Talked to the friendly people at Browning/USRAC today and they confirmed that the Mod 94 has done away with that cross-bolt safety and have put the tang safety on all Mod 94's starting now. They kindly sent me the pages of their yet to be released 2003 catalog and the mod 94 Traditional and Traditional-CW (checkered stock) are now available in 480 Ruger! .475" bullets weighing from 325 to 400 gr. out of that 20" bbl should move at over 2000fps as Hodgdon shows 1500 fps+ out of a 7.5" bbl with low pressures. Sounds like a great combo to me.

Will Marlin follow suit ???

I saw this advertised a while back on their site and i think in the 2002 catalogue they sent me. then as soon as it was up on the site it was gone. at first i thought they just weren't selling like the company wanted so they axed it, but now i wonder if they may have had some sort of delay getting enough (or any) to the distributors and such.

I hope Winchester doesn't back out again this year like they did last year. I'm ready for one myself

When the .480 Ruger was briefly announced in 2002 for the Model 94, my local gun dealer showed their distributor as actually having a few. Can anyone confirm that some were made last year? Kind of wish I had pursued it further.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

I have a Trapper carbine in .45 Colt. The 16" barrel, ease of accurate shooting and portability make it a VERY handy, yet adequately accurate deer/bear rifle in the thick stuff. I have always been a fan of big bore pistol bullets, but the additional foot of barrel REALLY takes a pistol round and turns it into something so much more capable.

The idea of a 20" M94, WITHOUT THE UGLY CROSSBOLT SAFETY, chamberd in the .480 round! Makes me want to go out and buy one.

Hope it all comes to fruition and SOON.

FN in MT

I'd be interested to see if Marlin didn't offer one shortly.

I've never owned a Winchester, but have seen some that looked nice and some that looked like trash. I'd have to see the rifle first hand to decide on it.

If it's 2000fps out of a 20" barrel, then I'll probably have to get one.

--QD

I wonder if a rechamber to 475 Linebaugh is possible with one? Don't see why not. Can't wait either.

Just an add-on, Legacy Sports International (LSI) is importing the Puma (Rossi) M92 levergun, chambered in both the 454 Casull and the 480 Ruger. I read this in a recent/current gun magazine, which one exactly escapes me as I write this post. ~~~Suluuq