Gentlemen,

I�ve seen a old, nice Winchester 94(?) in .32-40 at a gunshop here in town. As the calibre is a bit weak and hard to get, I would be grateful for advice about useful calibres. I�ve thought of .348 W. What�s your opinion? To tough for such a rifle?

Yours,

Fritz K.

Fritz: Wiser fellows than I will post on this, but the 94 will not accommodate the .348, which Winchester designed for the Model 71, a modern version of the much larger and heavier 1886 action. Also, if the 94 is old enough to have been chambered in the increasingly collectable .32-40, you probably wouldn't want to rechamber/rebarrel to a much stouter round. You could go to the .38-55, which can be loaded to repsectable ballistics, but it isn't a particularly common cartridge these days, either. Best bet, if you are bound and determined to rebarrel this rifle, would be to go to the .30-30 Ackley Improved. I doubt if you can get better performance, SAFELY, out of the older Model 94s.

Leave it alone, it is a collector's item. You can get 30-30 barrels from GPC. But why? You can buy a new 30-30. It makes no sense. Original pre 64 lever guns in un-altered condition are getting very rare. Old Winchesters are astoundingly expensive, at least to me, and are appreciating rapidly. Altered guns are not as collectable. Why trash a collectable antique??

FK, I like scot's advice very much here. It's easy to get Mod.94s in more powerful configurations. This is a collector's item, potentially. I would not touch it with a tool.

Good shooting, Talus

Gentlemen,

thanks for your advice. I didn�t know that such Winchester are such rare object, and I had no ambition to destroy its value.

Yours,

Fritz K.