94 Winchester 30-30

[Savvy Jack]

It is a 59' DOM and my dad got it around 1961. The photo is of the 94 and me in 1967. I have only shot it a few times. Killed a deer with it back around 1984. Shot it again two years ago, first time since the 84 kill. Three shots at 100 yards. Guess it's back to bed for another 50 years.

Attachment 271513Attachment 271514

[Outpost75]

Do not under-estimate the .30-30. I have several pre-1964s. If you have your eyeballs screwed in tight and do a little work with loads, they shoot surprisingly well:

Attachment 271516Attachment 271517Attachment 271518Attachment 271519Attachment 271520Attachment 271521

[725]

Putting my scoped rifles away for opening day and taking the Win 94. Been shooting great for me and it's time, long overdue.

[Savvy Jack]

Do not under-estimate the .30-30. I have several pre-1964s. If you have your eyeballs screwed in tight and do a little work with loads, they shoot surprisingly well:

Attachment 271516Attachment 271517Attachment 271518Attachment 271519Attachment 271520Attachment 271521

Great info Outpost, I need to load for this rifle. I have been so focused on the 44-40, I just need to go have fun!!!!

[Savvy Jack]

Attachment 271538 Attachment 271539

[Win94ae]

Very cool!

[leadeye]

Good caliber, but I've always had better luck with cast in the 32 Special. The RCBS 170 grain GC.

[OverMax]

For a up close deer rifle nothing that I know of betters a 30-30. I've always professed if a bullet can hit a 11" paper plate at 100 time after time. "You'll be serving back-strap at the supper table."

[FergusonTO35]

I wouldn't read too much into how the rifle shoots with a single factory load. I know all my .30-30's from Winny and Marlin are more accurate with reloads, especially if you back off the velocity a little. Never found one that wouldn't shoot the Sierra 150 grain over 30 grains of 4895 or 4064 well. The Lee C309-170-RF is a great boolit for these too.

[Treetop]

Attachment 271538 Attachment 271539

Wow, Savvy Jack! When I scrolled down and saw that green and red Remington Kleanbore ammo box, I was immediately flooded with a plethora of pleasant memories from the '50s and '60s. Thanks for those memories, Savvy Jack and BTW, that's a beautiful rifle, too. Treetop

[Winger Ed.]

Guess it's back to bed for another 50 years.

Ya need to shoot it more often than that.

I've heard it's like having a car and almost never driving it.
They get 'lot rot', and things break just from sitting there.

[Buckshot]

..............I purchased a M94 Winchester chambered 30-30 a couple months back. It was made in 1956 and I paid $400.00 for it. It has very little signs of use, but the PO did tung oil the stock. Blueing looks like new ................. actually the whole rifle does AAMOF It was one of the rifles I took to the range a couple weeks back. I had a yellow and red box of Winchester 170gr SP ammo purchased at Dooleys Hardware in San Bernardino, CA 10/63 and the price was $2.80.

It shot just like it was supposed to, and in consideration of my 67 yo Mk1 Mod 1 eyeball detectors at 50 yards it printed 5 rnds into 2" with the 'outtie"

.................Buckshot

[Bazoo]

Interesting and thanks for sharing. I never will understand folks having a gun for that many years between outings. Longest any of mine set is maybe 6 months to a year.

[Larry Gibson]

This is my M94 Carbine I got for my 14th birthday. It rattled around for many years behind the seat of my step dad and then my younger brother's PU's before I got it back from my brother (it had to stay home when I went into the Army). It was pretty much worse for wear but still mechanically sound so I had it refinished, added the Lyman receiver sight and the Burris "Scout" scope. It shoots very well indeed as here's what it does with the 411041HP over LeveRevolution at 100 yards.

Attachment 271579

Attachment 271580

[lead collector]

Great Rifle, and story.. No don't put that rifle away.... Get it out and shoot it, even better, teach it to shoot cast lead.
The 30-30, one of my favorite rounds, is usually an eager shooter of cast, and very pleasant to shoot. With reduced loads and cast this would be a great rifle to introduce a young shooter, or a recoil sensitive shooter to the cool factor of lever gun.

There a some many options for loads, and everyone has their favorite, but a 150 grain cast bullet, sized at .310, little bit of Trail Boss, Green dot, Red dot, 2400, 4227 Reloader 7, and so many other works really well.
I this day of reduced availability of Ammo, and reloading components, a cartridge like the 30-30 is a versatile caliber to work with.
A pound of any of the above, and a few pounds of lead, and some gas checks, equals much fun!
Neck size your brass, and it lasts a L O N G time.
Good luck!!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

O.K.-- here's my story (and I'm stickin' to it!) -- early this summer I decided to buy a used Win. '94 .30-30 as a truck gun. I thought that it would bring me comfort on my forays into the woods for firewood cutting, knowing that there are large, furry creatures about. Yes, it did cross my mind that these furry creatures can run awfully fast, and I'd probably never make it to the truck to obtain the rifle, but if you're married you should always have a good cover story as to why you're buying "another one of those"!

