A friend of mine has offered to sell me a Winchester model 94 30.30 for $350. I think he said it was made in 1967.

He also has a 1955 that he is asking $650 for.

Now I know some changes were made in 1964 to the internals, and that it is impossible to mount a scope on one of these, but I have never liked scopes anyway.

(Slim Pickins, the Actor, always hunted with a muzzle loaded rifle. He said it gave the deer more of a chance. I feel the same way about scopes.)

So.... It this worth getting? Anything special to this gun I should look out for or check on? Did the change to the internals really amount to that big a deal?

And what are these like to shoot? Anything like an 8 mm?

A little overpriced IMO. The main reason is that Winchester made millions of the 94s. The 55 might be worth that depending on condition.

30-30 kicks a lot less than a 8mm(Mauser I am talking about). I shoot a 300 win mag most so I don't think the 30-30 kicks at all.

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86 300SDL. 250,xxx on #14 Head. One eye always on temp gauge.. Cruising towards 300K

You ought to see what a New One sells for. I think in 1967 the originl cost was somewhere between $50 and $60 and at that time it was not an expensive Gun.
I think for a clean Kill on a Deer 150 yards would be very iffy; as the flat nosed bullets you need for the Cartridges in the magazine lose velocity Fast and at that distance due to the trajectory of the Bullet it would be harder to hit what you aim at at 150 yards then if you were shooting something like a 30-06 or that 8mm the other member spoke of.

However, they are very popular in woodland type Hunting areas where the range is often short and a quick follow up shot might be needed.

It overpowered for Home defence if you use it in an Urban area but of couse will work.
Since no country uses the 30-30 as a Military Cartridge I believe it will cost more to shoot than a Gun Chambered for a Military Caliber.
Ammo cost is not an issue if you just drag it out to Hunt once or so a Year.

You did not say what you planned use for the Gun was? Not being noisy but Guns are tools and some Guns do better at certain jobs then others do.

The Ballistics of the .30 Cal AK round are similar to the 30-30.

In the past there was 2 common methods of mounting Scopes on them. One was a Side Mount and the other was to mount what was called a long Eye relief Scope on the Barrel in front of the receiver.
The newer Winchester 30-30 I believe have angle injection and are easier to mount a scope on. Somewhere along the line they also gained a Safety.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Do a google type search for a 1967 Winchester model 94 30-30 and some sites will come up were people are asking what they are worth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1894
The some of the info about the changes is at the Bottom of the article.

Quote from My Hornaday Cartridge Reloading Manual. "For the Deer Hunter who hunts in areas where 100-150 yards are the longest shots, the 30-30 is more the sufficient."

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

.30/30 is a good rifle to about 200 yds for most game in N. America. I wouldn't shoot a moose or a grizzly with it (hell, I wouldn't especially want to shoot one of those guys, regardless). If you're a hunter, go for the better rifle in terms of accuracy, forget age and condition. If you're a collector, that's not a good price regardless of age or condition.

Do a google type search for a 1967 Winchester model 94 30-30 and some sites will come up were people are asking what they are worth.

Winchester Model 1894 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The some of the info about the changes is at the Bottom of the article.

Quote from My Hornaday Cartridge Reloading Manual. "For the Deer Hunter who hunts in areas where 100-150 yards are the longest shots, the 30-30 is more the sufficient."

Below sort of explains the issue of shooting at a Deer 150 yars away that has a chest area from top to bottom of about 18-25 inches and the clean kill I was speaking of.

"ALL bullets begin falling at the muzzle when fired. For a typical 170 gr flat tipped 30-30, if the rifle is sighted in at 50 yards, the bullet will strike 12 inches below the point of aim at 200 yards. If sighted in at 100 yards, will strike 9.2 inches low at 200. (at 70 degees F temp) Other cartridges, other zero ranges, other results."

In the above case sighted in at 100 yards and you aim at the middle of a Deer Chest on a Deer with an 18 inch chest you would likely miss and under shoot. If you guess and hold over the Deer you might hit it somewhere but not where you aimed.
Ideal would be if you were sighted in at the same range the Deer is but that does not happen often.

Sice it said at a 50 yard sight in the Bullet would drop 12 inches from the when the Bullet left the Gun to the time it made it to 200 yards. That means there is actually more than 12 inches of bullet drop for that weight of Bullet because the 50 yard sight in raised the Barrel a little.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I held a 94 in my hands yesterday. In my questioning of the owner I found it was not old but not new. New ones can still be bought for 375 and his had a bracket on the side for a scope.

A 94 probably has special appeal to us old farts who grew up watching Cheyenne on tv as kids.

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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I remember very well when the Winchester production went outside the US in 1964 or so. I remember it because I was so excited about a friend of mine, got a barnd new '94 for his 13th birthday and it was among the last of the US made models.

I went off to the Army and a few years after I came home, I started hunting with him every year. He had moved onto a scoped, bolt action .243 of what make I don't remember, but he still kept the .30-.30 close at hand. The problem was it was only about 10 years old and looked as if he had been carrying it in the back of his pickup, loose with all the other tools. The stepped piece under the rear sight had been lost somehow and had a rough looking piece of wood stuck underneath and broken off. I wanted to choke him when I saw how he had treated it. Wood and all though, he could drive nails with it.

In spite of his lack of care for his firearms, the guy was/is one of the best shots I've ever been around. He can drive nails with just about any firearm he picks up.

I can't think about a US model 94 without thinking of him.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

....and most any other Western movie or TV show of the time. Not too much modification would make one remind you of Chuck Connors.

Yeah, as I recall, a brand new 94 in about 1973 or so could be bought at Target for somewhere in the neighborhood of $100. After the Winchester production went off shore, I preferred the Marlin and bought one at Target about that time for, I THINK, $79, but I might be way off.

I didn't use the Marlin much before buying a 742 in .308 caliber from a friend. I still have that Marlin. It happened to be made with a really top notch cut of wood and is in really Cherry condition. The .308 is in nice shape too, but has been hauled up and down many more trees, so it does have some very minor hickeys.

Time flies when you're having fun.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I gave my old Marlin to my grandson.

A very good heirloom!

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I sold a beater 94, a regular truck gun from an estate auction a year or so ago. About seventy percent of the finish was gone, stock knicked up pretty good but it was tight and shot well. Nice iron sights. I got 275 for it without any dickering.
MSRP on a new Miroku made 94 is 1100 and up.

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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

The description you just stated could refer to this gun as well.

Well, I want to thank everyone for their input. I think I will pass on this deal. Due to all of the factors folks here have stated it seems that if this gun had one of the faults listed that would be one thing, but when you put them all together it just won't work for what I have in mind, which is some light deer hunting in central Texas once or twice a year.

Again... Thanks everyone.

Unless you're hunting in really heavy brush causing your shots to be short range, there are a zillion guns better suited to most Texas deer hunting. That said, as of about 30 years ago, I read that more deer had been killed with the .30 .30 caliber than any other, and by a WIDE margin.

There again, it depends on the situation.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

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My 1936 with no dings scratches and all bluing intact is maybe worth a $1,000 However in the early 20th century they were kind of bad-ass. I'll just wait to see which of the younguns get the bug then pass it on.

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