Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

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Pat C
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Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by Pat C »

This was a project I did back in early 90's , started out I picked up a barn find 1892 25-20.Rough shape basically wood destroyed and heavy brown patina.
After talking with Doug Turnbull ,I decided to purchased a how to VHS he sold on restoration techniques.

Many hours later I had everthing polished and ready to ship to Turnbull for final period finishes. I restocked the rifle with Precision Gunworks semi fit stocks in the classic John Kay's red oil.

The rifle is kinda interesting it was rebarreled possibly in 1950 as its marked 50 where year date is.late production barrel .Receiver is 1905 and carries W/P proof.No mail order proofs.
Bore was excellent so was internals ,not much of a collector so I did the restore .
Rifle has machine blued receiver,sights,screws,forend cap.
Rust blued barrel and mag tube
Bone charcoal color case lever,hammer,buttplate
John Kay red oil stock finish
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Old Savage
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by Old Savage »

Thumbs up.
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hondo1892
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by hondo1892 »

Very nice rifle. You did a very nice job on the restoration.
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OldWin
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by OldWin »

Very nice. Great work.
It's nice to see an otherwise "parts gun" saved.
"Oh bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round.
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crs
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by crs »

Nice job.
I have an 1892 of about that date - not sure because it was hunted so hard that the last two serial number numerals are worn off. A previous owner converted it to .357 mag with 20 inch Douglas barrel and Bishop stocks so it make a good mate for my .357 revolver.
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Last edited by crs on Sun Feb 21, 2021 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Pat C
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by Pat C »

Thanks for the comments , normally restoration is a touchy subject when it comes to firearms but in this case condition an non originality made it a good option.
All of the markings and bore were excellent ,the cost of this type restoration eliminates it as an option for most.

I did all of the metal and woodwork and just the metal finishes alone were $400 back then ,I had about $350 in the rifle before any work.

I've noticed several companies now offering original type finishes .I had even thought about making a small gas furnace just to do actions and small parts.
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earlmck
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by earlmck »

Beautiful restoration -- thanks for showing it. I also have one of that era that had been worked on before I got it.
2520m9253.jpg
Somebody had screwed on a m53 barrel to my early 1900's receiver and had also put on the receiver sight. I have never done a thing to it other than shoot it though It has a significant amount of excess headspace which I take up by forming cartridges for it from 32/20 brass.
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Pat C
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Re: Restoration of a tired old Winchester 1892

Post by Pat C »

Thanks ,kinda itching to do anouther sometime.
Few more pics outside ,machine bluing is beautiful to look at especially in bright light.
The early Winchester action were polished very bright,to replicate you have to hand polish down to 600 grit alternating direction per every reduction in grit and final polish of course going the proper direction Winchester used.
Finish up you burnish with semichrome and 0000 to give it the affects of machine polished without the damage a buffer does.

Winchester like so many other gunmakers used large wooden wheels backed by leather and different grits per wheel.The early guns had near perfect polish jobs all edges sharp clear ,only master polishes were allowed to finish guns.Some of these folks did this for 40-50 years.

This was my first attempt at a WRA restoration, some things I would do better today ,better learned techniques.
You can notice muzzle in the white ,flat polished to remove lathe marks.
Any prewar Winchester rifle will always have this as nuzzles and chambers were covered and sealed during rust bluing.
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