I’m considering purchasing a Win 94 lever rifle that I always wanted.
But I like both the 307 Win which is a 308 Caliber and I like the 356 Win which is the 358 caliber.
I can’t afford to buy both of em so I need to pick one caliber and they both suit me fine for deer and black bear here in NY.
Hand loading will be a must and I’m looking forward to it. Brass, powder and bullets are still available.

My 2 questions for U?

1- What would be your Caliber pick and why?

2- Would you jump on the opportunity to buy one right away being that they are available now to me and they are no longer in production?

Thanks
Vinnyg

Vinny,
I have a 94 big bore in 307. I happened into a local shop that got one on trade and did not know what it was. I paid less than $200.00 for it. As far as the 307 vs 356 goes, the 356 is much more effective on game. 35 caliber just seems to kill better than it should (having used 35 rem, 35 whelen and 350 RM).
If my memory serves-- there were less than 2000 307's made and less than 4000 356's. So, having a nice gun that is chambered in your pick is a buy it now proposition. I ave never seen another 307 in the flesh and very few 356's.

Congratulations!

I wish 1000 times that I'd bought a Marlin lever action that I saw one time. It was one of the few chambered in .356 Winchester.



I also passed up a Model 94 Big Bore in .307.



I better stop remembering these things before I get a killer headache!

I have both.......and have never fired either.

That being said...if I were to choose one for all my big game hunting, it'd be the .356. The 35 will do all the small and medium stuff that the .307 will. But it's gonna have to outshine the 30 cal when it comnes to the heavier game.

Of the two, I'd go with the .356. I had one years ago and it did a nice job but the opportunity came to trade for a .444 Marlin and I've never regretted it.

My old man shoots elk with his 356 and has two unfired 307's (so I cant comment on the 3070, but I would go with the 356. The advantage of the 307 is a flatter trajectory, but this is a short range gun in my opinion (200 yards is a long ways with it). So you might aw well be shooting 200 or 250 grainers.

356/358 rock!

Guess I'm the odd guy out on this one. Sorta, anyway....

If I could only own one rifle and had to chose between the .307 and the .356, I'd take the .307 because of greater versatility and more available components.

The .307 will digest .308 winchester ammo, and will eject reliably with rimless .308 Winchester brass. That stuff's gonna be around a long time, despite Obama and Hillary. Further, one can load some very light bullets which will perform adequately as relatively long distance varminting rounds (two legged or four-legged varmints).

The .356 will also function and eject reliably with .358 winchester ammo, but that still doesn't yield the variety of bullets available that the .308" (.307) bore diameter does. You can make .358 Win brass from .308 brass, and therefore, could still find brass to function in the .356 with the extra step of two of necking up/trimming flush the .308 cases. But there may be a time when that is pretty inconvenient.

Before you flame me too much, please note I based all this on only being able to own ONE RIFLE. If I could own more than one rifle, particularly if I already had other rifles, I'd take the .356 over the .307 hands down.

Matter of fact that is the way I AM doing it. I have other rifles, so I have a .356 M94 and love it. Its a great cast bullet shooter too.

If all else fails, flip a coin. No matter which one you get, you will wish you had both.

vinnyg,

I think you should get that .356 and tell me where to find that .307......

I would choose the .356 Win., since it is perhaps slightly more capable of taking larger game as well as deer, should you choose to hunt elk, moose & and big bear.