop spring screw (#47) from inside the lower tang and lift out the trigger-stop spring (#46). The trigger (#52) can be removed out the bottom of the lower tang by first drifting out the trigger pin (#64) from the side of the lower tang. Then the trigger and the sear (#53) can be lifted out of the lower tang. Make careful note of their positions for reassembly. 4. Begin the disassembly of the action by closing the finger lever (#39), and unscrewing and removing the finger-

Winchester Model 1894 1 Barrel 2 Front Sight 3 Front Sight Cover 4 Rear Sight 5 Rear Sight Elevator 6 Magazine Follower 7 Magazine Spring 8A Magazine Tube 8 Magazine Plug 9 Magazine Plug Screw 10 Receiver 11 Cartridge Guide, right hand Lever-Action Rifle 12 Cartridge Guide, left hand 13 Cartridge Guide Screws (2) 14 Finger Lever Pin 15 Finger Lever Pin Stop Screw 16 Breech Bolt 17 Firing Pin Stop Pin 18 Extractor Pin 19 Extractor 20 Ejector 21 Ejector Spring 22 Ejector Stop Pin 23 Firing Pin 24 Hammer Screw 25 Hammer 26 Hammer Stirrup 27 Hammer Stirrup Pin 28 Upper Tang Screw 29 Carrier Screws (2) 30 Carrier 31 Carrier Spring 32 Carrier Spring Screw 33 Link 34 Link Pin 35 Link Pin Stop Screw 36 Friction Stud 37 Friction Stud Spring 38 Friction Stud Stop Pin 39 Finger Lever 40 Locking Bolt 41 Firing Pin Striker 42 Firing Pin Striker Stop Pin 43 Finger Lever Link Screw 44 Lower Tang 45 Safety Catch 46 Sear and Safety Catch Spring 47 Sear and Safety Catch Spring Screw 48 Safety Catch Pin 49 Mainspring 50 Mainspring Screw 51 Mainspring Strain Screw 52 Trigger 53 Sear 54 Sear Pin 55 Spring Cover 56 Spring Cover Screw 57 Peep Sight Plug Screw 58 Rear Band 59 Rear Band Screw 60 Front Band 61 Front Band Screw 62 Buttplate 63 Buttplate Screws (2) 64 Buttstock (not shown) 65 Forearm (not shown)

Then a few quick steps will remove the majority of the action from the receiver (as shown here). lever pin stop screw (#15). This is the front screw on the left side of the action. Opposite this screw on the right side of the action, you’ll see a small hole. Use a pin punch through this hole to drive out the finger-lever pin (#14) from right to left. Next unscrew and remove the linkpin stop screw (#36) from the center of the link (#33). The link pin (#34) is now free and can be pushed out from either side.

Pull back and down slightly on the link in order to disengage it from the receiver. You can now remove the finger lever, link, and locking bolt (#40) as an assembly by pulling them straight down out of the receiver. Be sure you pay attention to how these parts fit together for later assembly. Now reach down into the receiver from the top, and push the carrier (#30) until its front is hanging out through the bottom of the receiver. The breech bolt (#16) will now slide out through the rear of the receiver. 5.

Disassemble the lever and link next. The locking bolt is removed from the link by simply pulling it rearward. Unscrew and remove the finger-lever link screw (#43), and pull the finger lever down out through the link. The extractor (#19) can now be removed from the breech bolt (#16) by first using a pin punch and hammer to drift out the extractor pin (#18). The extractor is removed by pulling it forward and up until it comes free of its seat in the breech bolt.

Notes: Be sure to support any loose subassembly such as the bolt when driving out pins to prevent damage to the part. With that said, use an appropriately sized pin punch and small hammer to drive out the firing-pin stop pin (#17) through the side of the breech bolt. The firing pin (#23) can be removed by pulling it out the rear of the breech bolt. The ejector (#20) and its spring (#21) can be removed from the lower front of the breech bolt after driving out the ejector-stop pin (#22). 6.

The action disassembly continues by unscrewing and removing the spring-cover screw (#56) from the right action side, and then lifting out the spring cover (#55.) Reaching through the spring-cover opening, use a small screwdriver to unscrew and remove the carrier-spring screw (#32). The carrier spring (#31) can now be carefully pried up out of its mortise in the frame. Unscrew and remove the two carrier screws (#29)"one from each side of the action.

You can now remove the carrier (#30) by pulling it out from the bottom of the action. The last two screws remaining in the action are

called cartridge-guide screws (#13). You’ll find one on each side of the action. These screws are accessible only from the inside, and they hold the cartridge guides in place. For normal cleaning, it’s not necessary to remove the cartridge guides. Unscrew and remove the screws one at a time and then the cartridge guides (#11 and 12). Take note of their positions for reassembly. 7.

To remove the magazine tube and forearm on Model 1894 rifles, unscrew and remove the magazine-plug screw (#9) from the very bottom front of the magazine tube (#8A). The magazine-tube cap (#8) is now loose and can be pulled out the front of the magazine tube along with the magazine spring (#7) and the magazine follower (#6). Unscrew and remove the two forend tip (cap) screws (not shown), one on each side of the forearm cap (also not shown), and slide the forearm cap forward slightly.

Drift out the magazine-ring pin (not shown) from the magazine ring (not shown), and pull the magazine tube (#8A) out towards the front. When the tube is clear of the forearm (not shown), the forearm wood can be tilted down and pulled forward off the rifle. The magazine is then turned toward either side of the rifle (perpendicular to the barrel) one-quarter turn. This frees the magazine ring from its dovetail seat in the barrel. 7A.

On Winchester carbines, you first remove the magazine-plug screw (#9) from the very bottom front of the magazine tube (#8A). The magazinetube cap (#8) is now loose. (Caution: The plug is under spring tension.) The cap can now be pulled out the front of the magazine tube, along with the magazine spring (#7) and the magazine follower (#6). Remove the front and rear band screws (#61 and 59) from the front and rear magazine bands (#60 and 58). The magazine tube is now pulled straight out the front and off the weapon.

Slide the rear magazine band forward off the forearm wood. At this point, the forearm wood can be tilted down and pulled off to the front. The forward magazine band is now rotated one-half turn, then slides off over the sight base, as does the rear magazine band. That completes the disassembly of the Winchester Model 1894 leveraction. Reassembly proceeds in the reverse order of above. I