Winchester Model 74

[Acorn556]

Just picked one of these up this weekend. Made back in 1949. Really good looking gun for being 61 years old. I'm excited to take it out and shoot it next weekend and see what it's capable of.

I'm trying to find out if it's possibly to mount a scope on it without having it drilled. If anyone has one of these or knows about them more than I could find through Google I'd be glad to know. I'm kind of leaning towards getting one of those small scopes like the one the sniper uses in Saving Private Ryan.

[G-Man WC]

Nice snag. I picked up a #69 minus the bolt for $50 a few months ago. It more than likley got thrown out in the sock drawer when gramps passed. -g

[Acorn556]

Yeah I'm super excited to check this out this weekend. Found an AWESOME video taking it apart on You Tube.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

...I'm trying to find out if it's possibly to mount a scope on it without having it drilled...

I just checked my Model 74 and it does not have any grooves on the receiver for a rimfire scope. I don't think any of these rifles came with the scope mounting grooves. That means your only option would be to have the receiver drilled and tapped for a scope base. This would lower the collector value of your rifle somewhat.

[Acorn556]

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Winchester_Auto_and_Winder_%20rifles.htm

Scroll down. Some of them came with them. I'd feel really bad getting this tapped for a scope base. I'm not sure I'm worried about the value though. I might just keep it with irons depending on how bad I shoot it.

What year is your 74?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Wincheste..._%20rifles.htm


Scroll down. Some of them came with them.

It looks like that scope modification might have been done by Parker Hale in the U.K.

What year is your 74?

The Proofhouse Winchester page estimates my Model 74 to be from 1953. I got it off of Gunbroker six years ago for $209.50 delivered.

[Acorn556]

Not a bad price.

I like the look of this thing with a small scope that's around the same time. Something simple that I'll be able to hand to my kids and say "hey....shoot this at that thing over there" and see them smile while being a good gun owning father and teaching them to shoot at a young age.

[Acorn556]

Started taking this apart to clean it. OH MY GOD!!!! I don't know if it's ever been cleaned in 60 years. Everything is so caked on there! I'm going to let it soak in some break free and see what it's like in the morning.

[bjl333]

Nice little gun ...

[Acorn556]

Thanks. The video online helped break it down really well. Need a vice to get the pins out but other than that I can get it about 80% clean. This stuff is CAKED on. I've soaked it about two hours and given it a couple good cleanings. More carbon comes off every time but I'm getting tired of it. Going to let it soak again. I wish I had some mineral spirits.

[Acorn556]

So I took this out shooting today and it was giving me feeding problems.

I could load it one at a time and have pretty much no problems all day long. Occasionally it might not fire but simply recharging it would make that problem go away.

When I tried to feed it through the stock and use it like a semi auto instead of single shot it would jam the bullets. When it would feed they wouldn't load into the barrel most of the time. It would just shove the bullet right above the barrel. Anyone have any idea how I can fix this or what might be wrong?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

Before anything else you might want to try a different brand/type of ammo, especially if the stuff you were having problems with was Remington bulk pack. Does your rifle have this metal piece that the blue arrow is pointing to outside the chamber?



If so, are the bullets getting jammed into the place that the red arrow is pointing?

I'll bet it would have worked fine if you hadn't cleaned it.

[Acorn556]

Yeah it has that part. I only cleaned the bolt though. Didn't scrub that area but I'll give it a good looking at. I thought the plunger on the back might be pushing it at a weird angle.

Sometimes even when it cycles with the tube loaded it won't fire...as if there's not enough recoil for it to cycle if there is more than 2 rounds loaded. It's weird. Works all day long as a single shot for the most part but won't when I start loading rounds.

I've tried a couple different types. Today was the 525 pack of Wincherster I picked up and it wasn't having much trouble as a single shot like I said.

[Acorn556]

Cleaned this thing out and found out there was a spring missing under the feed tube. I even took it to a gun smith and he charged me $20 to "fix" the extraction problem. It still existed after taking it out so I tool the bolt apart (HARD to do) and replaced the spring under the feed tube. Shoots like a charm.

If you fin one of these for $300 or less I'd buy it.

[dfletcher]

The You Tube video (long grey haired guy I think) is very good. One thing I found cleaning an old JC Higgins Model 30 is that the caked on powder tends to turn to a slurry, you think you have it all removed but it just keeps leeching out. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, still didn't get it all out.

An old 3/4" scope, steel tube Weaver or Higgins (same thing) from the 50's will be "period correct" for the gun if you decide to D & T. You have to be careful buying these old scopes especially on line. Make certain the lenses aren't cloudy or cracked.