Buying a Winchester 1894?

[Vigo]

Looking at getting a Winchester lever gun in .30-30 lately. My primary goal is to have a nice, solid shooting gun in the traditional Winchester style. I've heard a lot about pre vs post 1964, any suggestions on what dates to avoid though? I read they reverted many of the changes on them. I'm just looking for a solid, traditional Winchester lever gun for targets/plinking/range shooting.

[MrSmitty]

I think if you are looking for a good solid 1894, any year would be good, I've seen pre-64's and they were beautiful, but pricey, and I've seen post 64's also beautiful, and not so pricey. IMHO you can't go wrong with any of them, you could also look at Marlins, and perhaps the new Mossbergs. Used to be you could find a good '94 in pawn shops for about $150-250 (ok this was in Kentucky,years ago) but since they stopped production the prices skyrocketed! Good luck, I think I saw some at Greentop in Glen Allen, Va..

[Vigo]

Picked up a late 1970s Winchester 94 at the nation's gunshow. This is the second time I've gone and been able to find basically what I'm after. Have yet to shoot it, but looking forward to it.

[Vigo]

1975 to be exact, according to the charts... so mid 1970s.

[jrswanson1]

That's pretty good. I know in the 1990s they added that stupid cross bolt safety, like mine has. It automagically engages if I lay the rifle down on the right side.

[Vigo]

I saw they did that. Marlin did a similar thing on the 39A .22 levergun awhile back as well. It seems the legal side of things bites it with a lot of these classics, sooner or later. I debated getting a pre-64, which would have been considerably more, but this particular gun was from a shop I trust. The action appeared to have been recently oiled and gone over as well, which seems to indicate they care about keeping it in working order. I ended up with the later one, but then again it's from a source I know and trust, so there's that. I look forward to shooting this one soon.