Conservation of a Winchester 1906
If only a boys rifle could talk. This is the story of the conservation of a Winchester 1906. There are many old rifles just like this one floating around, waiting to be used and enjoyed again. This one was made in the first year of production, 1906, and is chambered for the 22 Short cartridge. There is no telling how many stories it could tell if it could speak. Perhaps not as much as we might think, as the internals are in remarkably good shape. Not so for the exterior, however. The rifle was found and purchased some years ago for my son by his grandfather. He was only three or four at the time, so the rifle was stored away until he turned ten. He had outgrown his Little Rascal 22 rifle by this time and was now graduating to this relic.
The wood is covered in many dents and gouges and the metal exterior wore a patina, the type of fine rust that takes a hundred years to form. The bore was heavily corroded and rifling barely visible. The internals of the action, on the other hand, were in remarkably good condition. The bolt locked up solidly, the action ran smoothly, and the follower had perfect timing. This old Winchester was obviously shot and used very little and sadly neglected. It had corrosive ammunition fired through it (The only cartridges available before the mid 1920s) and stored in humid environments without getting a cleaning. The rifle would have been rust blued from the factory, with proper care and storage, it should not have any rust or patina on it (other than perhaps areas where the finish gets completely worn through); however, such examples are rare.
The rifle was given a basic cleaning and then test fired. Satisfactory results were not to be expected, nor did they materialize. Not only did the accuracy leave much to be desired, but the little 22 Short cartridge case would be stuck in the chamber after firing each time. The extractor looked to be functioning perfectly and had very little wear on it. The case would get stuck because of all of the corrosion and heavy pitting in the chamber. It was clear that this rifle needed to have its bore relined to be brought back to a well regulated instrument.
It may not be widely known that rifles made for the 22 Short cartridge had barrels with a slower twist rate than rifles made for the 22 Long Rifle cartridge, 1:20 instead of 1:16. It would be simple to change the rifle to use the 22 LR. Besides chambering the new liner for 22 LR, the elevator would also need to be modified to accommodate the longer cartridge. I decided, due to the fact that 22 Short ammunition is still readily available and quite popular, that the rifle should remain in its original chambering. The 22 Short was also the only cartridge that the model 1906 Winchester was chambered for during its first year of manufacture, and of course, the barrel marking could remain accurate.
After acquiring the correct barrel liner with a 1:20 twist rate, all I needed was a 5/16” twist drill long enough to reach at least half way through the barrel and with the correct size pilot on the end to guide and keep the drill on track and straight with the bore. Brownells is the only place I know of that sells these drills specially made for the task; however, they were out of stock. So I made my own. After acquiring a 15” long 5/16” drill, I ground a pilot into it and then ground the correct relief angles into it so that it could cut. After disassembling the rifle and separating the barrel from the receiver, I setup the barrel in the lathe. This barrel was not long enough to reach all the way through my headstock to be supported by the outboard spider, so I instead held the muzzle end in a three jaw chuck with aluminum pads to prevent leaving marks on the barrel, and the breach end I supported in a steady rest. In order to not mark up the barrel where the steady rest supports it, I machined a brass collar to fit around the barrel with a brass set screw snugged up at the bottom of the barrel to secure it in place.
With the breach of the barrel supported in a live center, I turn the outside portion of the collar where the steady rest will sit so that it will run true to the bore and axis of the lathe. Then with the steady rest in place, I’m ready to start drilling the bore out. I start with a short drill that also has the correct pilot ground into it, and then switch to the long drill until I get just past half way through the barrel. I only drill 0.100” at a time, removing the drill to clear chips and reapply cutting oil each time. Then the barrel needs to be turned around and setup all over again with another brass collar with a smaller inside taper machined in its bore so that it sits near the muzzle end. The same is repeated to drill the remaining half of the bore out. Next the barrel is removed, cleaned, and de-greased. The liner is inserted into the barrel to ensure that it fits without binding. It is then turned in the lathe with some sand paper to rough up the outside, then cleaned and de-greased. The oldest method of securing the liner to the barrel is silver solder, later came epoxy. Both methods work very well, but I used Loctite 620 which is one of the latest methods. Loctite 620 is not a thread locker, it’s a retaining compound specially made for this purpose and withstands temperatures up to 450 F. I have been completely satisfied with the results of using this product.
After curing overnight, the ends of the liner are then cut off within about 1/8” of the muzzle and breach. The barrel gets setup in the lathe again, the muzzle is dialed in to run true with the bore, the liner machined down to the face of the muzzle, and the muzzle crowned. It is then turned around, dialed in, machined down and chambered with a chambering reamer for the 22 Short cartridge. There are two different styles for 22 rimfire chambers. One style has the counter bore for the cartridge rim reamed into the barrel and the bolt face is flat. The most common style has the rim of the cartridge sitting outside the barrel and the bolt face is counter bored to fit the rim. The Winchester 1906 has the latter style. The liner is filed by hand to match the extractor cut at the breach. The barrel is then ready for bluing and reassembly.
I decided that this rifle should be conserved rather than being restored or left as is. It will retain all of its existing outer metal and wood surfaces. All of the external metal had a patina on it. This is caused from the steel rusting slowly, forming a light layer of ferrous oxide (red/brown rust) on the surface. When the rifle was first blued by Winchester in 1906, they applied an acid solution to the steel surfaces to make the steel form this same type of ferrous oxide over its surface in a controlled manner but in a very short amount of time. The steel parts would then get steamed (all the factories ran off steam power back then) to convert the ferrous oxide into ferric oxide (black rust). The scale is then carded off down to the steel surface which is now darker in color. This process is then repeated until the steel is very dark in color, or blued. This surface is now much more resistant to further oxidation and offers a degree of protection from corrosion and is also much more pleasing to the eye.
Since we already had a nice layer of ferrous oxide over most of the steel surfaces that had formed over the last hundred years, I just needed to apply a rust blue solution over the bare steel portions such as the muzzle I machined a crown into. After getting the desired rust, I steamed the barrel and other parts to form ferric oxide and carded them. Repeating this a couple of times was all that was required to get the desired results. It’s important to note that this process is not refinishing when the existing patina is converted and the steel was never sanded or polished. It’s the same original surface. Some people refer to it as revealing the original finish that’s still under the rust or patina, but I think it would be more accurate to say that the ferric oxide (blued surface) slowly converted back to ferrous oxide over time and we are simply converting it back to ferric oxide which is what it’s supposed to be. We’re really just bringing the rifle back to a working serviceable condition by fixing and repairing any issues, converting the steel surfaces, cleaning and applying an oil finish to the stock, but without any sanding or polishing original surfaces and leaving any scratches, dents, and other minor flaws. This is conservation, instead of restoration where we would try to make everything look brand new again.
After reassembly and sighting in, this rifle has been a real joy and pleasure shoot! These Redman liners have always shot exceptionally well! My son really enjoys having a repeater over his previous single shot. Even if it is a bit less powerful, the squirrels seam to die just as fast when struck with a bullet from the 22 Short as they do from the 22 LR! He also loves and appreciates having a rifle as old as it is. There really is something extra special when you have something as old as this and yet it works just as well as it did when it was new!
