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As my wife and I continue to help my mother in law clean up her house and sort thru things since my FIL's passing a couple months ago, I've acquired a few firearms - one that I gave him that I got back, and the others were some of his, and some of my late brother in law's.

Without too much back story, my in laws haven't kept up very well on maintaining certain things at their place - and my father in law's guns fell into that category. While helping inspect and clean things up a bit last week, I came across a few long guns, and tonight a few of those came home with me when I picked up the MIL for our early Christmas (since we're flying to spend Christmas with my dad down in Houston this year)

I left the worst conditioned guns at my MIL's house this time - and took the three that were in the best shape to start cleaning. I say "best" shape very loosely.

The guns I brought home today, I finally got to ID thanks to some light cleaning and good lighting - and a little Internet sleuthing. I now have a Winchester 94 Ranger - not sure if this was made in the mid to late 90's, or right up till Winchester shuttered her doors in 06. I'm guessing late 90's. The other guns I wound up with tonight are a Mossberg 500 and a Remington 597.

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The gun came with a Leupold 3-9 x 40 scope attached - this is a neat Model 94 for me - the first Angle Ejecting Winchester I've gotten my hands on. My grand dad whom raised me had a pre-64 model 94 that he had mounted a scope on via a sideplate mount, and the scope was off-center to accomodate for the top ejection of spent rounds. That also allowed the use of the iron sights, if you wanted.

This gun requires removing the scope and bases to use the iron sight.

All the guns are in rough cosmetic condition - lots of surface rust, bad surface rust. They've not been cleaned or maintained in easily 10 years - ever since my brother in law died. After I ran my MIL home this evening, I got started right away cleaning up the rust so I could disassemble the guns and inspect the bores, bolts, and lock works. Pretty scary with the Winchester, as there was a couple really bad rust spots right at the barrel band. With some care I was able to get the wood off the gun and commence to scrubbing it. First thing I did was hit it with this weird purple degreaser / cleaner we had under the sink. This gun was kept in a stuffy room with little airflow, so in addition to the rust problem, there was a bit of a funk - mildew I think - hence my scrubby dub dub. After rinsing that cleaner off, which also loosened off a good bit of the flaky rust, I used white vinegar misted on with a spray bottle and a copper mesh scour pad after giving the vinegar a chance to do its thing. The bores also got hit with vinegar and then bore brushed. Repeated the mist & scrub, mist & scrub routine for a couple hours. Ran patches down the bore and got some really nasty gunk out. Checking the bore with a flash light (I don't have a bore scope) there didn't appear to be any major pitting, the bore itself was actually good looking after hitting with the patches, so I ran a couple oil soaked patches through it.

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After getting off all of the rust I think I'm going to get off without mechanical aid, I rinsed all the parts off in hot water and gave them a coat of oil. The end result was surprisingly better than I expected, as I expected more pitting than what there is. There is not much finish left, but that was no surprise.

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My plans going forward are tentative, but since this was one of the less expensive Winchesters, and it has the much hated cross bolt safety, and it's already been terribly neglected I don't feel bad in saying that I want to get a set of synthetic furniture, and apply one of the spray-on type finishes. Maybe even camo the gun, as this will make a great little hunting rifle, and the scope being in-line with the bore will make it much easier to hit things with than my grand dad's old gun. While I've got the gun apart I'm going to ensure that everything is clean and gunk free before assembly, as when I worked the action before taking it apart, it felt...gritty and was not nearly as smooth as any other Winchester I've gotten to shoot or even just fondle.

Once it it back in shooting order, I think I'm going to try the Lever-evolution ammo in it and see how that stuff performed out of the scoped gun. There is a bit of pitting at the crown of the muzzle, so I don't expect supreme accuracy, but minute of deer-lungs would be good.
 
The gun case foam this the worth for holding moisture. I feel your pain


I use white vinegar to strip and 000 and 0000 steel wool to scrub the blueing and rust off
 
The gun case foam this the worth for holding moisture. I feel your pain


I use white vinegar to strip and 000 and 0000 steel wool to scrub the blueing and rust off

The case was just one of my rifle cases that I took over to retrieve them. These guns were left out in the open either under a bed or propped against a wall in a room with little ventilation and a leaky window sill :( There's another shotgun I didn't bring home that is sooooo rusted I can't read make model or serial numbers, and its missing the bolt. I found a barrel which I think goes with it. There's a couple other guns that are in better condition, and some that *are* stored in cases that I haven't had a chance to examine yet.
 
Some call this type of work "restoration". When the gun has personal meaning, it is more than that. It is a resurrection.

That the bore is in fine shape is not too surprising. Modern barrel steel is pretty amazing material. I also guarantee you to be shockingly surprised at the accuracy of this gun when you get a chance to shoot it. The Ranger was an "econo-model" 94 with its "walnut stained hardwood" (maple) stock and other cost-cutting "features". The actions and barrels came off the same line as the higher priced ones.

I'd continue with the idea of optics, but perhaps switch to a 2x or 3x, or (best) a 1.5-5x variable in quick release rings. Put that good (and big) 3 by 9 on a willing bolt gun. Make it a goal to carry the gun all next hunting season as a tribute to its original owner and your good labor of love toward saving it.

I would not delay in doing a cursory "preventative going-over" on the remaining ones. You can detail them later. Stop the damage now.

We are not owners of our guns. We are merely caretakers for the next person they arrive at.
 
For refinishing, I'd probably take it down to the bare metal and get it ready for a professional cerekote in a flat black or something close to a 'blueing'. For stocks, you might be surprised on what you can find on the internet for replacements.
I'd also consider taking it to JES to see if he'd convert it to 356 winchester and have a better round for elk.

Keep us posted.
 

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