Driftwood Johnson
Member
So, first off, I am not a deer hunter. In fact, I am not a hunter at all. I just like old guns.
So I had no practical reason at all to buy this old 30-30 Winchester Model 1894. But I couldn't take my eyes off it. In addition to the 26" octagon barrel it has the classic old style crescent butt plate. The bore is a little bit frosted, but the rifling is still strong. Looking up the Serial Number it left the factory in 1895, which also happens to be the first year this model was chambered for the 30-30 cartridge.
So I bought it.
Many, many years ago I had another old '94, also with a crescent butt plate. As I remember this one had a pistol grip. The barrel had been cut down from whatever length it originally was to 20", and the magazine had been cut to half length. So it was really, really light in weight. I was just a kid in my 20s and did not know a thing about placing a crescent butt plate further out on my shoulder than with a modern rifle. Now the 30-30 is not a powerful modern cartridge, but every time I fired that rifle it hurt like the dickens as the sharp points on the butt plate dug into the meaty part of my shoulder. I probably was flinching and not planting the butt firmly, which probably made things worse. It was a long time ago. I think I could only stand to fire it three times in a row before I had to quit because it hurt so much. Alas, that rifle was stolen many, many years ago.
By the way, in Winchester lingo from the 19th Century the difference between a rifle and a carbine is not just a matter of barrel length. Rifles had a crescent shaped butt plate, the magazine was hung under the barrel with a dovetailed hanger, and there was a metal fore end cap at the front of the fore stock. Just like on this one. Barrels could be either octagon or round, although round barrels were a little bit more common. I'll get into the definition of a carbine in a minute.
So fast forward to this lovely old '94 with its crescent butt plate. Shooting CAS with real as well as replica 1873 Winchesters over the years I had learned that the way you keep the points of the stock from killing you was to hike the butt out a little bit farther on the shoulder so the points of the crescent encircle the shoulder joint. That way the points keep the butt from sliding up or down and they don't dig into the meaty part of the shoulder. As an aside, I can't tell you how many CAS shooters want to put a leather wrap over the points of their Uberti Winchesters, so the points don't hurt so much. And that is with a relatively mild recoiling cartridge like 44-40 or 38-40.
So last week I took the lovely old rifle to the range. I only had factory ammo, luckily it was all 150 grain bullets and not the heavier 170 grain bullets. I was pretty sure the 170 grain stuff would kick a bit more.
First off I set up a target at only about 20 feet or so, just to see what she would do, and to make sure I was printing on the paper. I fired three shots from a rest, and oh my goodness, it hurt. Not so much from the points digging into my shoulder, more from the gun slamming me backwards in recoil. The rifle weighs 9 pounds even, but with standard factory 150 grain loads it was giving me a pretty good wallop. I fired about ten rounds that way, then stood up to fire it some more. Much better. Standing the recoil was able to shove me backwards with less resistance. Recoil was still stout, but not uncomfortable.
Now all you guys with your 300 H&H magnums just sit on your hands and don't try to tell me about recoil. I remember firing my ex-brother in law's 7mm Magnum a bazillion years ago, and it hurt too. Again, I was just a kid and did not really know how to fire a powerful rifle.
Here is my best group from that day. The target was only out at 25 yards, that is about as far as I can see these days. I was pretty proud of this, with eyes that are pushing 70 years old and bifocals, the sights were pretty blurry. I was standing for this group, resting the forearm on my hand which was steadied against a vertical post. I fired a whole bunch of rounds this way and it did not hurt at all. Yes, the group is very high. I had the elevator on the rear sight down as low as possible, but she was still shooting high at 25 yards. Perhaps at 100 yards the group would be lower, but I could not even see a target that far away.
It so happens I have another Winchester Model 1894, this one is a carbine, the way you see them most often. Carbine definition: much shallower curve to the butt plate. This one is straight for all intents and purposes. Magazine is supported under the barrel by barrel bands, it is not hung from a dovetailed hanger. No forend cap, the wood just ends. The barrel of a carbine usually has a sharper taper than a rifle. The front sight may be mounted to the barrel, on the old 1866 and 1873 and 1892 Winchester carbines the front sight was sometimes brazed right onto the front barrel band.
This carbine left the factory somewhere between 1943 and 1948. I can't pin it down any further than that. Anyway, thinking back I remembered that shooting this much lighter carbine it did not hurt at all. And the carbine only weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces.
So I took another trip to the range today with both Winchesters, just to compare how it felt shooting both of them. I am happy to report that today nothing hurt at all. I did most of my shooting sitting at the bench with the rifles supported in my long range sticks. Neither one hurt at all. Recoil was still stout, but not painful, sitting or standing.
Here is the result of today's shooting. Again, at 25 yards. The rifle group (see the forend cap?) is at the top of the target, the carbine group (see the barrel band?) is at the bottom. Yeah, I probably flinched with one shot.
Some more photos of the rifle.
It wasn't until I was taking these photos that I realized there is a bit more elevation possible with the rear sight. There is an adjustable leaf in the rear sight. Next time I take it to the range I will have to lower the leaf all the way, to maybe drop my group a little bit. It's tough see in this blurry photo, but there is a teeny V at the bottom of the Semi Buckhorn that the front sight is supposed to nest in.
The front sight has a lovely little ivorid bead. Actually the sights are so fine on this rifle I just can barely see them at all. They are a complete blur.
There is a very nice Lyman style tang sight. It even has a peep that can be folded down and the sight can then be used as a ghost ring. Unfortunately, the rear sight completely blocks the view through the tang sight unless I crank it way up. Perhaps somebody with much better eyes than me was shooting at a couple of hundred yards with it.
It turns out the sights on the carbine are a little bit more visible to my old eyes than those on the rifle.
