At top is a Model 92 24inch octagonal barrelled .44/40 with a tang sight. Will put through 3 bullets through one hole at 50 yards.
Then a .44/40 Rossi 92 carbine - shes brand new out of the box basically. No bolt safefty, front sight on the barrel not the barrel band, wood is plain but perfectly acceptable. Have only just starting shooting here, and so far it's 2 inchs at 50 yards but Im working on that. Finding it harder to shoot the much lighter carbine off the bench.
Bottom is a 1952 model 94 in .30/30 with an old steel lyman 66 receiver sight. Off the bench with my handloads and 150grain power point bullet I can do 1.5 inch groups with it fairly regurlary (depending on the weather - bright sunlight is hard off the beaded forsight) I have made up some 170grain Hornday interlock loads but havnt tested them yet. Have got some red deer with this rifle.
After playing with the .44 carbine - the .30/30 model 94 feels like a cannon..and those loooong cartridges...
Just some background about lever actions in New Zealand, we have always had them and they have always been popular. Used for pig hunting by both Europeans and Maori and the 'bush carbine' was a rifle to be proud of. (Even today lever actions are vaguely regarded as rifle only suitable for pig hunting, it has become a part of that type of hunting...) The Rossi 92 sells like hot cakes to pig hunters.
Before WW2 the most common rifles were the Lee Enfield .303 (of course) and the Winchester 92, in .44/40, .32/20 or .25/20.
Interestingly from when they started making them in the 1890's people ordered in Winchester 92's by the bucketload - but they never catalogued the Winchester 94 at all. Despite the fact it was so popular in the states, people stuck with the little 92. It wasnt untill after the second war and they had stopped manufacturing the 92 that people ordered the 94 model, but my then other bolt action rifles were becoming more available and affordable.
This '52 made 94 is the earliest Winchester 94 I have ever seen over here.
