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Winchester. What does that name mean to
you? Winchester has for years produced some fine shotguns and
bolt action rifles. The Models 12 and 70 are legendary. However,
to most people, myself included, the name Winchester means lever
action rifles. When I hear some story told of a grizzled old
cowpoke toting a Winchester, I know that it means a levergun,
even though Winchester produced some of the finest single shot
rifles of the nineteenth century.. Winchester means leverguns.
I have Winchester leverguns dating from 1895 up
through the little .357 Compact that I bought earlier this year,
and I like them all. They always work, and they always work
well. The only Winchesters that I won’t buy are the ones
produced for several years recently with that butt-ugly
crossbolt safety. It looked like an afterthought, which it was.
I understand their having to go to something like that, but it
is still ugly. Thankfully, they have now moved the safety to the
tang, which is a much better place for a safety if you must have
one. I have been raised up on the old Winchesters with no manual
safety, using the half-cock notch in the hammer for decades. For
new shooters just learning to handle a levergun, as much as I
hate to admit it, the tang safety just might be better than the
old half-cock. It is definitely quieter to slide the safety
forward than to pull the hammer to full cock. It bothers some
folks to have the levergun cocked with the safety on, but that
is the way that we carry shotguns, bolt action rifles, ARs, AKs,
and many other types of firearms, and it works just as well on a
levergun. It is simply a matter of training. I’m
probably too old to change my ways, and will carry my leverguns
the old way, and ignore the manual safety. However, I will teach
my grandson to hunt with his Winchester cocked and the safety
on.
Winchester is producing lever action rifles
today that are much closer in appearance, balance, and feel to
the guns of the late nineteenth century. A very good example is
their new Legacy rifle. The one featured here is chambered for
the good old .38-55 cartridge, which predates even the .30
WCF (.30-30 Winchester). I have long been a fan of the
.38-55, especially in good strong rifles. I have had a Chief
Crazy Horse .38-55 for a few years, and it is an excellent
levergun. The .38-55 is a very efficient cartridge, which is not
loaded to its potential by most ammo companies. Buffalo Bore
offers two loadings which take advantage of the cartridge’s
potential. I have always loaded my own, and use excellent cast
bullets from Mt. Baldy with
good results., along with a few jacketed bullets that are
available. Reloder 7 and H322 are just about
perfect for loading the .38-55 up to its potential. If I had to
choose just one, it would be H322.
Back to the new Legacy rifle. I first saw one of
these at a writer’s function at the 2005
SHOT Show in Las Vegas back in January. The Legacy has a
beautifully tapered twenty-six inch octagon barrel. I am glad
that Winchester chose to taper the barrel. The balance and feel
of the rifle is perfect. It balances just in front of the
receiver. The Legacy is fitted with the superb Marbles
rear tang sight, which is adjustable for windage and
elevation without tools. It is a very good sight for extended
range shooting. Thankfully, Winchester has fitted the legacy
with the traditional curved steel buttplate. The walnut
buttstock has a gently-curved pistol grip, and wears some nice
checkering, as does the slim fore end. I like the finish on
these rifles. The wood is dark, and the bluing is deep. The
curved steel buttplate just looks right on this rifle, and is
plenty comfortable with the mildly-recoiling cartridges for
which the Legacy is chambered. Out at the range, most of the
writers were fooling around with the new Model 70
variations chambered for the latest short magnums. Laying
neglected on a bench was a new Legacy .30-30, along with several
boxes of factory Winchester ammo just waiting to be burned up.
The bench was set up for right-handed shooters. Being a
southpaw, I just stood beside the bench and tried my luck at
some one hundred yard paper targets using the barrel-mounted
open rear sight. Out at the 300 yard berm was a steel gong.
Flipping up the Marbles tang sight, and after a couple of shots
to get the sight dialed in, I was connecting with ease on the
gong. I just love burning up free ammunition! Immediately after
the show, I proceeded to beg Paul Thompson of Browning/Winchester
for a sample gun. They are now in production, and I have had the
.38-55 here for about a month. During that month, I have had
time to get acquainted with the levergun, and am now more
impressed than I was at the press introduction.
