Winchester Model 50 repair???

00scoots

Alright, I'm asking the Experts!!!

I recently acquired a Winchester Model 59 from an acquaintance, who was selling a number of firearms for the widow of a friend of his. The Model 59 has a non-factory Monte Carlo butt stock on it, which I'll be replacing. He also had a Winchester Model 50 Featherweight for sale as a parts gun. My friend explained that this Model 50 had a heavy duck load fired in it, which caused a 2" hairline fracture on the top of the aluminum receiver near the barrel.

This Model 50 was still at the widow's house and I bought it for $100 sight unseen for parts. I figured that I could use the butt stock to replace the one on the Model 59 and sell off the rest of the parts.

To make a long story short, this Model 50 Featherweight is a Pigeon Grade Trap Model!!! The bottom of the receiver is marked with the serial number followed by the letter A (1929XXA, anyone know what year), FEATHERWEIGHT is underneath the serial number, and PIGEON is underneath that! I couldn't believe my good fortune!!! I also cannot believe that someone would be so dimwitted as to fire a heavy duck load in this aluminum receivered shotgun!

My question is, can this hairline fracture on top of the aluminum receiver have any chance of being repaired, and who in North America can do such work?

There is also a hairline fracture on the left side of the wrist in the Monte Carlo butt stock (gorgeous wood!!!). Who can you recommend for stock repairs, anyone in the Pacific Northwest or .....?

Thank you for your assistance,

perry shooter

I know a Older stock maker in Lynchburg Va That can fix the stock. MR. L. Hicks I need to check to see if he is still doing work he is in his late 80's.

duckhunter

Check with Simmons in Spring Hill Ks. 800-444 0220

bobski

your pigeon grade is indeed rare. its approx 1961/63 era. i have one in skeet.
but, with the damage yours has, the collectible part of it is destroyed and can not be repaired. even with the split in the wrist repaired, the thing that makes pigeons pigeons is the receiver and the wood. everything else is interchagable. hate to be the one to bring the bad news to you. alloy aluminum cant be safely and precisley welded w/o it being obvious. it has the kiss of death from a collectors standpoint. it should be of no surprise why the gun was in a closet for so long now. the wood is the find. all else is....just a model 50.

only winchesters

Good morning 00scoots: Well repairing cracks in aluminum isn't rocket science. Cracks get welded every day!

The real problem, is you are dealing with a finished machined part that's been anodized. Cost is another factor, how much are you will to spend for a repair attemp that has no guarantees of being successful?

the anodize process, used on aluminum receivers was a Type III "Hard anodize". Anodize is not just a "surface coating" it goes subsurface too. Re-anodizing would be the most expensive part of the repair. Since you won't be able to remove the anodize 100% your final results most likely will be a receiver that looks "blotchy".

Here's the steps that the receiver would have to go through:

1) prep and weld crack, X-ray
2) polish welded area
3) dimensional inspection of the receiver, to see if there has been any heat distortion from the welding process, (if so, some remachining may be required.
4)the outside of the receiver would have to be prepped for anodize.
5)the "inside of the receiver would have to be masked", (sealed from the anodize process). so re-anodizing will only take place on the exterior surface.
Your cost to get this all done, about $500-$800 if your lucky!!

I don't agree with Bob, that it's just the receiver and wood that made a Pigeon gun uunique!

Trap gun should have a ventilated ribbed barrel, It's value, $200-$350 depending on which style of rib
The bolt and carrier have been jeweled or engine turned. Who knows what other special features the gun may have been ordered with?

The wood repair is easy, just about any gunsmith who repairs stocks, or good stock maker can do this for you.

From strikly a parts value, you have about $600-$800 in parts right now. with the stocks and barrel, being about 80% of that value.

Regards Dave

00scoots

Thank you for your replies.

I had a sinking feeling that the "fix" was going to be rather hopeless. What a shame that someone abused such a beautiful shotgun. [V]

The bolt and floorplate (?) are both jeweled, 30" full choked barrel with a .25" wide vent rib that has a "pewter colored" center post and a red "Bradley bead" at the muzzle. The buttstock has a Pachmayr "White Line" Presentation Model recoil pad on it (I don't know if that is original factory), and the grip cap.

