Todays gun show find.
I dont know too much about Winchester lever guns other than I always kinda wanted one simply because it seemed unAmerican to not own one. I stumled across this '94 30-30 among the many many available at the Hattiesburg gun show today. I must have fondled at least 20 lever guns today but for some reason I came back to this one three different times to admire its patina. The old man had it for $496 if memorey serves me right. I offered him four bills for it and he accepted. He looked up the SN and told me that it was a "transition gun" It was made in 1963 but is considered a 64 due to the 2700300 serial. Matters not to me so much when it was made.
Its got character, all of the bluing is deep and beautiful except the reciever. The loading gate shows plenty of wear indicating that this gun has been a shooter. The action feels like it rides on ball bearings. The screw heads dont show any sign of ever being touched with a screw driver. The crown is still clean and the rifling is crisp and shiney with no pitts or fouling telling me that its been well kept. It has a very very strong smell of pipe tobacco smoke in the wood. I guess its prior owner was a pipe smoker. It reminds me of when I was a very young boy and my uncles and grandfather smoked pipes and I like it. I could imagine some old timer sitting in his rocking chair puffing the corn cob for hours on end with his rifle in his lap.
So.....How did I do for $400? Good, bad, OK, coulda done better or shoulda spent a little more on a nicer gun?
And, why would the reciever show such a patina when the rest of the bluing is still so dark and shiney? Thats kinda odd.
Sorry for the crap lighting.
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I dont know too much about Winchester lever guns other than I always kinda wanted one simply because it seemed unAmerican to not own one. I stumled across this '94 30-30 among the many many available at the Hattiesburg gun show today. I must have fondled at least 20 lever guns today but for some reason I came back to this one three different times to admire its patina. The old man had it for $496 if memorey serves me right. I offered him four bills for it and he accepted. He looked up the SN and told me that it was a "transition gun" It was made in 1963 but is considered a 64 due to the 2700300 serial. Matters not to me so much when it was made.
Its got character, all of the bluing is deep and beautiful except the reciever. The loading gate shows plenty of wear indicating that this gun has been a shooter. The action feels like it rides on ball bearings. The screw heads dont show any sign of ever being touched with a screw driver. The crown is still clean and the rifling is crisp and shiney with no pitts or fouling telling me that its been well kept. It has a very very strong smell of pipe tobacco smoke in the wood. I guess its prior owner was a pipe smoker. It reminds me of when I was a very young boy and my uncles and grandfather smoked pipes and I like it. I could imagine some old timer sitting in his rocking chair puffing the corn cob for hours on end with his rifle in his lap.
So.....How did I do for $400? Good, bad, OK, coulda done better or shoulda spent a little more on a nicer gun?
And, why would the reciever show such a patina when the rest of the bluing is still so dark and shiney? Thats kinda odd.
Sorry for the crap lighting.
