I have a Winchester M94 top eject made back in the late 60's. This rifle was given to me to sight in, and generally play around with. The rifle was shot very little, like 50 rounds exactly. The owner of the rifle actually bet me I could not get it to shoot to point of aim / point of impact on the bullseye of a target at 50 yards. I thought he was joking (guy is a bow hunter).

Well, first day out I was hitting ~ 2 feet to the right with elevation dead on at 50 yards.

I drifted the rear sight over to the left all the way to the "dovetail" was flush with the barrel shank and tried again. I was about 10" to 12" to the right and dead on with elevation at 50 yards.

I then drifted the front blade as far to the right as it would go and still allow fitting of the hood. The rifle now shoots ~ 4" to 5" to the right and dead on with elevation at 50 yards.

As you can imagine the sights look mighty strange on this rifle right now and it still will not hit the point of impact at point of aim.

I know this rifle has NOT been run over or anything. What is up with this thing, bent barrel (from factory), bowed bore, etc??

I am not going to be a happy camper if I lose this bet! Help is appreciated.

ASS_CLOWN

if it is that far off it has to be a bent barrel in my opinion

Try adjusting the bands holding the forend on. A change in pressure here will change point of impact. Maybe you will get lucky?

Since the elevation is not a problem, my bet goes with the bent barrel.
If you have a strong bore light go into a darkened room and compare the light emitting onto a wall with the point that the sights are aligned. Mark that point and turn the gun up side down putting the sights on the point you just marked. Now note the position of the light in relation to the sighting point.
A bent barrel will show light away from the mark, a straight one will be oposite but relative distance to the original mark.

I hadn't heard that one before BAW. Thanks for the tip! derf

BAW,

Thanks, I shall try it out, sooner rather than later!

ASS_CLOWN

If that doesn't work, you could put a scope on it so you have more adjustment. That's one way to collect the bet.

Ypu can also put an unprimed case in the chamber, put a light behind it, and look down the muzzle. The bands of light will easily show you if the barrel is bent or not.

IS THE BARREL LOOSE IN THE RECEIVER? It's possible the receiver ring is cracked or something serious could be wrong... It might have been fed a diet of very powerful cartridges over the years...

See if the wood forearm is tight on one side. Watch the forearm gap as you loosen up on the forend screws and if the forend moves away from the barrrel, you know it's putting pressure on the barrel. Someone probably went over the rifle with a screwdriver and thought they were doing something useful by tightening up all the screws! Check the magazine screw too...

Have a look at the article on the link below by one of the top levergun experts... You might find a very easy cure.

Gaining Accuracy In A Leveraction Rifle by Paco Kelly

Here's some more articles that might help...

LEVERGUNS Articles

IF you find the rifle shoots better with the screws backed off, but they're loose, try some loctite to hold them in place.

GOOD LUCK!