Thoughts on Win. Mdl. 94 "Trapper"...

[Remmy]

My brother is probably going to get one of these in chambered for 30-30 pretty soon. I was wondering how people like them, i have noticed many people selling there "almost new" ones, mostly chambered in 357 or 44 mag. Why do people get these guns them sell them so soon afterwards...at least in these two calibers. I know winchester 94's are good guns, what are some owners likes and dislikes of them.

Thanks,
Jesse

 

[Backwoods]

A lot of pistol caliber Trappers seem to be bought for cowboy action shooting and then are sold when thier owners buy more period correct and/or higher capacity lever actions.
As far as the 30-30 Trapper is concerned, the muzzle blast is horrific, not really a lot of fun in my book

Don in Ohio (who has a .45 colt Trapper, and likes it)

 

[BluRidgDav]

Had a "pre-safety" Winchester 94AE Trapper in .44 Mag once. Handy little rifle! But short pistol rounds never seemed a good match for the 94's rifle cartridge length action. The older WIN 92 action was a dedicated short cartridge design.
My gun shot all different bullet weights (180-300) to the same point of aim, which was nice. But, group sizes increased as bullet weight varied away from 240 grains. Guess it's 1-in-38" twist rifling just had a sweet spot for 240 grain bullets. Muzzle blast was pretty wicked with the fast 180's. Bet it would be even worse in .30-30 caliber. Ended up trading it for something else.
Always liked Marlin lever actions better. They use long actions for rifle calibers (336 & 1895) and short actions for pistol calibers (their own Model 1894). Marlin levers seem to swing in a smoother, more continuous arc, too. WIN 94 levers kinda jerk & drop down, then swing forward, always causing the rifle butt to be pulled out of position on my shoulder. Also, don't care for their "Angle Eject" feature. WIN had to mill away part of the receiver rail that the bolt rides on, and they moved the extractor from the originally strong top-dead-center position, to about the 2 O'Clock position. It looks like the extractor claw doesn't get as good a grip on the cartridge rim, as it did before. Just kinda catches it with only one corner? Never had any mechanical problems, but these things always made me wonder?

 

[seadog]

BluRidgeDav has it right! Marlin all the way. In my experience, they are more accurate, have a better action...than new 1894 "Winchesters", and are easier to tear down for cleaning. Now, if you want a large bore, I believe I would take a Winchester 1886 over a Marlin 1895 any day. Also, the 1892 rifles are excellent for pistol calibers.

 

[Shooter 973]

Mdl. 94 "Trapper".

I have 5 of these litle rifles, 1 in 30-30 and I really like it for what it is. The muzzle blast is a little heavier than with the standard lenth(20) inch barrel but so what. It is a very handy lenth if you are in or on a vehicle. I shoot a lot of cast (170 gr.) slugs in mine loaded right up to factory levels and it does just fine. I went with the Win . because it has the regular cut rifling not the Micro-groove and it shoots fine for me and my 2 small sons. (One is 6'5" and the other is 6'6" ) .The 300 yrd gong can be rung on a pretty regular basis with this little rilfe and it swings it pretty good. I like ALL of my Trapper 94's .

 

[Remmy]

thanks for all the info... I was just trying to get some more information for my brother before he bought the gun. I did know someone with a 30-30 winchester that used it for deer, and yes, it was really loud. I do like the niftiness of the stubby gun though, it would be a fun gun to shoot, even more fun with .357, but the 30-30 is more versatile... I think in his case.

As for the brand, we have a Marlin.444 SS and like it, although we havent really put more than two boxes of ammo through it. It does seem smooth though, and accurate. And i have never shot a winchester lever action... But my brother tends to think that marlin guns arent that great in the quality dept. He had a .22 semi auto that was not the most reliable gun at all... too much plastic in it too.
So i think he wants to stay away from marlin, dont know for sure though.
Maybe the 336C would do, or the 336A. Just because they are the short barreled equivalent almost... and the 336 C shoots 30-30 or 35 Rem. which is cool.

Thanks again

 

[Dave Klingenstein]

I have a 94 Trapper in 44 Mag and just love it. It small, compact and a lot of fun to shoot. I haven't done any hunting with it, but for just recreational shooting it is great. If I was going to use it for hunting, I would look at the 30-30, but I suppose the 44 mag would be fine for deer inside of 100 yards. The only thing with lever actions is one isn't enough!