I was cleaning my friends Winnie 94 iin a 30-30 caliber. I took it apart to clean the reciever section while cleaning I notice that the barrel seem to move. I thought I was moving the whole firearms, but the barrel was only moving. I thought this is not normal. I then moved the barrel end and held the reciever and the barrel was loose. My friend said the gun has been fired a number of times like that and had mentioned the barrel was loose. He thought it was the magazine that was moving.

My question is this, the barrel can be removed with hand power. Is this normal. Will this firearms be dangerous to fire as is. Would we need to send to gunsmith for fixing.

The thing is the gun was kept in good condition and has been fired with the loose barrel. I never had a firearm in that cal have a loose barrel. This is the first that I have come across.

Any suggustions...??

That's not a good thing as you've guessed. You've fired the rifle in that condition and nothing horrible happened..may not want to push your luck.

SAFETY CHECK:

Are some things to check. One way a barrel can get loose if from a cracked reciver ring (the threaded part of the reciever). Hard to detect little cracks, but one old test usually does a good job of it: gasoline (for goodness sake do it outdoors and well away from anything that could set you on fire). Dunk the reciver/breech end of the barrel in gasoline, let it evaporate and watch. The cracks will hold gasoline a bit longer, and show up as wet lines after the rest of the gas has evaporated.

Are much more sofisticated tests...but this one you can do at home.

IF YOU PASS THE ABOVE CHECK:

IF the reciever is in good shape and not cracked, then it's either that (1) the treads are a bit expanded on the reciver (2) the barrel was threaeed a bit long and the shoulder never got a chance to set up tight against the reciever.

Headspace would be the distacne from the breech face to the breech of the barrel...screwed in tightly, would decrease headspace...left out loose would increase it.

Would need a good set of headspace gauges (or the loan of some...or a well equiped gunsmith). IF that rifle's headspace checks out OK with the barrel set top-dead-center (even if hand tight), can set it tight:

The old black-smith-wanna-be-gunsmith way would be to peen the shoulder of the barrel (the first non-threaed, full diameter shoulder). This puts a "lip[" on teh edge of the barrel shoulder and only that thin lip contacts the reciever...will tighetn it, but isn't a long'lasting fix.

A thin ring-shim (like a washer)...probably about .003 to .006" thick) could be placed over the barrel shank and then the barrel tightened. This would give full contact.

Try to resist the urge to coat it with Devcon/JB Weld (a steel based epoxy) and screw it in. Not saying that it wouldn't work...but am saying it's a CS way to run a rifle.

IF THE HEADSPACE IS EXCESSIVE:

AGAIN: HEADSPACE measruements first!!! IF it turns out to have excessive headspace when set top-dead-center, then the only real fix is to take the barrel off, have the shoulder lathed back one thread (so all the dovetails come up where they are supose to)...shorten the barrel shank to give the right headspace...may need to ream the chamber as it may be too short now...and may need to shroten the mag. tube to fit the new distance from reciever to dovetails.

....Or just buy a new factory barrel from Brownells for about $75 and put it on, IF the reciever is OK.

Been thinking about this (after looking at a couple of '94's). come up with three conclusions:

1. Can't think of a single reason for a barrel's shank to SHRINK.

2. Can think of a couple of reasons for the reciver to expand...none of them good things.

3. Can only hope that it was not firmly fitted when it left the factory (but I kind of doubt that one).


One thing is for sure, loose never heals itself it only gets looser.

I was looking more at the reciever and barrel shank. The thing that bothers me is that the there is still a quater turn in the shank of the barrel. I have heard of excesive headspace and was worried about that. The thing with this is the ejector pin is lined up but the barrel is still loose. If I tighten the barrel more the cartridge might not be able to fit. I was going to fire one of my firearms to check for tightness, as a live round isnt the best idea.. It sounds like something to be concerned about.

I advise the guy of the problem. He is going to orders a new gun but would like this one as a back up. I will try to find the reason for the loose fit. I suspect the barrel was replaced at sometime in its life by someone who wasnt intrested in making money and not concerned about a user safety. I have offerred him the use of my firearms if his doesnt make it for hunting season. The reason I suspect the barrel was replaced and might have been reamed to much and hench the loose fit. ( not totally sure on this one)

I will advise him to send to a gun smith for repairs. The thing was I was suppose to fix the sight and decided to give a good cleaning and what a find. I find that my fireams need a good cleaning before and after the hunting season.

Thanks guys.

Don't shoot it. Get it to someone who knows how to replace barrels. Isn't worth the risk..... I take it this is not a factory barrel?

I knew a guy that took a perfectly good Marlin 1881 and decided he wanted to be able to take the barrel off anytime. He managed to get it off, then took a file and dressed the barrel shoulder back until it would seat hand tight. I told him it would loosen up in time, but he thought he knew better than the rest of the world. This came to mind reading ribbonstones remarks about the barrel being loose, and no reason for it that was good. Maybe some genius decided to make a takedown like the guy in Flagstaff,......Hey, I don't suppose this gun came from Flagstaff did it? Is the stock full of tacks or wood plugs where tacks used to be? He did also have a 94 carbine,......

No! the stock is in factory finish style. No tacks or plugs in the stock or forearm. though he might have bought new ones for this..but not likey. I will be contacting a smith about this and finding a quote for the item.

I wont shoot this gun as I dont want to loose my head over it. I have a gun that is alot older than this one and mine doesnt even budge. I will use mine and lend to him for a while. I might even send it out for repairs to a friend who does this for a living. I have not spoken to him yet, Thanks guys for the advice.

I just had a barrel put on a 94, it was a factory barrel. The guy charged me about $15 to install it, as it didn't take any work other than unscrewing the old one, and screwing th new one in and being sure it was centered. Good luck with the gun, hope it recovers.