Winchester 94, cal. 38-55.
anybody got one, had one, shot one, if so, your thoughts
@oldgreyguy ......yep, got one, been there, still have it...........Mine is a Legendary Frontiersman M94. I forget what year they came about, and I have had it 25+ years I suppose. My last records of shooting it was 2004 using a 265 gr Cast Gas check of some sort with 25/RL 7 for 1537 fps. These are cast at .379 caliber, much less than that, bullets are not stable. Which is a issue with 38-55, actual bore size. .375 caliber bullets are not stable in this gun. Since I have not visited 38-55 in 15 years, I am just not sure what is available today. If I was extremely serious about it, I would just design a custom bullet for them with CEB, if they don't already have one? As stated, I have not bothered to look. I probably still have a box of that ammo here. I also have a Uberti 1885 here in 38-55, and its the same, shoots best at .379 caliber.
I took mine to Utah I believe either 1999 or 2000 and used it for Mt. Lion. Most of the time I had only used a handgun for that mission, but I wanted in particular to take this lever gun on this trip. I liked it, wanted it to see some adventure. As it worked out, it was the perfect choice for this hunt. Most of the time the dogs run the cat up a tree, and at that point a handgun is more than good, especially .45 caliber. However, this trip we chased this cat all through some hard, rough and rocky cliffs. This cat ended up being down on a ledge about 20 yards from the top. Had it been a normal shot, it would have been very possible he would have flopped around and went off a 500 ft high ledge. Debating, I decided on a head shot, this should anchor the cat and keep him from flopping over the edge. The perfect tool for that mission, I took the shot, cat dropped on the spot, cat retrieved, end of story................
