Out With A Bang

The Washington Post ^ | January 20, 2006 | Stephen Hunter

[nutmeg]

An old Connecticut institution closing.

Yes, very surprising. Thanks for the ping, Cacique. I'll ping my CT list.

[nutmeg]

Connecticut ping!

Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.

[Bender2]

Bump for later read and reference...

[Travis McGee]

I'll bet you could "ding" a steel plate at 200 yards at a respectable rate of sustained fire with a 30-30 lever action.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[vrwc0915]

And unlike an ak you can beat someone to death with it when empty, a battle rifle feature missing on many of the newer ones :)

The 94's are great for a truck gun: light, accurate, non scary looking, quick follow up shots.

Marlin and Savage make a slightly better lever rifle IMO. If I need to just head out quick on my family's land I just grab my Marlin in .444 and I am good for any preadator that may be a problem 2 leg or 4 leg

For SHTF having a lever action and revolver in .357 or .44 would be ideal

[Travis McGee]

No doubt! Plus, they're just plain cool in a cowboy-up way.

[Myrddin]

My only lever action rifle is a Marlin 1895M in 45-70. Very decent rifle and a nice caliber companion to the Magnum Research BFR in 45-70.

[Myrddin]

Don't know if the .22 long model handles .22 short. The .22 mag won't.

.22mag is a different brass casing from .22LR/.22short/.22CB. A .22LR can shoot all of the latter items. Head spacing is done on the rim.

[Myrddin]

For SHTF having a lever action and revolver in .357 or .44 would be ideal

I purchased a Ruger Deerfield .44 mag semi-auto rifle for my wife. It has a very narrow range of bullet weights that are acceptable to the action. 200-240 gr. My wife purchased some "cowboy" .44 mag ammo to try it out. She took aim, fired and hit the target. Then she looked perplexed. Where is the brass? It was still in the chamber. The "cowboy" loads are made for the wimpy revolvers favored by the "cowboy" shooters. They don't produce enough gas to operate the action. I popped the magazine out and replaced the wimpy stuff with PMC .44 mag 240 gr JHP. Real ammo. It cycled perfectly. A lever action doesn't care. You provide the "cycling". There is some merit in being able to handle a wider variety of ammo than the semi-auto demands.

[herkbird]

here's a web site to date your old Winchesters:

OldGuns.net
Address:http://oldguns.net/cgi-bin/f2f/f2f.pl?http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm

I looked up the Model 94/.32 Winchester special I got from my grandfather when he passed away an it was made in 1949. It will always be easy for me to remember as all I have to do is change 94 to 49. Good luck finding your date of manufacture.

[SLB]

Thanks. The .38-55 Model 1894 that I have was made in 1896. Pretty decent shape for a fellar that is 110 years young.

[herkbird]

I wonder how much your great grandfather paid for that magnificent Winchester 94? I now wonder what a gun of that age would be worth? You certainly have a great family heirloom that I'm sure could tell many a story. I bet you have a lot more respect for it now that you know its age, I'm a little envious.