Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

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Nath
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Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

One is for sale local.
Any one know anything about them?

Looks like it's sights are missing!

http://www.gunstar.co.uk/Rifle/Winchest ... 47293.aspx

Nath.
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Pete44ru
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Pete44ru »

.

I'd grab it, if I were you - that particular version of the M74 might be a collector's item:

Image

This one's set up with a P-H scope: http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... e&t=511627

Image

Mechanically, they were great autoloaders, made from 1938/9 to 1955, and can be taken apart w/o drifts, etc.




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Sixgun
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Sixgun »

Fuuny thing, I was shooting one of these last month at the Pa. silhouette regionals. My buddy's uncle was showing it to me. While I have seen them, I never shot one so I grab every chance I can get to shoot about anything with a trigger.

The Model 74 is a modernized Model 63 or 03. It has the same butt feed but is manufactured with more steel stampings and other shortcuts to make it more affordable as the 63/03 model were made with lots of machine cuts and forgings. In no way is it cheap looking and the one I shot was dependable and accurate. Over the course of several days, there were approx. 3-4 hundred pushed out of Pete's 74 and IIRC, no failure to feed or eject. The trigger was a bit gritty and I "think" this trigger design is not as easy to get nice as it on the conventional "sear and notch" method.

It a quality looking and feeling gun and nothing like the junky .22 semi's put out in the sixties. The gun is built for an adult and has a great offhand feel.

In fact, I'll go as far to say that the next one I see, I'm gonna buy it.

I have done a tiny bit of research on the pricing and it seems like about $300 will buy a nice specimen.------------6
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Nath
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

Thanks gents.

There is a couple of good vid's on youtube!

I will ponder somemore!

N.
Psalm ch8.

Because I wish I could!
jdad
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by jdad »

They made over 400,000, in both 22LR and 22Short. Accurate and fun, like most of the stuff Winchester put out. The only caveat or Achilles Heel was the safety. Winchester attached a hang tag that stated not to ever cycle the action when the safety was on. The bolt became nearly impossible to remove if you did not heed this warning.

The trigger is more of a "hinge". When you remove the stock you can see the a hinged trigger bar pushes up against the sear. Wrap some black electricians tape around the hinge and that will improve the trigger.
I know a whole lot about very little and nothing about a whole lot.
Nath
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

jdad wrote:They made over 400,000, in both 22LR and 22Short. Accurate and fun, like most of the stuff Winchester put out. The only caveat or Achilles Heel was the safety. Winchester attached a hang tag that stated not to ever cycle the action when the safety was on. The bolt became nearly impossible to remove if you did not heed this warning.

The trigger is more of a "hinge". When you remove the stock you can see the a hinged trigger bar pushes up against the sear. Wrap some black electricians tape around the hinge and that will improve the trigger.
Oh!

N :(
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awp101
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by awp101 »

jdad wrote:They made over 400,000, in both 22LR and 22Short. Accurate and fun
At one time I had one of each and the "accurate and fun" part is very true.

I suppose I should put one on the "re-acquire" list... :roll:

I just looked at the ad in the link. 99GBP (sorry, no "Pound" symbol on my keyboard that I can find :P ) including the can? Heck, it might be worth paying to have it imported.... :mrgreen:
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M. M. Wright
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by M. M. Wright »

I have two of them, both LRs. One has an A on the end of the serial number and has a shorter barrel, 20" I think. Both are very accurate. I used the longer barreled one when I lived with a bunch of my Cherokee kin to win a bunch of "Hog Shoots". The promoter would bring 2 or 3 hogs, butcher them on the spot and put up quarters as prizes for the match.
Each shooter makes his own shingle that is blacked in the fire or later painted black. The shooter then marks the shingle with a knife stroke X. He then is allowed to cut a white card aiming point which is pinned to the shingle. The man with his bullet hole, (only one shot) closest to his Xs cross point wins the hog quarter. Sometimes turkeys are given as prizes too. Open, iron sights only at about 50 yards.
Any way the 74s are excellent auto loaders. Easy to remove the bolt for cleaning from the breach and with decent ammo they never jam. I have scoped both of mine and couldn't shoot any better with the Ruger 77-22 with Voltsquatzen barrel and laminated stock which I have since traded away. Don't know anything about the can but would love to have one.
M. M. Wright, Sheriff, Green county Arkansas (1860)
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Nath
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

Thankyou Gents....I have to say though on reflection I think I would prefere a 527 from Remington or a 522.

