Winchester Model 94

[Sagittarius62]

I am fairly new to the game, and I have run across 3 of these at an estate auction. I am looking for a serviceable lever action 30-30. Are these collectors items or just old guns? They are all well preserved, and two even come in the original boxes. Can anyone enlighten me?

[longrifle1000]

Are these collectors items or just old guns?

It depends on the particular firearm. So many have been made it's hard to tell without seeing it. If it's really old, have a gunsmith look it over. You might be better to buy a newer marlin 30-30. If you are only hunting, they work fine.

[Sagittarius62]

After further research, All three are limited edition models.
1 Frontiersman ca 1979
2 Antlered Game ca 1978
3 Wells Fargo & Co. Comemmorative ca 1977
There is also one with an octagonal barrel that is quite old I think.
These look to be collectors pieces. I'm going to the auction anyway, so it will be interesting to see what they sell for.

[Wingbone]

Pass on them. They produced some really poor quality 94's in the 70's, all tinny stamped parts. After '78 I believe, they got a little better. They at least had a solid steel follower. They may have collector's value, but you can do better for hunting models.

[Sagittarius62]

Somebody really wanted these guns. The three came up together with a choice auction. Bidding stopped at $775, and the Frontiersman went for that. The next round stopped at $675, and the winner took the other two for $1350. Way out of my league. Auctions are funny things though, the bidding fever seemed to take hold on the first one, while the high price seemed to cool people off at the beginning of the next round for a few minutes then the fever seemed to strike again. So if you've got one of these keep it, but for heaven's sake don't fire it.