Hey all!!

New to site and somewhat new to owening lever actoins although I have shot many.

I JUST purchased a Winchester 94 Ranger 16" in 45Colt.I have only shot it three times but have "practiced" many ours while "wathing" tv.

My problem is that when loaded to capasity and I begin to cycle the action it sends a cartridge out under the feed ramp :mad: The rifle does seem to be rather "sloppy" compared to my Marlin 1895G but I could live with that...but this jamming thing...I would be better off throwing rocks with my hands!!!! :mad: :rolleyes:

Anyhow any pointers would be greatly appreciated!!

Wanta'B

Easiest answer. New gun and doesn't work? Exercise the warrantee ans have the dealer send it back to the factory or factory service center. Don't try to "fix" it, or the first option won't work anymore.

One little nitpick...

If it's a 16" barrel, isn't it a Trapper? According to Winchester's 2005 catalog, the Ranger is only offered in one version: a 20" barrel in .30-30 Win.

I just purchased the same gun (Trapper, 16" barrel, .45 Colt). The local chain (Big 5) had it tagged as a "Ranger", and was even charging the Ranger's sale price, though the Trapper lists for about 20% more than the Ranger.

Hi WantaB,

I am not one of the experts on this site, but it sounds like you have a little trouble with the cartridge stop. It's not a huge problem, but like the other fellas I would recommend sending it back to Winchester. If you do a search on these forums for "Cartridge Stop" should give you a better idea of what the problem actually is. Once you get going, you should have little problems. Good luck.

This sounds very much like the same difficulty I'm having with a '94 Legacy in 357. When I cycle the shorter 38's it gets jammed and I have to wiggle the rounds out from the underside of the lifter. I put a few hundred rounds of 38 through it before it didn't want them anymore. It seems to do better with the longer 357 rounds though; it's just twice the price to shoot, a little more fun, but twice the price...

Thanks for the advice all!I wil be taking it back to the dealer today..Big-5.Could be true about the name but as staited above that is what Big-5 had it tagged as and there is no 'model' name on the rifle other than 94 AE.

So, I took the rifle back to Big 5 and the manager said that he has had a 1/2 dozen or so complaints all about the winchesters,not one about the Marlins!He went in back and brought out another to replace the defective one...VERY cool!! :cool: No hesitation at all.I did have to fill out new paperwork and do the Oregon two step-call in background check that was only suposed to be for ONE year but set in stone now!!Give 'em any ground at all,what so ever,it's gone,gone,gone!!! :mad: No worries though...my life is REALLY dull. :rolleyes:

As to the model designation...the Winchester sticker on the box staits that this IS a Ranger 16"...this is not a Big 5 sticker.I asked the manager about it and he said that it is a Big 5 deal with Winchester,like the Ruger and Winchester "Wal-Mart" only guns.Bought by the pallet load in each caliber I imagine.That may also explain the POOR quality of some of the specimens the manager and I talked about...pressure to meet the order?

Anyways,this 'new' one I have now cycled 50 rounds without a hich but with the next recycle the #7 cartridge popped out under the loading elivater/ramp domewhatit! :rolleyes: May have been the speed or angle at which I was cycling it but MAN,I thought these where supposed to be good rifles.This one's fit and finish are much beter than the last however and it was the last one that they had in stock so I will more than likely keep it.

A budy of mine has an old '94,in 30-30,he says has NEVR given so much as a hick-up and I beleive it...over the past 17 years that we have been shooting/hunting I have seen nothing but reliable service from that beat-up no blue remaining $50 yardsale wounder.It even shoots 1"groups at the local range at the 100yrd mark.Guess it's true they don't make 'em like they used to! :rolleyes:

Any one have some hints on a good fix?I will keep searching.

Thanks for your time,good shooting!
Wanta'B

Wanta'b, the new winchesters suffer from lack of fitting and springs in the gun that are too stiff. the main-spring that powers the hammer and the magizine spring in particular. I have a legacy in .45colt that when new was hard to load the mag and so stiff to work the lever I could hardly stand it. here is an article from Leverguns.com that may help you out.it made a big difference in my Legacy.http://www.time-slice.com/mohave.gambler/favorites/LeverGuns/Winchester94.htm

Sometimes the Winchesters are sensitive to the lever speed, I found on several of my vintage guns, if I worked the lever at a slow rate of speed, the bullet would jam up, but if I cycled the lever at a faster rate, I had no problem.
Don't know if you tried that, but it worked for me.

Wanta'b, the new winchesters suffer from lack of fitting and springs in the gun that are too stiff. the main-spring that powers the hammer and the magizine spring in particular. I have a legacy in .45colt that when new was hard to load the mag and so stiff to work the lever I could hardly stand it. here is an article from Leverguns.com that may help you out.it made a big difference in my Legacy.http://www.time-slice.com/mohave.gambler/favorites/LeverGuns/Winchester94.htm

.45, it appears from this article that the first solution may be to modify the magazine spring?

Rebarman, I did on my gun as it was a bear to load more than 6 rounds in the mag.

.45colt-Thanks for the link,I will be doing some tuning to it and see how it goes.Definately suffering from sloppy/ill-fitting parts!!!The one I have now(Big 5,replaced no problem :cool: )is ten times the rifle but still nothing near what everyone talks about when it comes to the Winchester name!

Mag shotter- to say the least,it is sensitive to lever speed!The replacement rifle is much better but still can not hold a candle to my Marlins...Marlins may not be as nice in the machining of the outside,ie.inconsistant finish and "lines" of their receivers :rolleyes: BUT they are hands down reliable and they do not rattle AND they do not seem to be picky about lever speed.I am willing to do some file/emery cloth work to the outside to get a "finished look",then reblue or better yet color case ;) ...but I think a new firearm should be able to work well out of the box.I do like the looks of the Winchesters though!

Wanta'B

Wanta'B, if you hang around long enough on these threads you will see that both winchester and marlins have their share of problems right out of the box.there is a post on Leverguns right now about a brand new marlin that won't feed any ammo. these companies will not invest time in there lever action rifles. Jim.

Wanta'B, if you hang around long enough on these threads you will see that both winchester and marlins have their share of problems right out of the box.there is a post on Leverguns right now about a brand new marlin that won't feed any ammo. these companies will not invest time in there lever action rifles. Jim.

Interesting,I'll have to check that out.

Very good info to know.I had never heard of that happening.Lots of my buddies have lever guns,both makes and none have had any problems.It makes me wounder if it is the old saying 'they don't make 'em like they use'd to!'?

I have a trails end in 45lc will not feed any new or store bought reloads but will shoot 45 schofields all day , I can live with that.

LE

So the other day, I decided to work on the problem with my .357 Legacy jamming with the .38's. I worked some rounds through the cycle just to check, and sure enough the .38's jammed right away. Then I put the .357's in and was surprised to find that the lever jammed again, which it hadn't done before with the .357's. I ended up having to open up the lever action to get the jammed .357's out, bummer.

I clipped about 4 coils from the magazine spring as previously suggested, easy enough. When I tried to cycle some more .357's it jammed again, and again, not matter how much 'authority' (or sweet talking) I gave the rifle.

After having opened up the lever action a couple of times, I think I see another problem. It looks like the cartridge stop at the mouth of the magazine is rounded and shiny. I suspect that it is not keeping the cartridges in the magazine. Is this something just I need to get a replacement part for, or do I need to take my rifle to a gunsmith?