bedbugbilly
01-04-2016, 10:53 PM
I'm like most folks . . . you buy the dies, brass, etc. and THEN start looking for something to shoot them in. :-)
I've had reloading 30/30 on my "bucket list" a long time. I have also had a couple of 94s slip away from me over the years. Back when I was a kid, my Dad bought a very nice 94 in 32 Special. We shot it a few times and then when the Centennial model came out in 1966, he wanted one so he traded the 32 special in on it. He liked looking at the gold receiver in the gun cabinet! It was pretty but it was a looker, not a shooter so it never got fired. LOL
Then when I got married, we used to go up to the UP and I'd hunt with my father-in-law. Sometimes I'd use his Winchester 94 30/30 that he had bought back in the early 1930s. Good honest wear from many hunts and smooth as butter. When they sold their place and went to Florida, I mentioned that if he was going to get rid of his 94, I'd really like to have it and would pay whatever he wanted for it. He and I didn't always see "eye to eye" - he could be a very "difficult" person to say the least. Well they moved, he gave his guns to his son (who if he made a $1 would spend five). My lovely brother in law only kept them for a month or so and sold all his Dad's guns in a garage sale to get the money. A shame but sometimes you can't fix stupid . . . .
Then when my Dad died, my brother and I split the guns he had and I took a Golden Spike model and a Canadian Centennial - both NIB and unfired. Since my brother is the only one who hunts now, I just took those two and a Winchester 22 that was Dads as it was very sentimental to me. My brother took the rest of the guns - he too was more interested in what "things were worth" rather than some of them had a lot of sentiment attached to them. I gave the Golden Spike to my cousin - my Dad's nephew - as I wanted him to have it for a keepsake from my Dad to be passed on to his son. I eventually sold the Canadian Centennial as I felt it was too nice to shoot and there was no sentiment attached to it.
And thus, my search for a decent 94 began. Well last week, I was checking the site of a LGS that I have purchased a number of handguns from and they had two 32 specials listed, a pre 64 Model 94, etc. I ran down to take a look at them but was sorely disappointed. Both 32 Specials had been rode hard and put away wet . . . I mean really HARD. Both pre 64 flat bands and while I don't mind "honest wear" and am more concerned with mechanical condition . . . one looked like it had been refinished in a junior high shop project and the other had some major stock damage and a extremely poor bore - by the time the stock was replaced with a correct replacement - it would have been more $$ than it was worth. I spotted the pre 64 30/30 and picked it up - didn't look bad from a distance until I got it where I could look at it. Somebody had mounted a side mount scope bracket to the side of the receiver - five very large screws held it on. I didn't want a scope on whatever I ended up with and I could just visualize how the receiver would look like swiss cheese when the mount was removed. The rear sight had been removed . . . by the dings on the barrel they must have used a pick and overall, it looked like a mess.
So . .. . I went down the rack and spotted a Winchester 94 30/30 "Ranger". This thing looked like it had just come off the production line. It had the cross pin safety on it that I wasn't too thrilled about but I kept looking and overtime I kept going back to it. After much consideration, I decided if I wanted something to shoot, this little carbine would probably do just fine and looked like it would be a lot of fun. At least it would do until I can finally find a decent pre 64 Model 94 . . . whether it be 30/30 or 32 Special. And, I could live with the cross button safety.
No box or papers but the salesman said it was consigned by friend of his who had gotten it as a present but ever used it . . . he just wanted to get rid of it as he wanted to buy a 30-36 to play with. They had $350 on it and for the excellent, unfired shape it is in, I thought that it was a fair price for what I had seen some of them listed for on some auction sites. It obviously is a later production since it has the cross pin safety. Some died in the wool collectors will claim that it is not a "real Winchester". But hey, I bought it to shoot and have fun - not as a collectible piece. It was made at the same place that Winchesters were made, by the same employees and it is marked Winchester on the barrel. So if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . . . to me, it's a "duck"! LOL I even splurged and bought a bag of 50 new Winchester casings to supplement my meager collection of bits and pieces of 1 X fired brass I've been accumulating as I could.
Now . . . . . for a couple of questions!
1. All I will be shooting for now is cast - I have a 117 grain Lyman mold now that I will use for cat sneeze play. I want to end up with a mold in 150 ish grain weight and probably 170 - 175 ish grain weight. No . . .I haven't "slugged" the bore yet but will. I will load some dummy rounds to check chambering and feeding. Right now, I'm thinking of sizing the cast to .311. I have a Lee .309 and .311 push through sizer so could do .309 as well. For those of you that have the "Ranger" 30/30s . . . what size do you normally size your lead boolits to?
2. This gun has what is probably the original oil in the bore and on the action parts as it came from the factory. While the action is smooth when worked, it still has what I would call the usual "feel" of a 94 when operated. I will say that my Henry 22 lever action is smoother but that's a different animal I know. So . . . what should I be using to lube the action parts? A good gun oil or on the grooves where the bolt moves rearward, should I be using something like the syringe dispensed gun grease that I use on the slides and slide rails of my semi auto pistols? i.e. what is the best lube or trick to get the action to operate as smooth as possible?
Any input / experiences on a "Ranger" would be greatly appreciated. I think this will be a fun little carbine to shoot and play with - no walnut stock, etc. like the old 94s but I can easily live with that.
