Jack O’Connor On America’s Number One Sporting Rifle

Above, purchasing my Winchester 94 in 2019 in Albuquerque. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Regular readers of this blog know that the Winchester 94 lever-action rifle is my favorite firearm. I had been looking for a pre-1964 rifle in .30-30 caliber for some time. 

I got lucky in 2019 when I was in Albuquerque to fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to embark on a cruise to Key West and Cuba when I was perusing in a gun store and found one in great shape and at a great price. I put it on layaway and picked it up when I returned from the cruise.

According to Jack O'Connor, the Winchester 94 is still America's number one sporting rifle. Outdoor Life has posted an article of his on the rifle.

It starts with:

When John Q. Citizen packs the family automobile and heads out for his annual deer hunt, the chances are that the rifle in the back seat, along with the side of bacon and the coffee­pot, is a .30/30. John Q. may be a California fruit grower, a Pennsylvania steel worker, an Illinois clerk. He may be after white-tails, blacktails, or mule deer. But wherever he lives, whatever he hunts, he is probably armed with a .30/30.

To the great bulk of America’s hunters, the terms “deer rifle” and “.30/30” are practically synonymous, and the .30/30 has probably killed more deer than any other rifle ever made. In that respect, its only rival is probably the old .44/40. The .30/30 has been on the market since 1894·, not far from half a century, and by 1927 a million Model 94 Winchesters had been sold, most of them chambered for it. Strange as it may seem, the Model 94 carbine in .30/30 caliber is still Winchester’s best seller, and .30/30 cartridges lead the list for all ammunition companies. 

To read more, go here.