I really did want one that was kind of a beater, and looked through many pages of listings on Gunbroker. Finally I found what seemed the ideal candidate. The stocks had apparently been handled with wet gloves and left wet many times. The wood was rough and the finish mostly gone, but no bad dents or scratches. The metal looked to be pretty good, with a little freckling on the receiver, but not something I couldn't live with. The seller, an FFL/LGS in another state described the bore as "you can see through it". That last concerned me enough that I phoned him and he said, "Well just a minute-- I'll run a patch through it." After a couple of minutes he came back with, "I can see rifling in it. It might clean up". They really wanted to get rid of it, because how often have you seen "Free Shipping" on Gunbroker?

I decided to take a chance and used "buy it now". Well, when I got it I found the serial no. to be in the 2,460,000 range. It had a nice metal butt plate. A little 4-0 steel wool and kerosene removed most of the freckling-- like I said it wasn't too bad but some is still visible, refinished the wood, and cleaned the bore. The gamble paid off, because the bore looks like new. There was even a little fancy wood in the butt stock. So, I ended up with a nice looking '94 which found a home near the front door , and no truck gun .

[lead collector]

Wow! Nice wood on that 94. Looks like the whole thing cleaned up nicely. I like to hear about project guns that go from rags to riches. Its amazing what can be hiding under a layer or two of dirt and mistreatment.

You have done exactly what I have done a few times.. Made it too nice for the intended purpose..
So for a truck gun.. A Mosin Nagant M-38 or M44 makes a good truck gun.. About the same length as your 94, more powerful, so so dammed ugly, and cant be made pretty, no matter how hard you work.

I feel like we are steeling the show here, but here goes another story... Sorry in advance.

So I am at a very small gun show a few years ago, and there is this lonely old 1981 Mauser that no one wanted.
Some one had started to make a sporter out of it, and had done nice work in re-shaping the wood. The metal was another story, a poor job at installing a cheaply made, small flip up rear sight, and all the blueing gone off of the barrel, where the old sight was removed. Hack sawed off barrel, at about 22 inches, with a file to finish crown, poorly bent bolt handle, and just over all ugly.
I set it up and drilled and tapped the barrel for a 700 Remington sight set, that was in my junk drawer. My gun smith buddy let me use his tools to re-crown the barrel, and my cousin offered to slow rust blue it.
The inside of the barrel turned out to be frosted some, but with sharp rifling, so it cleaned up good enough. So, with a little finish work on the wood, and some tru-oil it looks good. So for a little work, and for less than $100.00, a decent shooting old gun.
But... It ended up nice enough that I cant leave it behind the seat int the truck.
I could have bought a second one just about the same condition at the same show, but I was still questioning why I had bought the first one, so I passed. Both were under 100 bucks, and I regret not buying the other one. Some one had removed the safety on the other one, so a scope could be mounted. I was unsure of the cost of the missing parts so I left it.
Since I was already set up to load for the 7.65 X 53 cartridge, and cases are easy to make from 3006 brass, ammo was not problem.
So in ended up with another cast lead shooter, and with 11 grs of green dot, and a .314- 299 NOE bullet it shoots about an inch or so at 50 yards. I have been thinking about a scout style mount, and a small scope, one of these days.
Sorry again for the big fish story.. Just bored at the moment, so you all suffered..
LC.

[Conditor22]

Jack, a little paint on the sights and a little practice and you'll think differently

[Der Gebirgsjager]

So for a truck gun.. A Mosin Nagant M-38 or M44 makes a good truck gun.. About the same length as your 94, more powerful, so so dammed ugly, and cant be made pretty, no matter how hard you work.

I do own several MNs, some short, some medium, one very long. I completely agree with your opinion of
their unattractiveness, but there are those here who hold them to be things of great beauty. The same folks who think elephants are graceful animals and Model T Fords were streamlined. Watch you backside....they may follow you home!

Sorry again for the big fish story.. Just bored at the moment, so you all suffered..
LC.

I love those stories-- but photos help! I've got two or three 71/84 Mausers, all full length, also kind of homely, but I've seen some nice sporters.

[cpaspr]

Back in 2016 I picked up a 1951 Model 94 that someone had "personalized" by drawing diamonds on both sides of the stock and on the bottom of the hand guard with a magic marker. They didn't even draw the ones on the stock opposite each other. The right side picture is after I'd already attacked it a bit with a green scrubby. Then I realized I should document the process, so stopped and took a few pictures.

I soaked it for several days in denatured alcohol to strip the finish, but still ended up with a fair amount of sanding to get the diamonds all the way off. I also found a three inch crack right where the stock attaches to the tang. Fixed that with super glue and it's invisible now.

Finally refinished it with a few coats of Watco Danish Oil in golden oak, followed by tung oil.

It's a lot prettier now. Sorry, no pictures with it reassembled, just the wood.