Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Win 94 in 38-55 as a deer rifle

woodshermit
I'm thinking about buying an early c.1910 Winchester 94 in 38-55 with a 26" round barrel. The metal was factory refinished, the bore is excellent and the stock is good with honest wear, no cracks or anything major. Asking price is $600 which I know is a little high for a refinished rifle, but, it "feels good" when I handled it. For some reason the 38-55 appeals to me and I've recently looked at a new Marlin with the octagonal barrel which would probably cost about the same as the Win. I realize the 38-55 is being used for cowboy action shooting, but, does anyone have any experience or opinion of the caliber for a deer (in Maine). Ammo is pricey, big 255 gr bullet. I would put a tang sight on it for hunting. How about recoil? Thanks in advance.
0

Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • richbug
    For a woods gun I think you would be hard pressed to find one better. I have not used a 38-55 lever, but have a 45-70 and a 35 remington for close in deer. As long as it snaps to the shoulder quickly, and you really want it, why not? If you reload for it, it isn't any more expensive than any other rifle, and recoil is no big issue, as velocity is relatively slow.

    My border collie is smarter than your honor student.
    0
  • plains scout
    Friend of mine hunts with the 38-55. I think he actually uses a Winchester Crazy Horse commenorative (SP). He has been hunting deer for several years with this gun and loves it. It is a matter of distance and accuracy. Both which you can control if you are patient and practice. Choose your target and know your range. Good luck cowboy. Shoot straight.
    0
  • temblor
    Good timber gun for the shorter ranges. My Father killed hundreds of deer in northern michigan thru his youth and especially during the great depression years with an old Marlin lever 38-55. He was the oldest boy in his family of 10 and his uncle had been killed leaving a large family that needed help being fed. He wasn't hunting for sport. They needed food. He worked in lumber camps near his home town and the conservation corp program at different times and my youngest aunts always told me how he was always showing up with deer meat and firewood for them. He also killed many bears with the old lever Marlin. When he moved to California after WWII he was amazed at the open ranges and had to go to a 270 winchester.I don't think you'd be going wrong with it in the country your talking about.[8D]
    0
  • Bert H.
    woodshermit...

    The 38-55 is a super accurate 200 yard cartridge in the original Winchester rifle it was chambered for (the Model 1885 Single-shot). It is a very effective deer/black bear cartridge within that range. The current factory loadings for it are quite anemic, but can be safely & greatly improved upon with prudent reloading. I like the Lyman No. 2 tang sights myself, and highly recommend them. Recoil is very comfortable with this cartridge. Finally, $600 for a factory refinished Model 1894 Rifle is quite reasonable.


    Bert H.

    Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!
    0
  • Iconoclast
    woods, the .38-55 is second only to the .32-40 in its renown for accuracy in the BP era. Both were originally Ballard cartridges, which may say something about the man. It made a successful transition to the smokeless era and was routinely loaded by the major ammo companies well into the first half of the 20th Century. Dominion loaded ammo for it until the 1970s under contracts to Speer until the plant they had dedicated to obsolete ammo was lost in a fire. In the late 1970s, Winchester offered a "one time run" of the brass, allegedly 100,000 of them. I have no figures to prove it, but I'm reasonably sure the run was much larger, as I purchased several thousand without difficulty. The next year, they brought out ammo because of the high demand for the brass - incidentally "sticking" me with most of the brass I'd bought to process in my custom loading business. Since then, they have manufactured several limited runs of "commemorative" ammo with nickel cases, pretty boxes and inflated prices, so ammo is not the problem it was thirty years ago. There is no need to boost this round to "magnum" levels, so the brass will hold up quite well for reloading (and if you wish to start right in with handloads, I do know where there is still a good supply of quality Winchester brass [;)]). Many folks around here (NH - and I doubt the white tails get any tougher a few miles East!) still use the .38-55 for deer hunting and I've yet to hear any complaints about accuracy or power. If you do your part, this round will drop any medium sized game as well as any "modern" round. Recoil is mild - my .38-55 originally belonged to my mother, who was just over 5 foot and used it to take several deer over her lifetime.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain)
    0
  • Iroquois Scout
    The .38-55 is a far better deer rifle then the .30-30 with in the same ranges. A 255 grain flat point beats a 170 grain flat point any time. The biggest deer that I ever shot was shot in 1949 useing a Marlin Model 93 in caliber .38-55. Be sure to slug the bore to determine the diameter of the bore. Most .38-55's run .380 or .381, some will be found to be as small as .378. these smaller bores will shoot the .375 diameter bullets with reasonable accuracy. However, the .38-55 is at it's best with lead bullets sized to bore diameter and handloaded to around 1850-1900 fps.
    As far as accuracy is concerned,I use this cartridge in my 200 meter off hand target rifle. In this rifle I use a soft cast 310 grain lead bullet at about 1250 fps. This load shoots into less then 1MOA AT 200 meters.
    All in all I think that you have made a good choice. $600 for this rifle is a fair price in my area ,but, not a bargain. Be sure to get into reloading for this cartridge in order to bring out it's full potential.
    0
  • Xracer
    .38-55 is about as good as it gets for a "woods gun" in Maine. Great for deer and black bear....and it'll even work on Moose, if you're lucky enough to draw a permit.

    Actually, that all-time favorite, .30-30, is just a necked down .38-55.

    Since that '94 was made in 1910, you'll want to stick to blackpowder equivalent loads though....no hot stuff for that old lady, please.
    0
  • deerhntr
    My uncle Killed over a Hundred deer with that rifle with open sites and Never a second shot fired, But he was/is a Marine[^]
    0
  • woodshermit
    Thanks, guys, for all the input. It's been years since I've done any deer hunting and I don't care for all the fancy high-tech gear that's out there. I'm going to take another look at the rifle on Monday and if it still feels good, probably make an offer and buy it if they will work with me a little on it. I've been doing some reading on calibers, etc. and I can see no reason why the 38-55 wouldn't suit me. I doubt that I will get into reloading, so, after the initial sighting in, etc., the ammo price isn't that prohibitive. If the 94 is gone or I can't make a deal, I may get a Marlin 336 Cowboy. I handled one at a show recently and liked its heft, feel, and looks (I'm not a big fan of checkering). I have a 39a which will make a good companion rifle for practice. Either way, I think the 38-55 cartridge is going to work just fine.
    0
  • jakelin
    It's a sweetheart. I had one once- wish I had been smart enough to hang onto it.
    The .38-55 is one of the finest and most accurate cartridges ever developed. If the gun has a nice bore, and the refinish is a pro job, grab it and run with it.

    John
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity