Winchester 94 jammed on me.

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Number10GI
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Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by Number10GI »

Last Sunday I started shooting a match with my Model 94. I fired 3 times and on the last round when I worked the ever it would only go open about 3/4 of the way and wouldn't close when I worked the lever. When I got home I removed the tube magazine cap to remove the 2 unfired rounds still in the mag. Only one came out so I disassembled the action and the last round was jammed under the lifter. There were no loose parts, nothing was bent or broken. I'm going to pick up some snap caps and see if the action will cycle them. Any ideas what might have caused this?
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Merlin
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by Merlin »

If it has the stamped lifter I would guess the lifter is bent a little. Hard to see but a little will really disturb the function of the action. If that's not it I would then guess you did not cycle it fully or briskly enough.
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Number10GI
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by Number10GI »

Merlin wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 7:15 pm If it has the stamped lifter I would guess the lifter is bent a little. Hard to see but a little will really disturb the function of the action. If that's not it I would then guess you did not cycle it fully or briskly enough.
Yes it has the stamped lifter. I'll take it apart again and look at it really closely. Will a milled lifter fit if I can find one? The rifle is one of the commemorative models built in the late 60's I believe. Anyway its the Theodore Roosevelt commemorative model. Its possible I didn't cycle it as quickly as I should have. The rifle was billed as being unfired and it looked like it was unfired as there were no wear marks on any of the parts. I've put over 300 rounds through it since buying it and nary a problem.
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by cedestech »

Common problem... mine does it randomly. We've changed everything out including putting solid lifter in as opposed to the stamped and welding up the stop and reprofiling it..... I keep a medium sized screw driver with me when I shoot it at a match. If the round is UNDER the lifter, your cartridge stop is worn down.... if it is ABOVE the lifter but under the bolt (the way mine jamns) you can take the screwdriver and gouge it into the side of the shell and force the cartridge back into the mag so you can cycle the bolt. The cartridge shoots just fine with the dent. I single load because of it that way there is only one cartridge in the mag to deal with as opposed to having to push against multiple. If it wasn't for the damn thing shooting SO WELL I would have shuffled it off years ago.... :)
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Merlin
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by Merlin »

I have heard of the milled lifter for post 64 guns but never found one myself. Bought one that was stated to be correct but it would not fit. Your story sounds just like mine. Bought a "like new" Canadian Commemorative and, while it looked perfect, it would jam and would not feed. After discussions on (this forum I think) I was told to check the lifter and that did solve the problem. I bought a new stamped lifter and then ended up beating the old one flat on a vise and it worked perfectly. Until... I promptly bent it again trying to baby the lever while loading a shell. For my gun you have to rack it with authority to make it load properly. No problems now and still using the original (straightened) stamped lifter.

If you find a milled lifter - get two of them as I still want one....! :D
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DAVIDMAGNUM
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by DAVIDMAGNUM »

http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/pid_1490.htm

I put this in my Canadian Centennial . For me at least is was a drop in fit. While my 1894 was not jamming it did have a couple fail to feed properly problems and this did the trick.
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DAVIDMAGNUM
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by DAVIDMAGNUM »

Here is another source. Temporarily out of stock seems to be a common ailment.
https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/W94CAR

....and showing two in stock
http://cfnparts.com/Winchester%20Model% ... t_id=19992
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by Merlin »

As far as I can determine by the photo.... Same part I bought and tried..... Unsuccessfully. Package is marked for Post 64 Win.
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Re: Winchester 94 jammed on me.

Post by DonM »

The problem is most likely the little cartridge stop on the end of the lever link is either worn enough to stop the last cartridge in the tube, or that link is binding just a tad and not raising enough to catch the rim on the cartridge.
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