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Posted: 8/17/2011 6:52:12 AM EDT
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I'm going to go look at a Winchester 1894 tonight. Advertised as my an "excellent condition pre-1964" rifle, it may be my first lever gun.
Can anyone offer advice on what I should be looking out for on this rifle? |
Knowing a little more about why you're interested would be helpful, but I'll make an attempt anyway
The Winchester 1894 is a John Browning design,and was introduced by Winchester in 1894, it was called the 1894 until around 1920, thereafter it was known as the Model 94. Take a look at the upper tang, it might be rollstamped 1894, giving you a clue as to its age. The 1894 (pre-1964) was produced in five chamberings; .25-35, .30-30 (aka .30 WCF), .32 Winchester Special, .32-40, and .38-55. Prior to WWII, the .32-40 and .38-55 chamberings were dropped, the .25-35 and .32 WS were eventually dropped as well. The 1894 was made in two main configurations; rifle, with a 24" barrel and a rifle style (curved) butt plate and the carbine with a 20" barrel and a carbine butt plate. The longer barrels were dropped before WWII, and shotgun butt plates were adopted in place of the carbine butts, also pre WWII. Back in the old days, Winchester was very open to special orders and would make custom configurations, such as non-standard barrel lengths, fancy wood and checkering. The 94 is a light and handy hunting rifle, and the .30-30 chambering is probably the best of the bunch; it's still quite popular to this day. It was one of the first (if not the first) commercial high velocity hunting cartridges available, and its flatter trajectory extended point blank rifle range out to around 200-225 yards, quite a step up from the .45-70s and other blackpowder rounds previously available. If you can get the serial number from the one you're looking at (bottom of the receiver), you can get its age here. |
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I decided to buy the rifle. It's a 2.47M serial number, so that makes it a 1962 build. Next year, this rifle will be 50 years old.
I saw some of the collection of firearms. The old guy really liked his guns and kept a log of when/where he bought each weapon and the round count. I bought a S&W 22A pistol for my son for Christmas. It was logged as having 12 rounds through it. I couldn't tell it was ever fired. I've wanted a lever gun since I was a little kid watching westerns. 
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Quoted:
Well then, welcome to the world of lever actions! .30-30 I'm guessing. If you reload, you'll find it a very easy cartridge to load for, and components are easy to find. Good luck with it. Yes, sir. It's a 30-30. I've been toying with the idea of reloading, but I just haven't had the time or funds to commit to learning the process. Good to know that the components will be easy to find! |
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Well then, welcome to the world of lever actions! .30-30 I'm guessing. If you reload, you'll find it a very easy cartridge to load for, and components are easy to find. Good luck with it. Yes, sir. It's a 30-30. I've been toying with the idea of reloading, but I just haven't had the time or funds to commit to learning the process. Good to know that the components will be easy to find! Yep –– in addition to relatively inexpensive components –––– its also not too bad to shoot even if you buy factory stuff––- i have been stockpiling factory 30-30 SP's from Wally for a while because they're only 11.99 or 12.99 a box. Since its not an AR, where you may shoot 100 rounds (and sometimes a lot more) in a single range session, a case of ammo may well last a hunter for the foreseeable future |
| Not that the current pricing is very good, but you can check here for all of your ammo needs. |
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Keep an eye out at Wal-Mart. There is some Federal soft point stuff that comes in fairly generic maroon-colored boxes and was $11.97 at my last time of purchase. Also keep in mind that even $15-$16 per box is cheap for off-the-shelf rifle soft point ammo, and the fact that it is locally available is a huge plus. I'm paying $64 per 20-round box of my favorite hunting loads for a 7mm WSM, and $27 per 20-round box of hunting loads for a 7mm Mag locally. I love shooting my .30-30s and 7.62x39s for that reason. I stopped at Wallyworld on my way home... 30-30 was 14.97 and 15.97 for what appeared to be 20 round boxes. Ouch! Is there a place online that sells cases of 30-30 at a decent price?  It's all relative.
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