This Model 94 30-30 is my dads. Based on the serial # it was built in the 1905-06 time frame.
More pics later.
This Model 94 30-30 is my dads. Based on the serial # it was built in the 1905-06 time frame.
More pics later.
I went to visit the folks this last weekend and fill their freezer with elk for the year. While I was there I pulled out his M94s. I forgot about his old .348 until I was on the return trip.
Anyways, his oldest, and my favorite is this old M94 that based on the SN was built in 1905, maybe 06.
It looks like somewhere in the last 115 years that someone who carried it carved their initials in the stock.
It has seen a lot of use, and certainly was not a safe queen. This was a gun that was meant to be used, and someone saw fit to replace the original Winchester sights with a Marble's rear sight and a # 6 front sight that is a very thin blade with a brass bead on top. It is an exceptionally nice sight picture.
This is one of those old guns that when you handle it, you just don't want to put it down.
One has to wonder how many miles and how many hunts it took to end up having a finish like this on a lever action.
Yep,
My dad was hunting ground squirrels in the Stanley Basin area when some Batshit Crazy wolf activist woman accused another guy who he did not know at the time of shooting a wolf, which never happened. It was a total setup and fabrication. Very, very long story short, my dad ended up going to federal court in Boise on behalf of this guy. The whole thing was a farce and a scam. Anyways.
Ended up the guy owned a hotel chain in Stanley. He is also a huge western art/cowboy art collector. As thanks he let our family stay there for free, gave us some 100+ year old branding irons from ranches in the area. He also sold the 1905 M94 to my step mom, to give to my dad as a gift for an extremely low price as thanks. If it had not been for the fact that my dad happened to observe the fact that gentleman had been parked where he was, and had not gone anywhere or done anything, the anti wolf activists setup would have pinned a phony wolf killing on him and with (one of) the ultimate intent of shutting down hunting in the region. There were some other details but it has been too long ago and the details are sketchy.
Anyways, that's how he ended up with that one.
He has another, that he picked up from his "younger" buddy that he used to chase mountain lions with. It was built in 1949 and chambered in 30-30.
Handy little things!
I'm really liking the looks of that Marble's sight, have you had a chance to shoot it for effect? I would think that gold would really work nice for catching the light, and brightening things up towards the end of the day..
Oh, and let me echo some thoughts that I have seen mentioned here and some other threads:
I really look forward to Uncle Lost River's Story Time. (Could be the name for an incredible podcast series). Be it 1911's, lever actions, or just hunting and guns in general, I really appreciate and want to thank you for time and detail you put into your posts.
"And for a regular dude I’m maybe okay...but what I learned is if there’s a door, I’m going out it not in it"-Duke
"Just because a girl sleeps with her brother doesn't mean she's easy..."-Blues
Thank you for the kind words!
I have not shot this particular one, though that is something I will definitely have to remedy! My dad told me he shot some mild handloads through it a few years back and it clustered them into a nice tight group. I recall he was shooting fairly close range though.
One of these days I will put together some cast bullet loads that are very easy going and go kill some Jacks with it.
I told him while I was up at his house that I intend to use his old 30-06 Remington pump to kill either a deer or elk, perhaps next season. It was the first center fire rifle he bought with his own money and it served him well for many years. That is on the "to-do" list as well.
In regards to podcasts, I would not have a clue how to do one, as that is way beyond my abilities, but a few stories now and then are a piece of cake! No shortage of misadventures.
I've been looking where I shouldn't...and I'm just going to leave this here: https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/...tion-log-7702/
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?