I'm going to take Dave's advice and part it out ..... what a shame. [V]

bobski

as you can see, OW and i go back and forth on m50's.[:D]

i hold true to my post. ANYONE can jewel a bolt. ANYONE can jewel a carrier. ANYONE can swap a vent rib on a m50. but bottom line....try to pass off say...a pigeon grade model 21 or a M12 to someone with a cracked repaired stock and a welded receiver, and watch what happens to interest let alone sale price.

bottom line, whether you fix the gun or not, either way you have less than a collectible gun in 100% condition that MUST be owned or advertised as REPAIRED or DAMAGED for the rest of its life. to not disclose it as such at the time of sale would be unethical. it is NOT in the condition it left the factory. CONDITION IS EVERYTHING.

btw...the pad is aftermarket. it should be red.
btw...i'll take the wood.[^]

only winchesters

Hello everyone: Bob you missed the point. A Pigeon Trap gun has things a regular Md 50 doesn't. Factory vent rib barrels aren't easy to come by, true they all fit any receiver. While anyone can engine turn a bolt and carrier, Maybe 1% of the gunsmiths out there know how Winchester did it, much less the size of abrasive stick used. A Pigeon Trap, will have a higher grade of walnut than a standard Trap. What makes a Pigeon gun, all moving parts have been honed and or polished.

I never said it could be repaired and passed as original!! I said, the crack might be repairable, if you have the money. There are no guarantees when attempting this kind of repair. I also said it would never look original again after re-anodize.

If you think that there are not non-original Winchesters on the market, being sold as original, you would be mistaken. Sometimes it's non-intentional, such as the history of the gun isn't known, (estate sale) or what ever, or the seller can not tell, it's happening. I've seen some here at GB.

Again Pigeon parts, while they interchange, they do carry more value than a standard part.

Regards dave

bobski

ow, you are the only person i would argue with until im blue in the face and enjoy it! ow and i are both in the choir and we like preaching to each other so some others viewing can gleen our debates!

skeet/trap and pigeon grade wood quality is basically the same. its either a nice aa or aaa select. the ONLY difference in pigeon grade wood from skeet/trap is the check pattern and the pistol grip angle.
even a skeet or trap or field gun for that matter, can be upgraded to a hand honed pigeon action. so again, i hold true to my claim, the only thing collectible about this pigeon grade in question is the wood and the receiver marked as a factory pigeon grade. both of which have gotten the kiss of death by being damaged. now, to a shooter, repairs dont mean much. they will be interested in parts or repaired guns because shooters shoot the daylights out of them and looks arent important. where this fellow is going to make money is if he sells the whole thing intact and someone out there has a good pigeon receiver just waiting for a parts gun to come along.
as for the bbl, you can take a pigeon grade 30" full vent rib bbl off a pigeon and put it on a trap gun and you wouldnt know the difference.the value of the bbl is in the fact its ribbed, nothing else. he could most likely sell the bolt and trigger group as a pigeon grade unit, but once it leaves its pigeon gun, the hand honed value is shot w/o the receiver it was honed to. case in point, i have a pigeon grade M12 28ga that has been repaired so many times, the pigeon action has been lost in repairs from swapping of replacement parts. what made the pigeon action famous was of course having it smooth as silk and all parts working in harmony. but mines not, since the honed parts were swapped out, it cycles like a tank. wheres the premium for pigeon parts w/o the pigeon hand fitted hone job? see my point?
as you stated, 800+/- for a bid if its sold.
fyi, i bought mine perfect for 900. the last pigeon on gb sold for 800 intact and working. cracked? whew....its gonna be tuff to make that goal.
your turn![:)]

CapnMidnight

Scoots,
We have a gun smith here in town that can repair that stock, and it'll look like new, he's an artist, and he wont rob you. I think his partner could probably do the action. We all live in the Columbia river goarge, about 55 miles east of Portland on the north side of the river. email me from my profile if your intrested.
W.D.

only winchesters

Good morning everyone: You are right Bob, we may have to agree to disagree. All I can say is if I had that gun and parted it out, when all is said and done, I would have between $600-$800. It's all in the marketing!! where one chooses to advertise make all the difference in the world.

You own enough Winchesters and have bought enough parts to know, that most of the time, a Winchester, (Md 50 Pigeon in this case) will be worth more in parts than as a whole gun. Especially one with a cracked receiver!

Regards to all

Dave