Winchester 94 and brass

[Mark Daiute]

Are lever actions any harder on brass than bolt action rifles?

[btroj]

As a general rule, yes. The lever action is not as rigid as a bolt gun so the cases stretch more. Of you push the shoulder back a lot them the cases will end up with a head separation pretty quickly.
I only touch the shoulder when I size for 30-30 most of the time. I also don't use heavy loads very often.
Again, as a rule the bolt guns are easier on brass than about anything else. But load pressure and sizing methods can have a big influence too.

[NickSS]

I have had the same experience with bottle neck cartridges in both lever actions and semi autos. I have also had this occur in some bolt actions with generous chambers and over sizing. So I set my dies to only push the shoulder back about .001" and this extends brass life considerably.

[peerlesscowboy]

Are lever actions any harder on brass than bolt action rifles?
I think it has more to do with overly generous chamber length and/or headspace issues than with action type.

John C. Saubak

[Omnivore]

peerless; That may be it. I had mine tested for headspace, and it was supposedly within spec, but my Win '94 always stretches new brass on the first firing, and the primers will be set back slightly.

I'll second NickSS' recommendation. Just neck sizing, or setting back the shoulder one thou or so for easy chambering, and the brass is nice and stable from there on, with no primer set-back.

No point in working your brass back and forth with each loading. So the answer to the OP is "yes" but only on the first firing. Or so that is my observation, with this one carbine.