15 Surprising Facts About the Winchester 94

Above, the 1962 Winchester 94 I bought in 2019. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Regular readers of this blog know that the 1962 Winchester 94 that I bought in 2019 is my favorite rifle. It is just plain fun to shoot. 

At the time, I was on the lookout for a pre-64 Winchester 94. I happened to get lucky while browsing an Albuquerque gun store and saw it on a rack. As I was about to leave for Florida to go on a cruise the next day, I put it on layaway and picked it up when I returned. It is a good thing I bought it when I did, demand for them has risen since then as has the price.

MSN has posted a slideshow of 15 surprising facts about the Winchester 94 by The Avid Outdoorsman.

They start it with:

The Winchester 94 is one of those rifles that almost feels bigger than the gun itself. Even people who are not deep into lever guns usually know the shape, the name, or the basic idea. It has been tied to deer camps, saddle scabbards, truck racks, family gun cabinets, and the whole image of the American woods rifle for generations. Winchester says the Model 1894 became the best-selling centerfire rifle in U.S. history, which is a pretty wild title for any firearm to hold.

What makes the rifle especially interesting is that a lot of shooters know the legend without really knowing the details. The Winchester 94 was not just another lever gun with a good reputation. It was a John Browning design, it was built for the new smokeless-powder era, and it went on to become one of the most successful sporting rifles ever made. More than 7.5 million have been produced, according to RifleShooter, which helps explain why this gun seems to show up everywhere from hunting stories to family hand-me-downs.

To see the slideshow, go here.