Thanks!
I've had reloading 30/30 on my "bucket list" a long time. I have also had a couple of 94s slip away from me over the years. Back when I was a kid, my Dad bought a very nice 94 in 32 Special. We shot it a few times and then when the Centennial model came out in 1966, he wanted one so he traded the 32 special in on it. He liked looking at the gold receiver in the gun cabinet! It was pretty but it was a looker, not a shooter so it never got fired. LOL
Then when I got married, we used to go up to the UP and I'd hunt with my father-in-law. Sometimes I'd use his Winchester 94 30/30 that he had bought back in the early 1930s. Good honest wear from many hunts and smooth as butter. When they sold their place and went to Florida, I mentioned that if he was going to get rid of his 94, I'd really like to have it and would pay whatever he wanted for it. He and I didn't always see "eye to eye" - he could be a very "difficult" person to say the least. Well they moved, he gave his guns to his son (who if he made a $1 would spend five). My lovely brother in law only kept them for a month or so and sold all his Dad's guns in a garage sale to get the money. A shame but sometimes you can't fix stupid . . . .
Then when my Dad died, my brother and I split the guns he had and I took a Golden Spike model and a Canadian Centennial - both NIB and unfired. Since my brother is the only one who hunts now, I just took those two and a Winchester 22 that was Dads as it was very sentimental to me. My brother took the rest of the guns - he too was more interested in what "things were worth" rather than some of them had a lot of sentiment attached to them. I gave the Golden Spike to my cousin - my Dad's nephew - as I wanted him to have it for a keepsake from my Dad to be passed on to his son. I eventually sold the Canadian Centennial as I felt it was too nice to shoot and there was no sentiment attached to it.
And thus, my search for a decent 94 began. Well last week, I was checking the site of a LGS that I have purchased a number of handguns from and they had two 32 specials listed, a pre 64 Model 94, etc. I ran down to take a look at them but was sorely disappointed. Both 32 Specials had been rode hard and put away wet . . . I mean really HARD. Both pre 64 flat bands and while I don't mind "honest wear" and am more concerned with mechanical condition . . . one looked like it had been refinished in a junior high shop project and the other had some major stock damage and a extremely poor bore - by the time the stock was replaced with a correct replacement - it would have been more $$ than it was worth. I spotted the pre 64 30/30 and picked it up - didn't look bad from a distance until I got it where I could look at it. Somebody had mounted a side mount scope bracket to the side of the receiver - five very large screws held it on. I didn't want a scope on whatever I ended up with and I could just visualize how the receiver would look like swiss cheese when the mount was removed. The rear sight had been removed . . . by the dings on the barrel they must have used a pick and overall, it looked like a mess.
So . .. . I went down the rack and spotted a Winchester 94 30/30 "Ranger". This thing looked like it had just come off the production line. It had the cross pin safety on it that I wasn't too thrilled about but I kept looking and overtime I kept going back to it. After much consideration, I decided if I wanted something to shoot, this little carbine would probably do just fine and looked like it would be a lot of fun. At least it would do until I can finally find a decent pre 64 Model 94 . . . whether it be 30/30 or 32 Special. And, I could live with the cross button safety.
No box or papers but the salesman said it was consigned by friend of his who had gotten it as a present but ever used it . . . he just wanted to get rid of it as he wanted to buy a 30-36 to play with. They had $350 on it and for the excellent, unfired shape it is in, I thought that it was a fair price for what I had seen some of them listed for on some auction sites. It obviously is a later production since it has the cross pin safety. Some died in the wool collectors will claim that it is not a "real Winchester". But hey, I bought it to shoot and have fun - not as a collectible piece. It was made at the same place that Winchesters were made, by the same employees and it is marked Winchester on the barrel. So if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . . . to me, it's a "duck"! LOL I even splurged and bought a bag of 50 new Winchester casings to supplement my meager collection of bits and pieces of 1 X fired brass I've been accumulating as I could.
Now . . . . . for a couple of questions!
1. All I will be shooting for now is cast - I have a 117 grain Lyman mold now that I will use for cat sneeze play. I want to end up with a mold in 150 ish grain weight and probably 170 - 175 ish grain weight. No . . .I haven't "slugged" the bore yet but will. I will load some dummy rounds to check chambering and feeding. Right now, I'm thinking of sizing the cast to .311. I have a Lee .309 and .311 push through sizer so could do .309 as well. For those of you that have the "Ranger" 30/30s . . . what size do you normally size your lead boolits to?
2. This gun has what is probably the original oil in the bore and on the action parts as it came from the factory. While the action is smooth when worked, it still has what I would call the usual "feel" of a 94 when operated. I will say that my Henry 22 lever action is smoother but that's a different animal I know. So . . . what should I be using to lube the action parts? A good gun oil or on the grooves where the bolt moves rearward, should I be using something like the syringe dispensed gun grease that I use on the slides and slide rails of my semi auto pistols? i.e. what is the best lube or trick to get the action to operate as smooth as possible?
Any input / experiences on a "Ranger" would be greatly appreciated. I think this will be a fun little carbine to shoot and play with - no walnut stock, etc. like the old 94s but I can easily live with that.
Thanks!