Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Winchester 94 .45 Colt

A week ago I was in the LGS and spied a JM marked Marlin 94 in 44 mag. been wanting another for quite some time to use as a dedicated .44 special rifle. The price was great an the condition equally nice. Problem is, they also had a Ruger Blackhawk in .327 Federal. The Ruger being to more uncommon of the two, it went home with me.

I went back Saturday to see if the marlin was still there and, it was sold just moments before. So I ask the sales guy if they have any other .44's. He looks around and says no but they just got in the .45 Colt and he shows it to me. A very clean Win 94. It must have been fate because only an hour before my Manson .45 caliber Cylinder throat reamer arrived in the mail. So, now I have a .45 Colt lever gun. Really looking forward to shooting it.

I still need a .44 though for cast. Wish me luck.

congrats......45 Colt was made for a lever gun

PM sent on 44

I had one and it had a very oversized chamber. Brian Pierce has reported this as well. It shot pretty well but the fired brass would barely enter a sizing die. I traded it off for an early Marlin 336 35 Rem.

Ed, mine appears to have a standard sized chamber, a .484" pin gage was the largest that will enter. Hope to confirm via some live fire in the not too distant future when the fire ban restricting shooting is lifted at my range.

My .35 Rem is a Rem Model 760. Lotsa fun.

New brass measures .475", yet SAAMI specs allow for .4862" chambers (+.004"). Easy to see why case swelling is so common.

Tikkanut, Got your PM. Thanks.

I fondled one of them in trapper guise once. It was pretty slick. I think their 44 comes in the big 94.

Those are great rifles, I bet you'll love it.

Just FWIW I have owned a few Rossi 45 Colt lever actions and they too are very generous in chamber dimensions. These are on the Winchester 92 basic action which we know was not designed to feed straight-wall cartridges. I suspect the ample chamber dimensions enhance reliability with them.

During the reloading process, I can tell which cases were fired (some with heavy loads) through my lever action, but I've never had any trouble getting them sized with standard dies.

I have a Win M94 Trails End, in .45 Colt. It has been fiired maybe a 100 times, and sits in my gun safe. I bought it to get into CAS, but never found the time to do so.

Torn between selling it, and just letting it appreciate in value. Last time I took it with me to the LGS, the guy just rolled his eyes, and told me it was worth more than it would ever bring in his shop.

Bighorn, I'd hang on to it.

Oddly enough, around here lever guns, including old Winchesters are falling in price. a few years ago a JM Marlin 94 offered at $650 would have been gone in minutes. The one I missed out on was $100 less than that and lasted two weeks. Unheard of a few years ago. Sadly, somewhat, the Ruger BH called to me more loudly!

I have a Marlin Cowboy in .45-70 that I used to shoot Silhouette with. Haven't shot it in years but its too nice to let go of, especially with prices being depressed.

I currently have a Marlin 94 in .44 that I did use for CAS, it never let me down. That's why I want another; one for magnums, the other for specials.

I found a box of .45 colt brass and a box of 500 250 gr RFN bullets. When they lift the fire restrictions I am headed to the range to put the Winnie through its paces. I'm thinking something like 8.5 gr of Unique behind that 250 should get the job done nicely.

SargeMo,

I have an old Interarms Imported Rossi 92 in .357 that was probably unfired when I acquired it a few years ago. It shoots great but can be finicky about the ammo it likes to feed. Of course my Marlin was the same way. My favorite Saeco 265 GC was too long to cycle, Keith style bullets hung up, but it LOVED the LEE 240 RN.

Most disappointing is the .Marlin 1894CL I picked up in .218 Bee. It won't feed at all. I haven't had time to ear it down to address the problem. It shoots good, single shot any way, but is at least accurate. Hope to get the feeding issues resolved this Fall when life slows down a bit around here.

I have a trapper and a trails end large loop.

They both shoot fine and are a lot of fun.

Both are plagued with the oversized chamber. I never checked the dia, but can tell you they really stretch the brass and like to smoke cases. There are work arounds, but it's hard on brass. One would think they are within SAAMI specs, but it must be on the extreme outside of those specs.

I like them just the same.

Dang....guess I’m glad I restarted my centerfire lever collection with another Marlin 30-30. Feeds like greased lightning and ammo can be found for nearly free.

It does leave a scratch lengthwise on the brass though. Should smooth out with use I figure.
Or I could probably help it along with a little internal spit-n-polish. Trigger needs some attention anyhow.