Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012 - 62

WINCHESTER Model 94 .30-30 with a Lyman 4x scope set in a side mount due to the top ejection.

.348 WCF and manufactured until 1957. The extremely popular appeal of the Model 1886 gave Winchester the idea that it could be scaled down to fit many of the popular less powerful cartridges, such as the .44-40 WCF, .38-40 WCF, .32-20 WCF and .25-20 WCF ( later on the .218 Bee). In 1892 they brought out the Model 92, and by the end of its production in 1941 more than one million had been made in carbine, takedown, sporting rifle and musket versions. As a youngster, my introduction to centerfires was with a Winchester 92 in .25-20 WCF, and I still look back with great fondness for the time I had in the field and on the range with that rifle. Through the years I have owned a few model 1886s and 1892 rifles, and they will always hold a place near and dear to my heart. The Model 92 must still hold great appeal to many shooters because Rossi, Browning, Winchester and others, has or still makes it today in .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .44-40, .32-20, .25-20, .357 Magnum and .218 Bee. The rifle’s weight, balance, portability, smoothness of the action (after a little break-in period) and reasonable accuracy make it worth owning. By the late 1800s smokeless powder and jacketed bullets allowed smaller calibers to be driven more than 2,000 fps to produce medium power cartridges, with less recoil than the larger/heavier calibers. Winchester got into the swing of things by bringing out the legendary Model 1894. Initially it was chambered for the .32-40 and .38-55 target cartridges (high velocity loads were developed for these as stronger actions — single-shot or repeater — were developed, but shortly after came the legendary .30-30 WCF, .25-35 WCF, .32
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Winchester Special and 219 Zipper. As the decades went by, it was also chambered in .44 Magnum, .45 Colt and .357 Magnum, as well as the .410 shotshell. The beefed up “big bore” version (which wasn’t appealing, with the swelled rear part of the action) also handled the .375, .307 and the .356 Winchester. The Winchester Model 94 is by far the most famous Winchester rifle, with more than eight million sold in a variety of sub models, including Trapper, carbine, full rifle, takedown and commemoratives, up until they closed their doors in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2006, after 140 years. The most common was the standard carbine with a 20-inch barrel chambered for the .30-30 WCF. They were lightweight, handy to carry and had plenty of power and accuracy for eastern big game. As the more powerful cartridges came on the scene, Winchester brought out the Model 1895. It was certainly a nontraditional looking Winchester, with a protruding non-detachable box magazine chambered in the .30-40 Krag, .30-03, .30-06, .405 Winchester, .35 Winchester, .38-72 Winchester, .303 British, .40-72 Winchester and the 7.62x54R Russian cartridge. More than 425,000 were manufactured until production stopped in 1938, with nearly 70 percent of them for the Russian army chambered in 7.62x54R. The Winchester Model 95 was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt, and he carried one on his famous African safari. The last centerfire lever action design Winchester brought out was the Model 88 in 1955. It was engineered to handle high
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Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012

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