Got my first lever action

1
Never been into lever guns before. Never owned one nor shot one. So now I've got my first & me being me, I couldn't just get your basic Henry or Marlin.

Picked up a 1894 Winchester takedown made in 1898 chambered in .32 Winchester Special.

Would have rather had one in 30wcf, but this is what I could come up with for free. I'll pony up for the ammo at that price.
Screw communism

Re: Got my first lever action

4
I've no idea what the notches are. Deer taken maybe?
I do reload, a growing list of calibers it feels like. Hopefully the cost & availability of components comes back to sanity levels sooner rather than later. But with Biden's gun agenda, I doubt it :(

The ammo is pricey, but no worse than 45-70 really.
Screw communism

Re: Got my first lever action

13
mattgunguy wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:33 pm Never been into lever guns before. Never owned one nor shot one. So now I've got my first & me being me, I couldn't just get your basic Henry or Marlin.

Picked up a 1894 Winchester takedown made in 1898 chambered in .32 Winchester Special.

Would have rather had one in 30wcf, but this is what I could come up with for free. I'll pony up for the ammo at that price.
A 26" octagon takedown model 94 is your first lever rifle...Dude, you're living right!!

IIRC the .32 Win Special cases can be made from .30-30 brass by sizing and fire-forming (you might want to double check that...it's been about 1,000 years since I loaded .32 WS). And IIRC the powder charges for the two cartridges tend to be identical. I used to use 30 grains of IMR 3031 for both .30-30 and .32 WS and I got pretty much the same ballistics.

What you need to know...

First thing, don't baby it when you're cycling it. Slow cycling a model 94 will actually damage the cartridge stop, if the rifle is loaded when you slow cycle it (without ammo, you can slow cycle it to your heart's content). It's a VERY MINOR design flaw that relies on the timing of the lever moving quickly.

That's a fantastic rifle you have there!!
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: Got my first lever action

14
Well, I've lost it. My wife has laid claim & ain't letting go. Which is hilarious. She thought I was dumb for getting it. "We don't need another caliber" she said. Now we're gonna be traipsing around the state on my day off tomorrow looking for ammo & maybe a 1892 winchester to go with it........... Not that I'm really complaining, we don't particularly get much time to spend together lately. Its great having a wife who's into old guns, even if she is complaining about needing a bigger safe.

Did some cleaning up on it before today. Took care of some rust that forming on the barrel & cleaned up the bore. No idea the last time this guy was shot, as I've never literally seen cobwebs in a rife bore before. I won't say its a bright & shiny bore, but it does still have some shine to it. Greased the action up & now it's nice and smooth. Overall the whole rifle was very very dry. Should probably oil the stock a little still. Hopefully we can find some ammo tomorrow or this weekend.
Screw communism

Re: Got my first lever action

16
Favorite cleaners. For those whove never heard of JB Bore paste, look it. Wonderful stuff, has worked miracles for some bad bores. Also hard to beat Balistol. Its organic........

Had some unexpected company while I was at it. Saw the funny looking cat out of the corner of my eye. Wasnt a cat. Little guy just plopped right down & watched me for a good 20 minutes.

With some of its safe mates.
Screw communism

Re: Got my first lever action

18
Ah, a stinky-cat.

Nice leverguns! Pretty grain pattern...
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Got my first lever action

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I had a .32WS for a while. Awesome levergun, super accurate. Almost the same as yours but the stock was a little more "modern" and the barrel wasn't octagonal. Finding ammo wasn't terribly hard (but this was a few years ago) though it was pricey (around 2 bucks per round...).
Only problem is that I'm in California, where we have to use lead-free ammo to hunt anything, anywhere. I looked far and wide but could never find it in .32 win special. I was going to try loading slightly undersized projectiles that were available (.319 rather than .321 if I recall correctly) but I never got around to it and ended up trading mine for some tattoo work, haha. Probably should have paid cash for the ink and kept the gun, especially now that I'm on the verge of finally getting out of Cali.
So all this to say that I miss my rifle and congrats on what I'm sure will be a straight shooter!
-Crow
Minute Of Average

Re: Got my first lever action

23
Well, no luck in finding loaded ammo today. But it was a fun day. A couple of local shops we frequent keep it in stock & have it on order, but are waiting just like the restof the country. Did find the correct pills for reloading & my wife's hunting down dies. I'd get em off flea bay, but she loaths flea bay. I've still got some powder & primers yet, with a few hand fulls of 30-30 brass I'd overlooked. So just waiting on dies.

Did manage one small treasure. The nearly impossible to find 6.5 Carcano bullets in the correct .268 160gr rn. Been looking for years. Can't express how stoked I am about this. We've M91 Carcano made in 1893 that hasn't gotten much love for lack of proper ammo. Its got a tight bore so the Prvi Partisan PPU stuff will work, just not well.

Was a good day.
Screw communism

Re: Got my first lever action

24
I admire your diligence and hope you get the ammo you need to shoot your antique rifles!
Me? I prefer only common calibers. My 1979 Marlin 1894 is in .357 mag /.38 special...not TOO hard to find.
Even with 9mm, .357, .38, and .308, it's hard to keep track of all the variants--grains, FMJ, JHP, lead, Tula steel crap etc!

But that's me. Not into reloading because I'm terrified of having propellant in the house. Enjoy!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Got my first lever action

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Thank you. I fully understand about not wanting propellants in the house. We've a detached garden shed i use for alot of my hobby stuff. Propellant & blackpowder stay out there. I'm terrified of a large kaboom. Aside from carry our pistols, I won't even keep ammo in the house. Stays in a freezer in the shed as well. I just finally moved the safe inside today after considering it for years. I really don't like having guns in the house as our youngest is deaf, mute, autistic, & some brain damage. Scared of him getting ahold of something he shouldn't. But we've had a dramatic increase in thefts lately & I'm even more terrified of guns being stolen. So the safe came in. Always a toss up in life.

The common calibers are the hard ones to find around here. 5.56x45mm, 7.62x51mm, 9mm are all still stupid price & hard to find in stock.

I can find 7.92x57mm, 30-06, 6.5 Swede, 45-70 on the shelf at most places I frequent. I got 6.5 Swede & 30-06 a couple weeks back for $1 - $1.50 a round.

Not always the case, as this .32ws is proving to me. But I do enjoy the hunt.
Screw communism

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