Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Model 94 as hunting rifle

I have owned many 30-30 either Marlin or Winchester but seldom hunt with them. I did take a cow Elk in Wyoming with a neck shot at 125 yards because of an ammo mixup I couldn't use my 30-06. I have shot 15 or so feral hogs and very few deer. That said all I have taken with the 30-30 has been taken with one shot and seldom have I recovered a bullet. A buck mule deer I shot at a bit past 200 yards dropped but the high shoulder shot showed the bullet barely expanded if at all but it did exit. I have used 150 and 170 grain bullets and can see no obvious differences in effect.

I've owned a bunch of Marlins and several Winchester 30-30's. Even one Savage. I prefer 170 grain bullets because Bear is often open when I'm deer hunting. I've killed one Moose with the 30-30.

The .30-30 is enough gun in most zip codes for most purposes.

The 94 is actually one of my favorite hunting rifles, though I haven't actually used one since 2014...and haven't used an open sighted one since 2009 or so...I should probably rectify that.

They're perfectly adequate accuracy and power wise, and carry easily. I hunt a lot off horseback, and having a rifle that easily slides into a scabbard and can be banged around all day like 'Slave's mom without worry of a scope getting knocked off is a big deal to me.

I'm dyin'!

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ pretty much so ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

never had a 94 myself. filled a whole lot of freezer bags with a 65 + year old marlin though.
been told it was wholly inadequate to deer hunt with a bunch of times. we used to get to
cull hunt for free in a lot of places in this state that would cost several thousand to hunt these days.
last time i got to go, we each filled our tags with one cheap reloaded 30/30 shell per deer.
these days i read online posts from guys hunting near some of these same areas that can't
seem to kill a deer with anything less than a 300win mag. my buddy's dad (the best shot of all of us)
killed his 5 in one sitting out to 180 yards with his scoped marlin on one trip.

i've yet to figure why folks think a 30/30 round runs out of soup at exactly 100 yards, then turns 90 degrees into the dirt.

I wish I had a dollar for everytime I've heard the 30-30 is a "100 yard gun". I've killed deer at twice that and it wasn't difficult.

I've made kills with the model 94 in three different calibers.

I use one every year.

I did have to put a receiver sight on it, though. Mine's not an AE, and the OEM sights got a little fuzzy.

Besides, there's other advantages to a peep.

I've taken deer with mine out to 236 yards. There are better rifles to shoot deer at that distance, but an M94 is up to the job.

I agree, but as often as that is said, most hunters opt to be overgunned or buy expensive bullets for their foray into the deer woods. Everything has its place. Unfortunately, lever guns and RN/FN ammunition aren't glamourous enough for the 'gun club crowd' anymore.

Cue the band.

Have a couple 94's.. Have used them on coyotes, antelope, whitetail deer, and mt. lion.. I also have a couple Marlins, one in .30-30 and one in .25-35... These have killed antelope, coyotes, mule deer, whitetail deer and mt. lions. Haven't killed any game with them in a few years.. I always liked the 24" barreled Marlins.. I could scope them with a low power scope and it made distance shooting easier.. I always felt the .30-30 was a better killer on game than a .243.

Make mine a pre-safety 336 and you'll have no argument here. I'll pick up a Leupold 1-4x20 or decent little red dot for when my vision goes.

I've always been happy with the 30/30, been pretty comfortable with 170grs <200yards.

Iv owned several 30-30 levers both marlin and winchesters and killed a couple of deer with them. Both were pretty close and drt. In my younger days we shot them a lot at a old strip mine pit and got fairly good at busting rocks at 300 yds or so but of course we had done it a lot and had he various yardeges and sight pictures worked out. I wouldn't necessarily try that on game . I answer the guys that talk about 100 yd limits and rainbow trajectories by saying I'd rather have to hit a 200 yd target with an open sighted 30-30 than a 300 yd target open sighted 30-06 . I sold my Winchester 64a just this last year as I just can't see open sights that well anymore and a scope on a lever action just doesn't feel right to me. Still they are nice guns and not near the handicap that most people think they are.

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

I suspect it is because those of us who are 40 or 50 yrs. of age or older grew up reading in all of the gun/outdoor magazines that 100-125 yds. was about as far as one ought to shoot at game.

I get the whole 30-30 lever action appeal, but can't really understand that appeal in a bolt action, seems like the world has moved on.
Kind of like fishing with an old black Penn Senator 2:1, nostalgic as all hell, but slow and not worth the extra weight.
Anyone still hunt a 30-30 bolt?

I can only remember three bolt action rifles chambered in 30-30 and only two them being made during my lifetime:

Remington 788, probably the one with the greatest accuracy potential.
Savage 340 series, including at least a dozen variations sold under different names and, often, in slightly different configurations.
Winchester 54, the most collectible of the bunch.

When I was a kid, the Savage 340 was the least expensive commercial, as opposed to mil-surp, CF rifle around. Several boys from my high school used them with some success. When I got my first FFL, I made pocket money by selling Savage 340s in 30-30 to a pawn broker in Wisconsin. Even in the early 1990's I could regularly buy Savage 340s for between $75 and $125, depending on the condition, and there was still market demand for them in some places. I still buy them when I can get them for a good price and they always sell or trade for more than I have into them, particularly those in 22 Hornet.

I have a few 30-30's near me at all times. I have owned and shot probably 18 to 20 guns so chambered over the decades. I shoot more 30-30 ammo than any other center fire rifle caliber. I have owned several bolt guns in 30-30 but never kept them. Had a Winchester 54 one time as well. I have owned a number of Marlins 39's and 336's. But I never really warmed up to the Marlins and only own one 336 at present. The pre 64 Winchester's are what do it for me. I have hunted a lot of big game out west with mainly a 30-06 but I have carried a 94 for more miles than any other rifle. The OP asked about it as a hunting rifle though. I have not often intentionally hunted with the 94 much. If I know I am going to hunt big game, I carry a 30-06. The beauty of 30-30 in my mind is the rifles they are chambered in. The Winchester 94 is the most comfortable of all the short rifles to carry. Always loaded, it is just always there for me when I go fishing or into the mountains to collect firewood or pack out an elk. Its beauty is it is short, light, rides easy in the hand, carries enough ammo that a magazine, and it is powerful enough to get the job done where I live. It replaces centerfire handguns for me. The Winchester 94 can accurately outdistance my best handgun shooting 10 times and have greater power at all distances. I just do not see a need for a centerfire handgun when my 30-30 is there for the grabbing. I have shot a lot of 300 yard distant targets with the 30-30 for practice. I shot mainly 170 grains but as I get more experienced I am using the 150's now as they offer more distance here in the west. Though I have carried one a lot I have only killed one elk, one buffalo, and a few mule deer with one. This year I will take it doe antelope hunting.