Hey guys, had a retro experience the other day
when a friend let me try his almost NIB Winchester 94 lever rifle, a commemorative in .30-30.

Wondering how well the 94 has done for you...

My retro experience was with a 1967 Commemorative model, octagonal 26" barrel, curved steel buttplate. This rifle had less than a box put through it in 1967, then was cleaned, oiled, and put away in a dry place (it was my friend's dad's) for 41 years. Now it looks almost new, one tiny blemish on the blued barrel, one shallow dent on the straight plain stock. The loading gate shows no signs of wear. The machining is impressive.

Last Friday we cleaned it and took it to the range to be born again. It was good at 25yds, and 1" high at 100. So we left the iron sights as-is, and proceeded to hit whatever we were aiming at, offhand from 50 to 100yds. The trigger on this thing is just awesome, long take up then a clean no-creep break, quite light, prolly no more than 6#. WOW.

I recall that Bushy has an older variant, stamped .30WCF, about which he might have a story or two to share.

Those of you with stories of how your 94 did for you at the range or in the field would be welcomed.

Dont have any good stories with mine yet.... just got it a few weeks ago... although when I mounted my scope, I didnt bore-sight it at all... took it out to my little "shootin-hole" and hit a clay pegion sitting on the ground at about 50 yards.. moved to the paper target and it was only shooting about 2 in low and 1 in left... guess this one is more a story about being sh!t house lucky more than how the rifle performed, but it impressed me...

Nice when it works out that way. What vintage is that 94 of yours?

Numerous 94s and 336s have graced the safe over the years; currently, I have three pre-64s, std 94 in 30-30 and an earlier version in 32 Spl and a neat 25-35. The 30-30 was one of the first smokeless cartridges whereas the 32 Spl appealed to those that used black powder until it, too, became a smokeless option.

The legacy of the 94 has been assured by its constant useage in western films over the years. It is simple, light weight and adequately accurate for the majority of deer hunting situations. Accuracy on most is going to be in the 2 to 2.5" range, five shots, rested, 100yds. It simply has a personality that is endearing.

OTOH, the Marlin 336 was very popular in past years as well and is the remaining top 30-30 offering today. A tad heavier, the Marlin is stronger, usually more accurate and is not accorded as much attention as the 94. Mine will hold 1.5", 5/100, rested. The 336 is much easier on which to mount a scope.

While 150gr bullets seem more popular today, the 170gr is the more traditional load.

The Hornady LeverRevolution 160grs offer notable advantages over the tranditional rounds in terms of trajectory and, in mine, accuracy.

twofifty wrote:

Nice when it works out that way. What vintage is that 94 of yours?

as far as I know its nothing particulary special about mine, Model 94 Ranger, angle eject, 20" carbine... I like it though, bout to start puttin a hurtin on the whitetails back in Sothern GA here in a couple more weeks....

Quote::

The Hornady LeverRevolution 160grs offer notable advantages over the tranditional rounds in terms of trajectory and, in mine, accuracy.

Ive heard those were nice, havent had a chance to try them though...

Handloader wrote:

Numerous 94s and 336s have graced the safe over the years; currently, I have three pre-64s, std 94 in 30-30 and an earlier version in 32 Spl and a neat 25-35. .... It is simple, light weight and adequately accurate for the majority of deer hunting situations. Accuracy on most is going to be in the 2 to 2.5" range, five shots, rested, 100yds. It simply has a personality that is endearing. .... While 150gr bullets seem more popular today, the 170gr is the more traditional load. The Hornady LeverRevolution 160grs offer notable advantages over the tranditional rounds in terms of trajectory and, in mine, accuracy.

Handloader, when you say that it simply has a personality that is endearing...you put your finger right on it.

All of me was instantly charmed by that 94: my eyes, my hands, and my ears (clank!).

metz3601 wrote:

Quote:: Handloader: The Hornady LeverRevolution 160grs offer notable advantages over the tranditional rounds in terms of trajectory and, in mine, accuracy. Ive heard those were nice, havent had a chance to try them though...

Given that it had been sighted in 41 years ago with 170s (rifle came with two boxes old Dominion brand soft plastic! round-nosed ammo), we bought two boxes of new 170grs flat-nosed Super-X offering from Winchester, for whitetail / mulies. Figuring a big, slow, accurately placed wallop will do the trick.

Those LeverRevolutions are not available hereabouts yet. They will be worth trying out that's for sure.

Had a 30/30 of my brothers to use shot heaps of goats pigs etc and my 1st stag with it. the winchester silvertips were the best load for me. it came up real sweet and never gave any problems.

I bought my Win 94 Wrangler, with a 16" barrel and the big loop lever, in .44 Mag quite a while back. I used it in Cowboy action matches for a while. I don't recommend that big loop lever for those, sure beats on your knuckles!

When I replaced it for CAS with a Marlin, mostly for caliber considerations as I was shooting .45 Colt revolvers, I made it a hunting rifle. After trying bullets from 200 to 300 grains I found that the lighter bullets shot much better, probably due to the relatively slow twist. By the way, 300 grain loads had pretty stiff recoil and even knocked the rear sight wedge loose, completely off the gun!

I put an XS "scout" scope mount on it with a 1X Nikon scope. Off the bench I get 2" or so groups. I picked the Speer 210 grain Gold Dot HP for deer but havent' taken one with it yet.

Twofifty...I've had this winchester sense I was 18 and I'll be 66 in a month. It was old when I bought it (1,608.XXX around 1949). There too many stories centered around that rifle to list here. I've taken deer and elk with it. Even a grouse. If I do my part it will group 3 shots at 100 yards within 1 5/8". My favorite load is a 170 grain Speer HCFN over 32 grains of W-748 in Winchester or Remington cases with CCI primers.

My cell rang early this morning and I knew right away that my day would start with game recovery.

Al's 1967 commemorative 94 had just claimed its first whitetail, in a mountain clearing, at about 3500' elevation. A nice 4 pointer, probably 175 lbs, very nice for a man's first big game hunt ever.

Deer was walking slowly, right to left, at 50yds. First shot, from kneeling, is a miss (I noticed later that the 94's sights were knocked out of position, which musta happened after last week's range trip -when it shot so well-. He figures the shot probably missed to the left, whizzing in front of the deer's front quarters.

The 4 pointer kept moving through the lightly wooded clearing, and when it stepped back into the open at 40yds Al was ready. The second shot, from standing, was released high on the shoulder and hit the neck, severing the windpipe and arteries. Al's buck took two more steps and fell, kicking some, and making some gurgly gushy noises.

Soon as Al and I hung up our phones I gave my knife a quick hone, put some water in a squeeze bottle, grabbed some gloves, and headed off. 15 minutes later we were hiking up to the kill. A very nice buck. Blood on its snout. 1" exit hole on the neck's far side-no wasted meat at all. Sun is out warming the cool crisp fall air. A light dusting of snow here and there on the ground. No flies. A convenient tree to help with the gutting - Al had a saw, rubber gloves, a rope, some towels, a knife.

Once gutted (we were lucky and didn't make a mess of it), it was a simple 15 minute downhill drag back to the trucks. Three hours after the shot, the buck is hanging in our local backcountry meat butcher's locker, safe and sound.

Fresh liver, onions and egg for breakfast.

Nice that my friend had such a fine hunt, and that I shared in the experience.

Icing on the cake, to get back to the subject matter, this classic first hunt was with an old .30-30 Win 94.