Curious Relics #122: Winchester Model 1894 – Part IV

Above, the Winchester 94. Photo by author.

"Curious Relics #122: Winchester Model 1894 – Part IV" is the latest installment of a series of articles in AllOutdoor.

In this installment, the author takes a look at shooting his grandfather's Winchester 94. 

It begins with:

Range Time: Winchester Model 1894

I have shot my grandfather’s Winchester 94 in 32-40 on three separate occasions. The first time was years back with my grandfather himself using factory 32-40 ammunition. My experience at the time was surprise at how a gun that was so legendary in my family kicked very little. It felt like shooting a pistol cartridge in a lever action. Pretty wimpy, honestly. We shot at a bowling ball, and it barely did anything to it.

Recently, I shot it again, two separate times with both factory reloaded 32-40 brass that I reloaded myself, as well as reformed 30-30 brass that I had formed into 32-40. I have an article on TFB chronicling how to do that reformation process. I do not recommend that anybody do it, but that is what I did. For me, it is a sustainable thing, so my cousin can use it and keep the rifle alive.

To read the full article, go here. 

7 MILLION SOLD: INSIDE THE RISE OF THE WINCHESTER ’94

7,000,000 SOLD: INSIDE THE RISE OF THE WINCHESTER ’94 by Legacy of Gunpowder

Summary:

Discover the incredible story behind the Winchester Model 1894 — one of the most iconic rifles in American history. From its creation by John Browning to its role in shaping the frontier, this lever-action rifle became a symbol of the Old West and a favorite among hunters and collectors. Learn why the Winchester 1894 remains a legend over 100 years later.

Monday's .30-30 Target Hits

During Monday's target shoot, I confined my shooting to the Ruger 10/22 .22 cal. and the Winchester 94 .30-30 cal. I fired the Ruger at hanging metal targets.

I limited my Winchester shooting to 12 rounds. Five of them hit the five water jugs and the rest were fired on a target. The water bottles and target were 50-60 yards away.

Looking over the target, I managed to hit the target five times. One hit the target paper but not on the target while one missed the target paper but hit the backing board. 

Here's the target:

In general, I am pleased with the result.

Winchester Model 94 .30-30 Woods Walk

 Winchester Model 94 .30-30 Woods Walk by Hickok45.

Summary:

The classic Winchester Model 94 is even effective for protection in the woods!

 Watch out for those dangerous water jugs!

Curious Relics #121: Winchester Model 1894 – Part III

Above, the writer's grandfather's Winchester 1894. Writer's photo.

Part 3 of Curious Relics: Winchester Model 1894 has been posted at AllOutdoor.

It begins with:

Dating: Winchester Model 1894

Dating Winchester Model 1894 rifles comes with challenges. Over 7 million guns were produced across 130+ years. A significant portion of Winchester’s factory records were destroyed in a 1959 fire. The hardest part is that getting verified information involves spending money, specifically for factory letters from the Cody Firearms Museum.

Let me give you a personal example. This specific gun has always been in my family’s lore. It is “Grandpa’s 32-40.” As kids, me and my cousins always heard about it. When my grandfather passed, the oldest grandson inherited the 32-40. I made an effort to get the Cody Firearms Museum documentation, and since we all care about this extension of him, I pursued it.

As with part 2, the focus is on dating the rifle and factory records of the 1894.  Some records still exist, while some (as noted above) were destroyed in a 1959 fire. My Winchester 1894 was made in 1962, so records are still available. 

To read more, go here.

Buy A Chevy Truck and Get A Winchester 94 With It

Here's something from the 1980s.

1985 Chevy K10 Outdoorsman with Factory Winchester Rifle, video by High Caliber History.

Summary:

Get ready to explore one of the most unique special edition trucks ever made: the 1985 Chevrolet K10 Outdoorsman. Built for rugged adventures and hunting season, this rare classic came equipped with a Winchester Model 94 .30-30 rifle, mounted behind the seat from the factory.

In this video, we dive into the history, features, and collectibility of the Chevy K10 Outdoorsman - a true blend of American truck culture and outdoor tradition. Perfect for classic truck enthusiasts, Chevy fans, and gun collectors.

 Imagine the uproar if Chevy did this today. 

Curious Relics #120: Winchester Model 1894 Part II

Above, the writer's grandfather's Winchester 1894. Writer's photo.

Part 2 of Curious Relics #119 - Winchester 1894 has been posted at AllOutdoor.

This time, the focus is of the differing variations that the Winchester 1894 were made available over the years by Winchester. The explanations on the variations are the most well written that I have seen to date.

It begins with:

Welcome, if you are a newcomer to this fun bi-weekly segment of AllOutdoor.com! If you’re just joining us, we kicked off our deep dive into the Winchester Model 1894 in Part I, where we covered the history of John Browning’s legendary lever-action design. Today, we’re tackling what might be the most confusing aspect of the Model 1894/94: its variations. This is going to be a long one, so settle in.

