94 Winchester from 1898

[eagleman2010]

Hi,

I just bought a .30-30, '94 from 1898 ser. nr.122004 It shoots fine but
people say...federal and winchester 170gr. is to hard for the rifle...can
you recommend me the best ammo?

thanks in advance

Uwe

[bruce drake]

Welcome Uwe,

Well, since this is a cast bullet (we call them "boolits" here to differentiate between them and the jacketed ones.) forum, I will recommend a 30-30 load using a LEE .309 diameter 150gr Flatnose over a light load of either Unique or Bulleye (7-9 grains) to get you started without breaking your savings from the beginnings of your foray into cast boolits. That load will give you the same velocity as the jacketed store-bought ammunition that some people say may be too hot for your rifle.

Now for the questions as to who told you the commercial ammo was too hot for your rifle. Each rifle has its own history but if it hasn't been abused with excessive pressure handloads in its past and it was proofed for smokeless, it should still be able to handle commercial ammo. But then again, this is a cast boolit forum so I would recommend and use the cast recipe over the more expensive storebought ammor. I own a 1927 made Winchester 1894 that has not seen a jacketed bullet since I inherited it from my father and it is very accurate with a good load that fits the rifle.

Bruce

Bruce

[OverMax]

Do you reload? If not, consider a manufacture who's specialty is lead boollit ammunition. Ask for their opinion before purchasing. I've got an 1894 30-30 made in 1905 and shoot jacketed for deer hunting a couple times a year and lead when playing with paper targets at the Range the rest of the year. Mine is holding up fine. I don't know why yours wouldn't. A steady diet of hi test hunting jacketed is indeed hard on these older rifles. If you stagger your jacketed with lead. You should be in good shape than.

[MtGun44]

IMO, the only thing hard on these rifles is more wear on the rifling with jacketed boolits than
lead. The barrel steels of that time were a good bit softer than today, so would wear out
sooner. With lead it will shoot almost forever. I have a similar vintage 94 in .38-55.

Bill

[runfiverun]

the hardest thing on these rifles was improper cleaning.
they were designed for smokeless and jaxketed from day one.
i'd still look at using cast in a 30-30, it will do anything a storebought round will do.

if i were just gonna buy ammo for it i'd look for the deep curl bullet or a bullet made by sierra.

[Wayne Smith]

the hardest thing on these rifles was improper cleaning.
they were designed for smokeless and jaxketed from day one.
i'd still look at using cast in a 30-30, it will do anything a storebought round will do.

if i were just gonna buy ammo for it i'd look for the deep curl bullet or a bullet made by sierra.

For Uwe and the 30-30 that is true. There were some 98's made early in 38-55 before the high speed steel barrels were available. Those used the earlier softer steel barrels. None of them were chambered in 30-30. The Win 1895 30-30's were all designed and built for jacketed and smokeless.

Just a slight correction.

[pietro]

I just bought a .30-30, '94 from 1898 ser. nr.122004




FWIW, according to the factory Polishing Room records, while the receivers may very well have been numbered earlier, Model 1894's in the 122,000 SN range didn't get assembled & sent to the Warehouse for shipping until the 3rd quarter of 1901.



.

[w30wcf]

Hi,

I just bought a .30-30, '94 from 1898 ser. nr.122004 It shoots fine but
people say...federal and winchester 170gr. is to hard for the rifle...can
you recommend me the best ammo?

thanks in advance

Uwe

Uwe,
Welcome to the forum. Your rifle has a special smokeless steel barrel and thus was made to shoot all factory ammunition including all modern ammunition.

Have fun!
w30wcf

[eagleman2010]

Thanks a lot :-) Uwe

[John Taylor]

Winchester went to Nickel steel when they came out with the 30-30 and 32 special. Some of these old nickel steel barrels are tougher than modern barrel. Biggest problem was corrosive primers took a toll on the barrels. They can be reline but as stated before some will just about ruin a liner drill because of hardness.

[KCSO]

In 1895 when the 30-30 finally was available the load was a 165 gr jacketed slug at 1950 fps as chronoed from a 20" barrel. Modern loads are a little stouter but may actually develope less pressure due to advances in powder. That said my old 94's all shoot strictly case with a Lyman 31141 bullet and powder ranging from6.0 of Unique for plinking to WW 748 for 2000fps from a 20" barrel. The total solution is to shoot cast bullet. In the 30-30 you can match anything from a mild 32-20 load to a moose killing full house load and the cast bullets are equally effective on game.