Winchester model 1894 'wall hanger' worth ? early gun,bad bore

[Throckmorton]

I have an early...5 digit... model 1894 in caliber 38-55 that shoots boolits sideways.
I inherited 2 of them,and this one was the worst,I suspect it was destined to be a parts gun by the previous owner.
However,being a 5 digit gun could just make it interesting to someone who might want to get the barrel lined,and have it as a neat old shooter.

what is it worth,given that;
butt plate is very aged,as in rusty/crusty but solid.
wood is solid but dark,I see no cracks
barrle has been shortened about an inch,for some reason
It has rifling but shoots like a smoothebore.
finish is patina,with some surface pitting,etc,and no finish in some spots.
THE GOOD..the action is clean and works great.

be gentle but honest,I can take it. and thanks !

[missionary5155]

Good morning
First... if it has rifling I would not give up on it. Here with me I have a 44WCF with an ugly bore that only needed to be fed the absolute fattest booolit that could be inserted into the chamber. Cast from range scrap and fed 8 grains of Unique it will shoot 3 inches at 70 yards.

Your 38-55 Barrel was possibly wacked off due to muzzle damage. Either poor cleaning that wallered it out or someone somehow wammed the muzzle with or into something. Or just wanted to wack off an inch ?? Or special ordered it ??
Check the throat diameter. I have a pre 1898 38-55 that has a .385 throat (maybe fatter) that defied accuracy with smokeless. Bore is .383. Even with the fattest possible boolit tight fitting the chamber there was awful patterns at 50 yards.

So accurately measure the throat area. You probably have a fat bore but the throat diameter is far more important especially if you want to shoot smokeless accuratly. Winchester made the BP barrels fat (interior diameters) so follow on cartridges would chamber in a fouled bore. They still did far into the smokeless rifles.. dirt and dust has to be accounted for but some rifles are excessive.

Solutions.. #1 Size the lube groove portion of a soft lead boolit (range scrap) to fit inside the fired case but leave the nose fat to fit the throat. That keeps the nose from tilting on forward movement. Start with 8 grains Unique. Be sure to use the longest possible loaded length your rifle will cycle (about 2.55 ) and that will chamber. It the lead bumps up against the rifling (not smashed into it) that is good.

#2 Use the fattest soft boolit (range scrap OK but 30-1 better) the fired case will receive and load the case with 3F BP so the powder gets compressed 1/8 inch. I think you will find your best accuracy with this load and be hard pressed to best it with smokeless. Use BP lube on the boolit. Make your own with 50-50 Crisco or olive oil and beeswax.

#3 Use the same fattest soft boolit the fired case will receive. Load 7 grains Unique. Put a toilet tissue wad on top of the Unique. Add enough Cream of Wheat (COW) so when then bullet gets seated it compresses the COW a little (1/16 inch is plenty). Add more Unique in 1/2 grain (.5) increments. My 38 likes 8- 8.5 grains the best with COW. You can also try the reduced grease groove boolit with this COW loading.

These are simple solutions but time consuming. You can neck turn brass to receive very fat boolits. Just be sure to dedicate that brass to that rifle barrel. This is the best mechanical fix unless the throat is very fat and the case neck area end up very thin.

So anyway.. do not think right off that rifle will not shoot to minute of corn cruncher.. I bet/cvha it can if you choose to take on the challenge.. If not PM me and lets haggle !
Mike in Peru

[Outpost75]

This gun is a perfect candidate for relining. I had a .30-30 with shot out barrel that keyholed even hen loadex with. 311" dameter jacketed. 303 Savage bullets. John Taylor relined this with a .35 cal. liner with 16" twist and chambered it to .35/30-30 and it is my favorite cast bullet rifle.

[Nobade]

Worth? Around $1000 from what I see in the LGS and on Gunbroker. If it were mine, I would be casting up some pure lead slicks to paper patch and shoot over black powder. A little JB bore paste on the patch just before the shot and in no time would have a nice shiny clean bore that would probably shoot accurately. Just like Missionary5155 says, these guns were designed to be used with black powder and often work very poorly with smokeless.

-Nobade