94 Commemorative, no safety, hammer won't stay set.

B

Bitman

New member
I just bought a Win. 94 Commemorative from a auction site.
The rifle appears to be like new and fired very little. However!
When you cock the hammer back, either by hand or by working the action, it will not stay cocked.
Also the little safety pin under the receiver, that the lever must push up to fire.
Appears to be stuck in the up position. I'm going to have my local gun smith look at it.
But any ideas on what might be wrong?
Thanks
 
Occasionally a little sliver of stock wood will get loose inside an action and play hell with it. Double shotguns and lever actions are particularly sensitive to this. The stock is pretty easy to remove from a 94. Once that's out of the way, the problem will be easy to identify.
 
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i would bet if it has been a long time since it was last shot ..if ever.. that the oil used on it has dried up and everything is stuck. kinda glued n place by dried up oil...or rust maybe

i have seen this with WD40 when it sits for a long time..it dries and turns to glue...but with a little love and some good cleaning all will work just fine again

so a good cleaning and lube would more than likely fix your problem and get things working like they should once more

pull the stock and have a look....stocks come off these kinda rifle fairly easily

my .02

ocharry
 
From what you describe, you have stuck parts. The likely causes are, broken/defective (unlikely) jammed by debris, or "glued" by dried lubricant (oil).

With a commemorative,, seldom shot (if ever) and likely just sitting for years, the oil turning to sludge, and then to a lacquer like material, gluing things in place is most likely.

After my Dad passed, I found that in some of his guns. Dad hadn't touched any of them for at least 10 years, and a couple were slowed down by thickened oil, one (a Savage 99) was literally frozen shut, by a safety being on, and unable to be moved.

Penetrating oil and some time "softened" things up so things could be moved, and then the gun disassembled for a detailed interior cleaning.

If you don't feel up to the task, a gunsmith will take care of it for you.
 
ok bill we can go with that...but when i was young and didnt know any better i used the stuff for everthing and i have personaly seen it (WD40) glue moving parts so tight they would not move.....so maybe in the last 50 or so years they have changed the formula or maybe not, or maybe i still just dont know what i am talking about...(i used WD40, but hell it could have been any oil that got used by the original owner)...and im OK with that...either way my money is on some kind of oil drying up and has things stuck together

first clue is the OP said the lever latch was stuck into the tang..and the hammer missed the sear or wouldnt stay cocked..that tells me the gun has been sitting closed up for a long time..or i guess it could have been disabled,so you could be the rifle man and fan it really fast, but most ...not all, dont shoot commemorative guns much they get to be queens and sit around and then one day someone says hey lets shoot the purdy one...and the queen pukes cause things are stuck and the springs cant move the parts like they were supposed to

i still use WD40...but not on guns..YMMV

ocharry
 
The volatile carrier component of WD-40 does a fair job of acting as a solvent on dried out oils and similar things, its my go to first step when I find a gun "frozen" shut or sluggish due to the age and deterioration of the lube.

The "light mineral oil" left behind after the carrier evaporates has the potential, over time, to dry out and gum things up, whether it does or not depends on how much is there, and how long it sits without anything else being done.

IF this should happen, I'd think a shot or two of "fresh" WD40 would free things up, and is usually does with other oils and lubes that got thick over time.

WD stands for "Water Displacement". Its a "penetrating oil" that is very good at what its designed for, and will function as a lubricant to a degree, but its not designed to be a regular operating lube for machinery for continuous use.
 
The label says it's about 2/3 to 3/4 aliphatic solvents (like kerosene or mineral spirits), with part of that being a low vapor pressure version (short molecular chains) which are especially good at dissolving things. But there is also around 20% to 25% petroleum oil. The solvents dry out and leave the other stuff behind.
 
What's also interesting is the MSDS sheets vary around the world, with the exact formula kept secret. If you look at the end of the Wikipedia WD-40 entry you can see the Australian safety data information includes:

<10% naphtha (petroleum), hydrodesulfurized heavy (contains: 1,2,4-trimethyl benzene, 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene, xylene, mixed isomers)

The umbrella of aliphatic hydrocarbons is large.
 
Whether it's paint, petroleum, or light mineral oil, one way you make it thicken and set faster is to add solvents that will thin the mixture then evaporate and leave the thicker material behind in a thinner coat. That's what you do to make boiled linseed oil set faster, you add kerosene or paint thinner and brush it on. It's what you do to make oil based paints dry faster, you add paint thinner and it goes on thinner and dries faster. It's what you do to shellac, you add alcohol to thin it so as the alcohol flashes off it makes the shellac dry clear and glossy. Add a solvent that will flash off and it makes the oil thicken and dry faster because it makes the oils spread out into a thinner layer, speeding drying. Some oils varnish faster than others, but most will dry faster after you mix in a solvent. WD40 is a solvent and oils mixture, and it does indeed varnish and turn to goo.

Anyone who has worked with oil finishes knows that you shouldn't use thickened oil finish because it will never dry, but if you add a little solvent you can get it to dry really fast.
 
works with enamels and acrylics too. Thin the paint for airbrushing, it goes on as a thinner layer and cures faster than being applied "straight" with a paint brush.
 
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