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Hawkeye2
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Hawkeye2 »

I would be on that so fast I wouldn't have to open the shop door on the way out as it wouldn't have had time to close yet! The currency converter shows the price to be $153 USD, amazing!
Nath
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

Hawkeye2 wrote:I would be on that so fast I wouldn't have to open the shop door on the way out as it wouldn't have had time to close yet! The currency converter shows the price to be $153 USD, amazing!
:lol:

N.
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Sixgun wrote:I grab every chance I can get to shoot about anything with a trigger.
That pretty much summarizes my life's philosophy! :D
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John in MS
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by John in MS »

My Dad bought one in 1938, and it has given excellent service ever since. While I was in Graduate School, some local
entrepreneurs opened a 100-yard indoor range. I mounted a 24X Leupold target scope on it and tested it with
my best lot of Eley Standard (brown label) -- their cheapest grade of match/practice ammo, $1.85/box. Six consecutive
5-shot groups averaged 1.2" at 100 yards, and the same lot of Eley averaged 1.25" at 100 yards in my Kimber (of Oregon)
Super America. The 74 now sports a 6x Leupold Alaskan, and is pure poison on squirrels.

Back in those days, you could find Eley Standard with "black" bullets or silver colored bullets. I soon learned
that every lot I bought with silver bullets was significantly more accurate than lots with black bullets.
Many years later, I learned that the black bullets were made on high-speed machinery and silver were made
more to match specs. I shot a lot of silhouette in those days, and that was a very useful bit of knowledge.

The Win. 74 was designed with high velocity ammo in mind, and functions very reliably with good high vel. ammo, without
frequent cleanings. I hunt with Eley match ammo (standard vel., subsonic, with beeswax lube). Starting with a clean rifle, it
is very reliable for 100-150 rounds, and then becomes increasingly sluggish due to lube type and std. vel. ammo.
However, I prefer the consistent, pinpoint accuracy of good match ammo so I don't mind cleaning more often.

Winchesters were made with cut-rifled barrels up through about 1954/55, and most of these bbls were dated
with a 2-digit date on the underside, just forward of the receiver. If I were getting one, I'd try to hold out for 1 with cut rifling. The later, button rifled barrels weren't dated. I have no meaningful experience with accuracy of the button-rifled
Winchester barrels, but their cut-rifled .22 barrels have been great in my experience. A friend bought a cut-rifled
Win. 74 and while he hasn't rigorously tested it, I've shot it and it appears close to, or as accurate as mine.

When scoping these, one must watch out for the spring that tensions the safety which slides left/right on top of
the receiver!!!! It is a straight, cylindrical spring (not coil spring) staked into the top of the receiver. Take care not
to drill through this! A high quality scope mount that fits these rather well, is the one-piece Redfield-type base (made by Burris, IIRC) made for Thompson-Center Contenders. This is a short, steel base taking a turn-in dovetail front ring
and having windage screws on the rear for the rear ring.

These take down with 1 coin-slotted screw that retains the bbl/action to the stock. To take it down, just partially
withdraw the mag follower tube and unscrew the mounting screw. There is a port in the stock side for loading, but
depending on your level of dexterity, you may prefer to fully remove the mag follower tube and just insert the cartridges
in the magazine hole in the buttplate, watching as they slide past the stock port to avoid over-filling.

If you get one, I suggest carefully examining the bore, particularly at the muzzle with a strong light, to check for
wear, including possible cleaning rod wear near the crown. A good specimen is a joy forever! BTW, the trigger
on mine is 3.8 lbs just as it came from the factory, and is smooth enough to allow good shooting. If anyone has
one and needs to know how to remove the bolt for cleaning, etc., please feel free to PM me. (It's very easy to do.)

Hope this helps,
John
"Pistols do not win wars, but they save the lives of the men who do. The noble 1911 is a mechanical marvel, whose ruggedness, dependability & ferocious power have comforted four issues of GIs and which, unlike any other instrument you can name, is as much superior to its rivals today as it was in 1917."
-Col. Jeff Cooper, 1968
Nath
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by Nath »

Why..thankyou sir. What an education.

That puts a different light on things!

N.
Psalm ch8.

Because I wish I could!
John in MS
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Re: Winchester 74, what do we know about them?

Post by John in MS »

Glad I could help! I hope someday to see pics of you on one of your outings, sporting a fine old Winchester
and some well-earned game! :D

John
"Pistols do not win wars, but they save the lives of the men who do. The noble 1911 is a mechanical marvel, whose ruggedness, dependability & ferocious power have comforted four issues of GIs and which, unlike any other instrument you can name, is as much superior to its rivals today as it was in 1917."
-Col. Jeff Cooper, 1968
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