[saintclair]

In my area, the 'flat-band' M-94's bring a slight premium due to scarcity.

 

[Walter Rego]

I used to hunt quail just north of Banning and also quail and rabbits in Reche Canyon which was named after posse member and San Bernardino County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Reche. It is some rough country with little to no water. Pretty amazing that Willie led the posse on a 600 mile chase on foot. Here is a map of the route. All of it was desert and mountains and is pretty inhospitable even today.

 

[tdennis]

LA Times gives a different story about Willie Boy's girl friends death.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-29-me-27956-story.html
Dennis

 

[Kingcobb]

Rangers tended to use 1895s a lot because they could get surplus 30-06 ammo a lot cheaper(heck some of the national guard armories would give it to them for free) than they could get 30-30 at the time and they were paid very little by the legislature for the work that they did. Heck Frank Hammer took a job as Sheriff of little ole Waller County because it practically doubled his pay from being a ranger. Hammer was known to use both throughout his career.

 

[DarkLord]

For the collectors...

The Winchester 94 in this photo is a bit of a unicorn; 10 known in existence. It's referred to as the Model 94/95 Hybrid among collectors. See, it's a model 94 with a model 95 barrel. All the roll stamps are Winchester 94, but the barrel is a 1/10 twist, has a Winchester 95 front sight, the dovetail for the '95 forend, and a plugged screw for the '95 rear sight. Seems at the end of a 1927 production run of the '95 NRA musket there were barrels left over. They just chambered them for .30 WCF and screwed them on to standard model 94's. There are 44 known with 20" barrels, and 10 known with 21.5" barrels. Mine has the 21.5".

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I used to hunt quail just north of Banning and also quail and rabbits in Reche Canyon which was named after posse member and San Bernardino County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Reche. It is some rough country with little to no water. Pretty amazing that Willie led the posse on a 600 mile chase on foot. Here is a map of the route. All of it was desert and mountains and is pretty inhospitable even today.

That's a great map that doesn't appear in the 1960 book I mentioned. I got the book in Joshua Tree while visiting family and looks like we weren't all that far driving distance from where Willie boy shot himself.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Here's a short video on this with that map in it and some of the same pictures I posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNhm6Rtay58

 

[Friar8]

I inherited a beautiful Model 94 that was made in 1935 from my grandfather years ago. My grandfather always told me it once belonged to the local sheriffs office, which explains the numbers engraved into the side of the receiver and in the stock. It is my favorite gun to take out into the woods for deer.

 

[DarkLord]

Winchester 94's and '95's just made so much sense for a Texas Ranger...Seems an obvious choice.

 

[29aholic]

Hey Darklord how about some more detailed pics of your 94/95?

 

[Kingcobb]

In the highwaymen, Hammer is shown asking about a Winchester 94 because "I need at least one gun that won't jam." I have been unable to find this quote directly attributed to him, however, he had a known preference for firearms that didn't use detachable magazines because of issues with them jamming.

The Boessenecker book on him is full of 1st and 2nd hand accounts of his shooting prowess with an 1894 and his absolute disdain for automatic or machine gun style weapons.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

In the highwaymen, Hammer is shown asking about a Winchester 94 because "I need at least one gun that won't jam." I have been unable to find this quote directly attributed to him, however, he had a known preference for firearms that didn't use detachable magazines because of issues with them jamming.

The Boessenecker book on him is full of 1st and 2nd hand accounts of his shooting prowess with an 1894 and his absolute disdain for automatic or machine gun style weapons.

That book is also the first time I saw pictures of him with a lightweight Savage 99, or any 99. Probably a .30-30, too. In both pictures I remember he's aiming the rifles.

 

[DarkLord]

Hey Darklord how about some more detailed pics of your 94/95?

Here's some photos I have available.

Overall rifle view showing the 21.5" barrel


View of rear sight with plugged hole for the NRA musket rear sight. Note - The rear sight on this rifle is something I have never seen on any other rifle (or anywhere else for that matter). It's made by King's, but it's a near exact copy of a Marbles but with some subtle differences; it's very unique and cool.


Roll stamping is typical of a pre-1930 model 94.


A look at the action


A look at the 95 sporting style front sight (Marbles copper bead), and the distinctive 21.5" barrel. Note the magazine tube is retained with a barrel hangar rather than a barrel band. This is because the barrel taper profile is thinner than the standard 94 barrel.


What you can't see is the barrel twist rate which is 1/10 vs the normal 1/12 of a Winchester 94. Also, if I were to remove the forend, there is a dovetail cut on the under side of the barrel where the mounting stud is attached to secure a model 95 forend.

My grandfather bought this rifle brand new in Oklahoma City in 1928. Him and his brother both bought 94's at the same time, and he liked the longer barrel so that's how it ended up in the family. No idea what happened to the other 94, it was not with my great uncle's belongings when he died.

 

[29aholic]

Very cool, thanks

 

[big_gus]

If I was back then, I’d probably be carrying a 94 Winchester too. As far as handling and reliable, hard to beat one in a lever action. Also thurty-thurty will kill ANYTHING in North America, probably too much for a Man but better to have too much gun than too little. Shot placement beats power every time. I’ve saw a doe having to be “finished off” shot twice with a 338 win mag. The 2 biggest bucks I ever took were with a 243 Winchester, one dropped where he stood, the other a few paces to his final resting place.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I've got an old '94 I inherited when my granpa died in '58 that he carried when he came to Az in 1906,it's seen some hard use.The cal. marking on the bbl. says .30 WCF then just behind that just in front of the receiver is a small paragraph that says "nickle steel bbl. especially for smokeless powder".He was well known in the Yuma,Somerton area for his tracking abilities,when someone went missing he was hired to find them & usually did,he was known by the Az Rangers that worked in that area & they used him once in awhile.When he died the Az Sun newspaper in Yuma wrote a nice article about him along w/a picture of him standing in front of his blacksmith shop in 1909 which I also got w/the rifle.When we found the rifle in his closet it had 3 rds. of silver tip in the magazine.Something else I got was his old walnut rocking chair that he kept from way back then & always sat in,I have no idea how old it is.

Here's the pictures of it. I like it!