Variations: Winchester Model 1894/94

Let me be honest right up front: Winchester offered an almost overwhelming array of options and special orders for the Model 1894. For decades, you could walk into a gun shop with a catalog and custom-order darn near anything you wanted: barrel length, barrel profile, stock configuration, engraving, you name it. The Cody Firearms Museum in Wyoming holds the special order books that document this insane variety, and trust me, those records are wild. For the sake of research sanity and word count, we’re focusing on the core production variations, ones I settled on, the actual cataloged models that Winchester manufactured as distinct versions. Everything else, takedown features, octagon barrels, stock options, custom short “Trapper” carbines were features you could add to these base configurations, not variations themselves.

What we’re covering here are the seven true variations of the Winchester Model 1894/94 that you’re actually likely to encounter in the wild.

Above, the Cody Firearms Museum is located at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

 To read more, go here. A Part 3 will be posted when available.

American Deer Hunting Classics (Video)

American Deer Hunting Classics by Outdoors with Uncle Sergey.

It is interesting that the comments are from Russians.

Is There A More Iconic American Rifle Than This?

"Is There A More Iconic American Rifle Than This?" by Hickok45.

Charlie Kirk Assassination, A Professional Hit?

Above, the assassin on a campus building's roof as shown in a video. Image from Stuff.

The assassin of Charlie Kirk may never be found. That is a distinct possibility. 

From what I have been able to determine from news reports was that the Utah Valley University campus was not sealed off to prevent anyone from leaving. It was only later was the campus put under lock-down. 

Along with Kirk's own security team, there were six police officers present. 

At first, security and the police at the venue thought that the shot came from someone in the crowd. It was later determined that the shooter fired a single round from a campus building's roof. Has a weapon been found during the search of the roof? I have not heard of any reports of a weapon being found. Was the bullet's shell found on that roof? Again, there has been no reports. 

It appears that if the assassin left the scene with the weapon, how was he able to leave without being seen carrying a rifle? Possibly, the rifle was a take-down model and was carried out in a suitcase, bag, backpack or even in an attache case. If this was the case, it smells of a professional hit. My Winchester Model 12 shotgun is a take-down with a 30-inch barrel and it could easily fit in a large attache case. A rifle would be shorter and easier to smuggle out. 

Hopefully, security videos will be analyzed to determine how the shooter was able to escape and, possibly his identity. 

UPDATE: A rifle has been found in a wooded area near the campus as well as a footprint and forearm imprint. 

🚨BREAKING: Former FBI Agent Stuart Kaplan says Charlie Kirk’s Assassination was a “PROFESSIONAL HIT” 🚨

“This was a very well-planned, very well-orchestrated plot that was put in motion days before. This individual had a plan of escape… this assassination is indicative of a… pic.twitter.com/cEDIbFZHne

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 11, 2025

Old Vintage .22 Ammo - Is It Any Good?

About a year or so ago, I loaded my Ruger 10/22 rifle with some .22 caliber ammo that I bought years ago.

I just grabbed a box of .22 one morning and headed out to the range with the guys. I noticed that there was some corrosion on the surface of the bullets. The ammo was bought in the 1980s. I loaded up a magazine with them and started shooting.

Well, needless to say, most fired fine but a couple didn't. It was then I decided to go through all of my .22 ammo and discarded ones that had some corrosion. It amounted to two small boxes that needed discarding. All the rest looked just fine.

The following video by Cumberland Outdoorsman asks if old vintage .22 ammunition is any good. 

The summary:

Many shooters and sportsmen have a good supply of .22 rimfire ammo on hand. Much of that ammo is stored away for years, even decades. In this video I will be looking into some old .22 ammo, and if it is still viable. Will it even still fire after 30, 40 or 50 years, and will it still perform as accurately as new ammo? Come along and lets go to my shooting range and find out if and how well vintage .22 ammo can perform. 

America’s Classic Deer Rifle With A Legacy That Won’t Die

Above, yours truly with the Winchester 94.

Regular readers know that my favorite gun is my Winchester 94 .30-30 made in 1962. That is why I post quite often about the rifle.

Well, here's another article that was posted yesterday at SOFREP (Military Content Group). They give a history of the Winchester 94, particularly ones in .30-30 caliber.

They begin it with:

Introduction: A Gun That Helped Settle the Dust and the Score

Before there were red dots, polymer frames, or tacticool rail systems, there was the click-clack of a lever-action rifle, and in the American wild, that sound usually meant business. Enter the Winchester .30-30, the rifle your granddad probably used to drop whitetails and bad attitudes in the same afternoon. First introduced in 1895, this was the first commercially available rifle chambered in a smokeless powder round, and it quickly became the deer-slaying, brush-busting sweetheart of North America.

And let’s be honest, boys and girls, it still is.

A Trip Through Cowboy Country: Where the .30-30 Belongs

I just got back from Angel Fire, New Mexico, this week, which is beautiful high country that still echoes with the spirit of the old frontier. The air smells like pine, the mountains loom like ancient guardians, and every third guy you see looks like he’s one cattle drive away from drawing iron.

Walking through those sun-bleached ridges and dusty backroads, I couldn’t help but think of the rifles that built this land, and none came to mind faster than the Winchester .30-30. It belongs out there. It feels right out there. Not in some glass display case, but slung across the back of a saddle or leaned against a porch railing while the coffee percolates.

