Got this winchester 94 3030 off a guy for a 150$. Dont have too much use for it, but I figure it was a good deal. The reciever has a good bit of surface rust but im sure I cold get most of it off, it needs a good cleaning but I know the guy and I doubt he put more than a couple boxes of ammo through it, plus the stock is near perfect! says he bought it new in the early 80s, its been sitting in a case for at least 20 years. Its not drilled/tapped and its not a AE , it came with one ofthose awful side mounts and a decent japanese made tasco 3-9X. I yanked those though, looked really outta place on it, I think the thing is pretty cool. I even kinda like the rust lol, im just not big on open sights though, and theres really no practical way to scope this thing, so Im not sure what to do with it. I may just keep it as a home defense gun, or maybe a rainy weather deer/bear rifle since scopes are useless in the rain, Im thinking maybe a peep site and a red fiber optic front.

what would you guys do with it?

For lever action short barrel rifles, I like XS ghost ring sights, plus a Marbles tang mounted Peep sight. The XS ghost rings are fantastic for quick shots at close range, then the flip up tang mounted peep lets you focus in for finer accuracy at longer ranges.

Plus, these two sights let the rifle keep a more "ol' fashioned" style for the lever action pieces.

Another option would be to have the barrel drilled and tapped for a scout mount.

Dang good buy tho, $150 for a Win 94 with such nice wood is a steal. And like you said, the rust adds character.

XS not only has sights, they also have a forward mounted rail so you can mount a scout scope. It's halfway down the page, they call it the XS Lever Scout Mount.


http://www.xssights.com/store/scope.html

Clean it up, put the sights you mentioned and have fun shooting! Looks like a fun gun to shoot the heck out of. I really like lever actions, I find them more sexy then bolt guns, pumps, or simi autos. I wouldn't put too much worry into the rust.

Thanks, i had one of those scope mounts on a marlin once , but I think this rifle would still need to be drilled and tapped. I dont think Im gonna scope it anyway. The tang sight is actually a good idea, I have one in my junk box that I yanked off another gun once. I always wanted a winchester lever action w/ a tang sight, like Steve Mcqueen had in "Tom Horn" I would still need to to drill and tap the holes but I think it would go better on this rifle than a scope.

For those who use sights, how far do you feel comfortable shooting at deer?

Whichever way makes you happy is all that matters. If you ever start having trouble hitting you target with sights, a low power scout scope will brighten up your sight picture. The XS website claims that you don't need to drill the gun, it mounts in the rear sight dovetail.

Distance with open sights will vary with every shooter. With my eyes I can see well with glasses, but I've lost my ability to focus clearly enough on the sights. A nice 1.5-4x20mm with a wide field of view and an illuminated reticle is what I'd get.

Since you don't have any use for it. How about you sell it to me for $175.00 and make $25.00 LMAO......

ok 1st bid is 175 do I hear 250$?

Back when I had my Marlin .30-30 I kept my shots under 100 yards with open sights, but would practice at the range more often than not at 50 yards for consistency.

Back a number years ago, I nailed a small 3 pointer at 75 yards with open sights with the ol' .30-30 and dropped him right there. Bang, busted the left shoulder and flop, the little buck didn't know what hit him.

The legendary .30-30 is a great brush gun and I wish I still had mine. But, I sold it once I got my bolt action Savage .308 w/ scope. I played around with both of them at the range, and as you would guess, the .308 beat the snot out of the ol' .30-30 easily in distance, power, and sub-MOA groups. But then the .30-30 had easier handling, quickness, and was a lot lighter.

Granted, my eyes are still quite young (thank goodness for contact lenses), but with my Marlin 1895GS with the Marbles tang site (.45-70), I've knocked down deer at 150yrds. I can ring an 10" gong at 300yrds with ease with this set up (white 10" gong on a black buffalo silhouette), but I usually reserve that long of shots for a scoped bottlenecked cartridge.

I have three peep apertures for my Marbles, the finest pin-hole is only good for HIGH LIGHT conditions, but it really lets me reach out there. I bought the extended range model (longer elevation adjustment) since I planned on using it on my Marlin 1895 Cowboy, but I ended up using a Ladder style tang peep sight for it instead, and left the Marbles on the guide gun.