Hi Guys, Can Anyone Help A Poor Relative From Across The Pond?
I Have A Problem Reloading My Win, 94. I Bought It New About 4 Years Ago And Have Never Had A Problem Until Last Week, When I Closed The Action Ready To Load The Mag On My Club Range, The Loading Gate Hit The Side Of The Carrier Platform And Would Not Open Fully, Having No Tools With Me At The Time, I Contented Myself With A Look At The Action As Best I Could, Verbal Abuse Didnt Help So It Went Back Into Its Slip And I Made Some Holes With My Little .22 Instead,
On The Drive Home Three Possibilities Came To Mind
1. I Had Some Dirt Or Crud Stuck Under The Carrier, Not Allowing It To Lay Totally Flat.
2.the Screw On The Frame Had Worked Loose, Allowing The Hinged Gate To Droop Slightly And Contact The Side Of The Carrier.
3. A Worn, Bent Or Damaged Part In The Action.
On Examination I Found No Dirt, No Loose Screw, And I Cant See Any Obvious Damage To Any Of The Working Parts, It Must Be Something Mechanical Because When I Crack The Lever About Half An Inch Just Till The Bolt Breakes Contact With The Breach Face The Gate Rides Over The Carrier With No Problem.
I Know I Think The Same As You Guys, If You Own A Rifle, Or Any Weapon For That Matter It,s Up To You To Know As Much As You Can About How The Thing Works!
Besides That I Would Be Galled To Death Taking It To A Gunsmith And He Goes " Ah " ( Click Click ) "there You Go" " Thats 50 Bucks"
So Any Suggestions Will Be Gratefully Read And Digested.
Thanks In Advance, Mick The Brit.
By The Way If Anyone Has Any Questions About The Shooting Scene Over Here I Will Try To Answer As Best I Can, (keep Them Trigger Fingers Working)

Mick,
First off, welcome to the forum.

Since nobody else has responded I'll give it a try.

You didn't say what caliber your 94 is so I pulled out my 1980 vintage 30-30, and my 85 vintage .45 Colt.
That should just about cover both variations.

When opening the actions of either of these 94's the carrier will stay all the way down untill the bolt hits the pivot point at the rear and pops it up.

From fully closed, to fully open, just before the point that the bolt hits the carrier, I can fully open the loading gate on both guns.

The raised and lowered position of the carrier in the Win 94 is controlled to a very large degree by the interaction of the ^ shaped carrier spring cam area, and the contact spot on the spring.
If this spring comes loose it will effect the positioning of the carrier.
I have had two Win 94's, one pre and one post 64 that for whatever reason I removed the carrier spring. When I put it back in, the carrier would not function properly. In both cases when I installed a NEW spring it functioned correctly again.
By functioned correctly I mean that the carrier popped up and stayed up untill the bolt pushed it down, then once down it stayed all the way down untill the bolt caused it to pop up.
When reinstalling a used carrier spring I have had the same situation you have now. The carrier will not stay down, it raises up just a wee bit. Or it will pop up when it's supposed to, but will drop down just enough to cause a feed jam.

If I had your rifle in my hand, I would take it apart, and thoroughly check the cam area on the carrier for wear. Then I would verify that the spring is tight, and that the area that contacts the carrier is not worn. You can do this without removing the loading gate, however if the spring is loose, it's easier to remove the loading gate to tighten the screw than to use an offset screwdriver.

If your gun is clean, and there is no debris causing the problem, this is where I would look.

Hope this helps some, it's kind of hard diagnosing these problems over the internet.

Joe

JOE you are a diamond!!!
just this morning i dragged my shooting buddy over with his 94 and proceeded to take both of them apart to examine his against mine, every thing seemed to be o.k. until saw this little spring up under the bolt. on his rifle the spring lay flat against the cocking lever and seemed to poke thru a slot near the bottom, but in my rifle the spring had jumped out of the slot, i suspect i have a broken carrier spring, the mechanics still worked because the tang on the top of the carrier still hit the spring when you racked the action, but i was pretty sure i had found the problem, and then i read your reply, what can i say? you hit the nail right on the head first time out, what a guy!!!
if i can bother you for another answer, does the spring have a sort of z shape to it, or two 90 deg bends or something, the end of my spring is L shaped, and it looks as if a bit is missing from the end?
thanks again for taking the time to reply, both rifles are .38/357 legacies by the way, handsome little devils and good fun to shoot.
regards, MICK.

Mick,

Glad I could help. Here is a three angle scan of the carrier spring like my AE uses. I'm hoping the .357s are the same. At least it will give you a basic idea of what it looks like.
I haven't had the chance to check out the 94's in .357 mag, I'll have to do that some day soon.

Joe

Mr miller Sir.
you came thru again, right on the money, the spring you show is not exactly like the one in my rifle, BUT it gives me a good idea of what i,m looking at,
thanks again. MICK.
(if your shooting is as quick and accurate as your answers i don't ever want to be in a quick draw contest with you)

Mr miller Sir.
you came thru again, right on the money, the spring you show is not exactly like the one in my rifle, BUT it gives me a good idea of what i,m looking at,
thanks again. MICK.
(if your shooting is as quick and accurate as your answers i don't ever want to be in a quick draw contest with you)


I had the same issue with a Timber carbine 444 I used to own.
i sent mine back to Winchester [much easier for me than you] and the replaced the carrier spring and a new carrier.