Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Win 94, comparable gun?

I always felt like I’m pretty knowledgeable about guns and stuff. Growing up reading Gun bibles and listening to old men and such. But I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for, maybe it’s a golden egg lol. I love to tote my dads old Model 94 “it’s a 1981 model” but my eyes don’t like the iron sights. I don’t like the Side mount scope stuff, and just to be plain honest, 30-30 isn’t my favorite caliber. But I absolutely love the way that rifle totes and balances. What would be a close second to that rifle in the way it’s built that would come in a short action caliber of some sort. Don’t have to be a lever action by no means, just something that balances like it and is narrow built. I assume a BLR would be close, but not the same. I tote a Rem. Model 7 a lot cause I like the way it handles as well. Just getting yalls opinions on it mainly. And before you start cutting me down on yhe 30-30, it’s a good caliber for what it is, just not my favorite is all. I know your paw paw and his kin killed 7274 deer with em over the years, But still. 😁😁

And I’m not particularly wanting an older 336 per day either.

You want a model 94 in .307 Winchester. You'll need your wallet

Marlin 1894 in 44 mag?

In a bolt action, maybe a Ruger 77 or Hawkeye RSI with the Mannlicher-style stock.

In a lever action, maybe a Winchester 88, either a carbine or a rifle with the barrel shortened.

In a pump action, the only option would be something from Remington, a 14, 141, or 760 family. The wood on the 14s is slimmer than that on the 141s and it is pretty narrow too.

In a semi-auto, maybe a Winchester 100, either a carbine or a rifle with the barrel shortened.

None will be quite as narrow as a Winchester 94, but what is?

I'm not a Winchester 94 fan, not because they are a useful and iconic design, but because I don't care for long guns without pistol grip style stocks and very few 94s were made with that style of stock. I have Winchester 64s and, from my perspective, they have a very different feel.

Savage 99 in one of its lighter/shorter barrel versions. A 99F in 300 Savage or .308 Win with a reciever peep sight is a great carry option.

I’d thought of a 760, looking at one of them pretty hard

I’ll look at one of them. Thanks for the replies guys.

Discontinued Remington pump?

Henry Long Ranger?

Marlin 93 S/C

Or a glenfield, or a TK

i sent my m94 to JES Reboring and he did a 35/30-30.

http://35caliber.com/

Halfway through reading your post I was going to suggest a Remington Model 7. To be honest, I’m not sure there is much else that feels like a 94. Maybe look into a forward mount red dot. I’ve always thought the 7-30 Waters looked like a neat chambering for the 94.

I am down to 2 lever guns. A Marlin 1894SS in 44 mag and a Browning BLR Lightweight in 358 Winchester. Both have 20" barrels and are on the light side. I owned Winchester levers but don't seem to keep them long. Like you, not a super fan of the 30-30. The 44 mag is certainly not a long range cartridge but I have not shot past 45 yards since 2011.
I am probably going to take the BLR but that is a new to me gun...

We know. You literally never stop talking about it

There isn't anything else that feels or handles like a 94

The Mossberg 464s were a fairly lithe little rifle, but QC on them was always questionable. I had one for a bit... shot ok, but not great, and it wasn't very smooth feeding. The tang safety was a nice feature.

It was still better than the couple of 90s FN era 94s I had though... those things were fuggin trash. Calling those a Winchester 94 was a disgrace.

What part of the country do you hunt in and what is a typical shot? 50 yds? 100? 200? More?

How do you hunt? Still hunting and tracking in the woods? Sitting in a tree stand in the woods. Sitting in a blind along a field? Hiking and spotting in the western high country?

What would be your ideal cartridge? .308? .243? Without trying to defend the 30-30, I'd be curious what aspect of "more" you're interested in? More range? More accuracy? Flatter trajectory? Faster kills?

You could go with a red dot. Turnbull Restoration sells the mount. Anything that interferes with carrying a Winchester 94 by the receiver destroys its usefulness in my opinion.

What was the problem? I had two 90's model 94's and they were fantastic

Mine were absolutely terrible. I had one in 30-30 and one in 45 Colt. Garbage trigger, garbage feeding, garbage accuracy... two of the worst rifles I've owned in my entire life. Not sure why I was stupid enough to buy a second as bad as the first one was. The 45 Colt was the worse of the two, but that's not any compliment to the 30-30.