I have a new to me Winchester model 1894 in 30 WCF.  With a 26” barrel.  It was made in 1911.  I do not have any history on this firearm.  I do know there are some missing internals, I am not willing to even try a dissembley on this.  Wood has some defects and the stock is a little wiggly.

At a minimum I would like to get it looked over and get it shootable again.  I have someone for that.  I am asking if there are recommendations on who knows of people that can do a decent restoration and a ballpark idea what it may cost.  The firearm has no sentimental value to me, so that in not a concern.  I don’t really want to have more money into it than what it may be worth.

Thanks for any information that may com forward.

Doug

Well  without a complete a somewhat costly restoration you would subtract from any potential collector value it has.

I have a rare 73 Winchester SRC made in 1880  that was restored on the cheap by a prior owner. If they left it alone, it would be worth 5x what I paid for it. I had a new carrier and toggles made and shoot it regularly.

I would get it safe to shoot and enjoy.

The gun has lost value over the years by the wear and tear that it has seen.   Even if you spend professional money in getting it restored, it will never be the same as an original, unmolested gun.

They made a lot of Winchesters so they aren't super rare to begin with.  Like someone else said, make it shootable again and have fun with it.

Getting to where I can shoot it is my main priority.  I was curious about any restoration info and possible costs.

Without more info it is a complete guess..? What is missing ? How bad is it realy ? How (restored) do you want to go ?
Missing parts...Most likely the restoration will cost more than it is worth..depending on your value of of it and overall condition. Fairly large number of firearms from that era have hand fitted parts. Which means someone will be hand fitting new ones. Not just swapping parts. They might get lucky but plan on someone spending time on it. Which relates to money.

This is good advice.

Usually with guns that are not rare (which is most of them) once you complete a restoration, you've put way more money into the project than the difference in value gained by the restored condition.

In other words, you'll sink about $400 into the project and only gain about $200 in value.

Collectors want original guns (generally) and will pass on a restored gun if original guns in the same condition are available for equal or lesser cost than your restored gun.

A lot of people do not understand this when starting a restoration project.

That said, if you want to improve *that* particular gun (which may have sentimental value for you personally) then go for it, if that makes you happy.

You said it doesn't hold that for you, however, so...

Financially speaking, you are almost always better off buying one in superior condition, and selling your current one to help fund it. Your money will go much farther towards the difference in condition that way. You're also saving time, and completely bypassing any potential pitfalls with parts availability and fitting.

You have to remember, repairing to usable condition as opposed to restoration is two entirely different things, depending on which model you get a hold of, most are not going to pay as much for a restored gun as they will for a original shape gun.  I would get it safe and usable and then go shoot it.  From the sound of your description, it is not a rare gun and just needs to have some parts and tightening up to make it shootable.

There are a lot of old guns out there and the lever action guns for the most part not all that rare.

Here is some different definitions from my perspective
1) repair - do the mechanical work needed to make a safe and effective shooter ( lowest cost and from my view most important)
2) refinish - clean up and reblue and refinish stock - adds zero to functionality actually hurts value of gun and costs money probably 300-400 dollars for a decent job
3) restoration- for an example of this look up turnbull restorations. This is an extensive full tear down and bit by bit repair and meticulous effort to bring the gun as close as possible to a condition as it was when new. Very expensive and at best will only get perhaps 60-70% of the costs associated with doing it back at later sale
Turnbull ( toured the shop many years ago) does amazing work - they have craftsman and tools to reapply original markings to very old guns- some of the workers had parts held in fixtures under microscopes while reapplying markings!
For a very rare item found in deplorable condition, or a neglected item of significance historically or sentimental they are the best.