Anyway, I sure had a good time at the range today with my two 1894s.
So I had no practical reason at all to buy this old 30-30 Winchester Model 1894. But I couldn't take my eyes off it. In addition to the 26" octagon barrel it has the classic old style crescent butt plate. The bore is a little bit frosted, but the rifling is still strong. Looking up the Serial Number it left the factory in 1895, which also happens to be the first year this model was chambered for the 30-30 cartridge.
So I bought it.
Many, many years ago I had another old '94, also with a crescent butt plate. As I remember this one had a pistol grip. The barrel had been cut down from whatever length it originally was to 20", and the magazine had been cut to half length. So it was really, really light in weight. I was just a kid in my 20s and did not know a thing about placing a crescent butt plate further out on my shoulder than with a modern rifle. Now the 30-30 is not a powerful modern cartridge, but every time I fired that rifle it hurt like the dickens as the sharp points on the butt plate dug into the meaty part of my shoulder. I probably was flinching and not planting the butt firmly, which probably made things worse. It was a long time ago. I think I could only stand to fire it three times in a row before I had to quit because it hurt so much. Alas, that rifle was stolen many, many years ago.
By the way, in Winchester lingo from the 19th Century the difference between a rifle and a carbine is not just a matter of barrel length. Rifles had a crescent shaped butt plate, the magazine was hung under the barrel with a dovetailed hanger, and there was a metal fore end cap at the front of the fore stock. Just like on this one. Barrels could be either octagon or round, although round barrels were a little bit more common. I'll get into the definition of a carbine in a minute.
So fast forward to this lovely old '94 with its crescent butt plate. Shooting CAS with real as well as replica 1873 Winchesters over the years I had learned that the way you keep the points of the stock from killing you was to hike the butt out a little bit farther on the shoulder so the points of the crescent encircle the shoulder joint. That way the points keep the butt from sliding up or down and they don't dig into the meaty part of the shoulder. As an aside, I can't tell you how many CAS shooters want to put a leather wrap over the points of their Uberti Winchesters, so the points don't hurt so much. And that is with a relatively mild recoiling cartridge like 44-40 or 38-40.
So last week I took the lovely old rifle to the range. I only had factory ammo, luckily it was all 150 grain bullets and not the heavier 170 grain bullets. I was pretty sure the 170 grain stuff would kick a bit more.
First off I set up a target at only about 20 feet or so, just to see what she would do, and to make sure I was printing on the paper. I fired three shots from a rest, and oh my goodness, it hurt. Not so much from the points digging into my shoulder, more from the gun slamming me backwards in recoil. The rifle weighs 9 pounds even, but with standard factory 150 grain loads it was giving me a pretty good wallop. I fired about ten rounds that way, then stood up to fire it some more. Much better. Standing the recoil was able to shove me backwards with less resistance. Recoil was still stout, but not uncomfortable.
Now all you guys with your 300 H&H magnums just sit on your hands and don't try to tell me about recoil. I remember firing my ex-brother in law's 7mm Magnum a bazillion years ago, and it hurt too. Again, I was just a kid and did not really know how to fire a powerful rifle.
Here is my best group from that day. The target was only out at 25 yards, that is about as far as I can see these days. I was pretty proud of this, with eyes that are pushing 70 years old and bifocals, the sights were pretty blurry. I was standing for this group, resting the forearm on my hand which was steadied against a vertical post. I fired a whole bunch of rounds this way and it did not hurt at all. Yes, the group is very high. I had the elevator on the rear sight down as low as possible, but she was still shooting high at 25 yards. Perhaps at 100 yards the group would be lower, but I could not even see a target that far away.
It so happens I have another Winchester Model 1894, this one is a carbine, the way you see them most often. Carbine definition: much shallower curve to the butt plate. This one is straight for all intents and purposes. Magazine is supported under the barrel by barrel bands, it is not hung from a dovetailed hanger. No forend cap, the wood just ends. The barrel of a carbine usually has a sharper taper than a rifle. The front sight may be mounted to the barrel, on the old 1866 and 1873 and 1892 Winchester carbines the front sight was sometimes brazed right onto the front barrel band.
This carbine left the factory somewhere between 1943 and 1948. I can't pin it down any further than that. Anyway, thinking back I remembered that shooting this much lighter carbine it did not hurt at all. And the carbine only weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces.
So I took another trip to the range today with both Winchesters, just to compare how it felt shooting both of them. I am happy to report that today nothing hurt at all. I did most of my shooting sitting at the bench with the rifles supported in my long range sticks. Neither one hurt at all. Recoil was still stout, but not painful, sitting or standing.
Here is the result of today's shooting. Again, at 25 yards. The rifle group (see the forend cap?) is at the top of the target, the carbine group (see the barrel band?) is at the bottom. Yeah, I probably flinched with one shot.
Some more photos of the rifle.
It wasn't until I was taking these photos that I realized there is a bit more elevation possible with the rear sight. There is an adjustable leaf in the rear sight. Next time I take it to the range I will have to lower the leaf all the way, to maybe drop my group a little bit. It's tough see in this blurry photo, but there is a teeny V at the bottom of the Semi Buckhorn that the front sight is supposed to nest in.
The front sight has a lovely little ivorid bead. Actually the sights are so fine on this rifle I just can barely see them at all. They are a complete blur.
There is a very nice Lyman style tang sight. It even has a peep that can be folded down and the sight can then be used as a ghost ring. Unfortunately, the rear sight completely blocks the view through the tang sight unless I crank it way up. Perhaps somebody with much better eyes than me was shooting at a couple of hundred yards with it.
It turns out the sights on the carbine are a little bit more visible to my old eyes than those on the rifle.
Anyway, I sure had a good time at the range today with my two 1894s.
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