The Legacy is one of those rifles that has a
unique quality that is hard to explain, but easy to feel. With
the twenty-six inch barrel, it has a full-sized feel to it,
without being overly heavy or bulky. Winchester lists the
nominal weight at seven and one-quarter pounds, but the sample
rifle weighed eight ounces heavier. The overall length is
forty-four and one-eighth inches. The full-length tubular
magazine holds seven cartridges. As mentioned already, the gun
has heft, but an excellent balance. It carries well in the
field. It is handy, but still feels like a rifle.
For accuracy testing, I chose to use the Marbles
sight at the one hundred yard range, fully realizing that I
would be unable to shoot the Legacy to its potential. While I
love tang sights, I do much better work with a scope attached.
While the Legacy is drilled and tapped for a scope mount, as are
all Winchester 94 Angle Eject models, most who purchase the
Legacy will likely opt to use the tang sight, which is a good
choice. For hunting accuracy, the tang sight is just fine. With
better eyes, I could probably realize better accuracy using the
Marbles sight. Shooting the Legacy, I would manage to get a
couple of shots pretty close together, always pulling one out of
a three-shot group. The group pictured was typical of my
shooting that day. With the Marbles rear and gold bead front,
one and one-half inch groups were the norm. I was tempted to
bolt on a scope for better groups, but I think that would defeat
the purpose of buying the Legacy with the excellent tang sight
attached. Besides, one and one-half inch groups are plenty
accurate for hunting game, and I have about a four-inch wobble
shooting while standing upright like a primate. The functioning
of the Legacy was perfect with all ammo tested, as expected.
Winchester has been building the Model 94 for well over one
hundred years now, and pretty much have the mechanics figured
out. The only fault that I found with the rifle is the trigger
pull, which was crisp enough, but measured just over seven
pounds. In my opinion, that is too heavy for a hunting rifle,
and will need to be serviced a bit to get the weight down to
about three pounds, which is more to my liking.
With the introduction of the new legacy in
.30-30 and .38-55, Winchester is producing rifles of the
style that built their great legend. This is the closest thing
that I have seen to my beloved 1895-vintage Model 1894 rifle. I
truly love the Model 92 and 94 carbines, but these new Legacy
rifles have stolen my heart. Hopefully, Winchester will choose
to also chamber the Legacy for the .25-35 cartridge as well.
If you like leverguns, I think that you will
love these new Legacy rifles. It is a rifle that your
great-grandfather would have been proud to own.
Check out the entire line of Winchester firearms at:
www.winchesterguns.com.
For the location of a dealer near you,
click on the Dealer Locator icon at: www.lipseys.com.
Jeff Quinn
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Click pictures for a larger version.
Winchester's new Legacy Model 94 in .38-55.
Old gun, new gun...author's vintage-1895 Winchester
Model 1894 in .30 WCF (left), Legacy Model 94 in .38-55
(right).
Forend tip attachment of Jeff's 110-year-old Model 1894
(top) compared to the Legacy Model 94 (bottom).
Author with the Legacy Model 94. The Legacy is perfectly
balanced and reasonably light in weight.
Among the features of Winchester's Legacy Model 94 are
(top to bottom): curved steel buttplate, sliding tang safety,
tapered octagon barrel, and slim-profile checkered forend with
"W" logo.
Iron sights of the Legacy Model 94 are excellent,
including serrated gold bead front sight (top), V-notch rear
sight (center), and Marbles' superb rear tang sight (bottom).
The Legacy Model 94 is also drilled and tapped for scope
mounts.
The .30-30, middle, and the .38-55, right, are chambered
in the new Legacy. Hopefully, the .25-35, left, will be added
as well.
Using iron sights, the Legacy Model 94 shoots as well as
the author can manage.
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