Post 64 Winchester Mod 94 Receiver Refinishing
I have learned that the receiver on my post 1964 Winchester mod 94 can not be touched up or refinished with Blue Wonder or any normal blueing process because of the way it was done at the factory. I was told Winchester put on a thin coat of iron on the cast receiver and that was what was blued. Now that some of the finish is worn off along with some of the iron it must all be removed, etched and a new finish applied. My question is does anyone know of anyone that can refinish this "pop metal" receiver so it will have to same Hi-Gloss factory finish?
I was told it can only be done to a semi-flat, satin black finish. I would like it to look as close to original as possible.
I was told it can only be done to a semi-flat, satin black finish. I would like it to look as close to original as possible.
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MINE IS GETTING DONE AS WE SPEAK,SHOULD GET IT BACK SOON HOPEFLLY WITH GOOD RESULTS!?! IF SO, ILL LET YOU KNOW AND GIVE YOU THE MANS NUMBER. 0 -
The frame of the post 64 Winchester 94 is indeed cast iron. There is
a definite grain that does not polish well. Brownells sells a bluing
that will work but this is not for a one time only deal.
Have been told that they will blue by conventional hot methods if left
in the tank for several hours and then step cooled. Hopefully DIRTYRAT
will have an answer for you. Good luck! 1010 -
Good luck......I went through two "Blue Wonder" kits attempting to blue my POST 64 Winchester! The receiver polished out great (600+ grit)but wouldn't take the solution like other parts (gray)..The screws came out black, mag tube plumb brown and the barrel blue. On my last attempt with Blue Wonder I came up with a great antique finish that is really eye catching! I chatted with a guy that rust blues Winchesters for a living. He stated Brownells sells a rust bluing product that is "home" friendly and works great on PRE or POST models. 0 -
Thanks guys, and DirtyRat please let me know how yours turns out. 0 -
Still looking for help.
Any Winchester experts out there?0 -
There is a gun shop here in Maine that has them chrome plated (just the receiver) and they look great.
[8D]
ATF0 -
the following is from my du-lite blueing instructions
win m-94 post 64
2,700,000-3,185,691 use du-lite 3-0 prosses (same as s/s)
3,185,692-3,806,499 black chrome plate (cannot be belued)
3,806,500-5,024,957 win. blue/oxiblack (similar to s/s)
all angel eject models used a different steel and can be blued normaly0 -
Mike, can you explain the du-lite 3-0 process and win. blue/oxiblack process, my reveiver falls into the 4 million group. Do you know of anyone who does this? 0 -
Onesigfan: Yours is a topic that comes up at least twice a month, and there should be quite a bit of archived material if you care to search for it. In a nutshell, you've been told just about everything there is to tell.
I've struggled with the "unblueable" Win. '94 receivers for years. (1) They can be rust blued. Pilkington's from Brownell's works, but application is labor intensive and you've got to be willing to spend some time and elbow grease on the project. (2) They can be Belgian Blued. This requires a bottle of solution, again available from Brownells, and one hot and one cold water immersion tank. (3) They can be Black Hardchromed. This looks really snazzy, with a black, shiny, receiver and all other components blued, and is very durable. (4) They can be painted with Baking Lacquer. This is the service I usually provide for my customers, but unless you wish to screw the barrel off you need a large oven. I am thinking about experimenting with heat lamps--bluing the barrel first, and then painting the receiver and baking it with heat lamps instead of putting it all in an oven. This paint is available in flat or gloss, and is very durable as it will not chip, crack or peel if applied properly. It will scratch. Again, an interesting contrast can be obtained with a painted receiver, either flat or gloss, and blued parts. (5) The factory will reblue these receivers, but must again send them out to a subcontractor to be re-plated. The last time I checked into it (perhaps 10 years ago) they wanted $125 to do just the receiver.
When getting into a discussion of whether or not these receivers can be blued by conventional hot blue methods you enter an area of witchcraft and alchemy. I have NEVER gotten a satisfactory blue job on one of these receivers, either in conventional bluing salts (I use Du-Lite brand) or in salts formulated for stainless steel (I used Brownells formula). I have turned them all shades of gray and purple, sometimes with blue mixed in. Usually they are splotchy and mixed shades of plum and brown. Some of the older receivers, before the serial number range we're discussing, had a high nickel content and these were also difficult to blue, but it could sometimes be done by running the bluing salts to a very high temperature (which runs the risk of "killing" the salts and making them useless for further bluing), and then removing the receiver from the bluing tank and plunging it into cold water. This is called "shocking" the receiver. Then it is directly back into the hot salts until the receiver assumes their temperature, then back into the cold water. 3-5 repetitions usually will cause one of the nickel steel receivers to "kick over" to blue.........but this does not work on the iron plated/cast steel receivers. In any event, you will need a complete bluing set-up complete with 5 or 6 tanks to attempt bluing by the hot salts method--an investment of approx. $3,000.
If you go to a gunsmith and ask for (1) or (2), above, you can expect to pay just about half the retail cost of a new '94; assuming that they offer the service. (3) is a good choice. I don't know who provides this service, but there are those that do; some have been mentioned on this Forum in the past.
For practical purposes (4) is your best option. When this process was first introduced you needed to acquire an airbrush and small compressor to do the job. Now it comes in spray cans, and if you are adept at using a spray can you can achieve an acceptable job. Baking lacquer is also available from Brownells. Thorough degreasing is the key, together with several thin coats of the lacquer. Be sure to clean out the nozzle between coats with something like 1.1.1 trichlorethane. It's a good idea to buy a couple of extra nozzles, because it's the pits if your only nozzle is hopeless clogged when you go to put on the 3rd or 4th coat. Digging in the clogged nozzle hole with a pin will change your spray pattern--usually for the worse. It's no problem if some of the lacquer gets inside the receiver either, as it doesn't make a thick enough coating to interfere with the loose tolerances inside a lever action, isn't effected by oil, and provides a little added protection.0 -
Thank you sir, your infomation has been very helpful. In the future I will check the archived posts before making one of my own. Thank you again for taking your time to explain this to me. Now to decide what to do. 0
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