The lever-action rifle is more than a tool, it’s part of the cultural DNA of the American West.

After soaking in Angel Fire’s ranchland history and riding an appropriately named horse called Trigger, I realized the .30-30 isn’t just still relevant. It’s still home.

The writer mentioned Angel Fire, New Mexico. It is a village in the Rocky Mountains and Philmont Scout Ranch is not too far from it.

To read more, go here.

Winchester 1894 In IMFDB

Above, a Winchester Model 1894 Saddle Ring Carbine. IMFDB photo.

Yesterday, I was alerted about a new (not sure how new) page for the Winchester 1894 (a.k.a. Winchester 94) rifle by the Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDB).

In it, it provides information on different variations of the rifle and a listing of what movies it appeared in over the years. 

The page's summary is as follows: 

The Winchester Model 1894 is a lever-action rifle developed by the famed John Moses Browning, as a follow-on to his previous Model 1892 design; it uses many of the same parts as that rifle, and could be made with few alterations to its production tooling, notably having a nearly identically-sized receiver that could be made with the same rough blanks. Despite this, it was designed to use larger, more powerful cartridges (ballistically comparable to modern intermediates, though many were sized more comparably to full-powered rounds), including the .38-55, .32-40, and the famed .30-30 WCF; to permit the cycling of these much longer cartridges in an action originally designed for pistol-caliber rounds, the Model 1894 uses a rather unique system wherein the entire bottom of the receiver hinges down when the action is cycled, granting a longer throw of the lever that permits a correspondingly-longer stroke of the bolt, allowing a much longer cartridge to be cycled in and out of the chamber.

Due to its re-use of the Model 1892's receiver size, the 1892 and 1894 can be somewhat difficult to distinguish at a glance; if the rifle isn't shown with its action open (as this allows the aforementioned pivoting receiver floor to be seen), the 1894's proportionally longer loading gate can be used for an ID, as can a pin at the bottom-front of the receiver (used to allow the receiver floor to pivot) that the 1892 lacks.

Interestingly, the Winchester 1894 appeared in such movies as 1941, Night of The Living Dead, Green Mile, The Untouchables and Brokeback Mountain.

To access the page, go here.

Make Your Very Own Cutdown Model 94 (Video)

Here's a video about cutting down a Winchester Model 94.

Here, [Guns Magazine's] "Special Assignments Editor Roy Huntington shares how he cut down and modified his Winchester Model 94 to make it more versatile. Watch the video, then download the 2019 DIY GUNS Special Edition to read Roy's detailed article on how to do it yourself."

He cut his down to 16 1/4". Carbines have barrels at 20". 

No, I am not planning to cut down my Winchester 94 Carbine.

Hickok45 Shoots A Winchester Model 92

Hickok45 Shoots A Winchester Model 92: 

The .30-30 Still Rules the Mountain (Video)

From Richard Firearms: 

Top 5 Best .30-30 Lever Guns Still Dominating in 2025! (Video)

From Firearms Zone: 

Winchester 1894 History and Legacy

Above, my 1962 Winchester 94. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the top (if not THE top) firearm restorers, Turnbull Restoration, posted a history of John Browning's Winchester 94 (or 1894) rifle.

I saw many Winchester 1894 rifles and carbines at the Winchester Arms Collectors Association's gun show in Cody, Wyoming last Friday of various ages. 

The article is titled, "Winchester Model 1894 History and Legacy".

The article begins with:

There are few things in American history more enduring than the lever-action rifle. It’s hard to picture the late 19th-century frontier without one slung over a saddle or tucked behind a door. And of all the lever-actions ever made, none earned quite the reputation—or built the legacy—that the Winchester Model 1894 did.

This rifle, designed by John Moses Browning, wasn’t just a product of its time. It was a product that helped define its time.

To read more, go here. 

The Winchester Model 94: History & Disassembly

Above, my 1962 Winchester 94 in .30-30 caliber. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Those who follow this blog know that I am a big fan of the Winchester 94 lever-action rifle. I bought a pre-64 model six years ago and it is my favorite firearm. 

The NRA posted an article on its history and disassembly back in 2021 in their online version of American Rifleman. 

It starts with:

In November 1894, Winchester introduced its new Model 94 lever-action rifle with the following prophetic words: “We believe that no repeating rifle system ever made will appeal to the eye and understanding of the rifleman as this will and that use will continue to warrant first impressions.” Winchester’s new rifle quickly became the preferred firearm of Western settlers, prospectors, law enforcement officers, hunters and ranchers who appreciated its power, reliability, light weight and compact dimensions.

Today, more than 100 years and 5,500,000 rifles later, the Winchester Model 94 remains a bestseller for those same reasons. Like so many other successful rifles and shotguns, the Winchester Model 94 rifle was designed by John M. Browning who sold his Model 94 patent (No. 524702 of August 1894) to Winchester.

Above, designer John Moses Browning.

To read more, go here. 

The Winchester: The Rifle That Changed America (Video)