Dad's M94

Chiappa, Marlin, Mossberg and non-Rossi Manufactured Pumas plus anything else with a leveraction.
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Dad's M94

Post by Ranch Dog »

Back in 1968 my decided he wanted a new rifle. He had been shooting a M94 that was quite long in the tooth and wanted a new one. At a local discount store he found a NIB 1966 model on sale for $25! It was an "Antique" Saddle Ring Carbine. The "Antique" means that it had a case hardened receiver. Dad has always been a one rifle kind of guy and shot this with the open sights for several decades. As he got older he asked me to help him figure it out so I put a B-Square side mount on the rifle along with a Bushnell 4X scope and he continued to use it for several more decades. After moving onto my ranch a decade ago, he told me he thought his hunting days were over as the side mount was giving him a bunch of problems on the accuracy side of things. I think this is one of the last critters he shot with the rifle.

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I offered him any one of my Marlins and for some reason I seemed focused on trying to give him my 336ER chambered in 356 Win. He hated it and finally told me that he did not like the recoil. I showed him my little short barrelled Glenfield 30GT. He felt bad taking my rifle so he gave me the Winchester. It just sat in my save for the last ten years.

After running across a Redfield Jr. IER mount for the M94, I decided to pull the rifle out of retirement. It is in very good shape for 50 year old rifle. He always used it with the camo skins seen in the picture so the wood is in excellent shape. The metal is perfect.

The Redfield kit is complete and setup of the gun owner to drill and tap the barrel.

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Everything is there. The drill has a stop on it.

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The mount uses a dovetail blank to orient the mount.

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The mount has the spaces over the front band, a perfect fit! The base is windage adjustable and once sighted in you remove the the right screw and pivot the scope tube out to the right to unlock the forward do right dovetail and remove the scope. The left rear screw has a tighter fit than the right as a reminder that that it is not supposed to be loosened once set for windage. The 30-30 case rim or a coin can be used to loosen the right side.

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Looks like the Weaver K4 Classic Scout will be a perfect fit! I'm kind a measure four times then drill guy on a project like this so I'm just studying everything for a day or two before I heat up the drill.

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The Redfield Jr. IER is a sweet design, just before it's time, with the rear sight built into the forward part of the base. It was hard to line up for the camera shot so the bead of the front sight is off center to the left but you get the idea.

My dad knows that I'm working on the rifle and I can tell he is glad so I also will get him involved with the drilling and tapping.
Michael
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by klr »

Great story, RD. I'll be following along as you put this rifle back to work. There is just something about the feel and sound of a 94.

What bullet will you be using with this?
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by Missionary »

Greetings RD
That blesses my heart reading that super connection you and your dad have. Spend all the time you can with him and do let him know what he means to you.
And then to get to have some levergun time together !
Mike in Peru
Way down south in Arequipa, Peru till June 2020.
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by Ranch Dog »

klr wrote:Great story, RD. I'll be following along as you put this rifle back to work. There is just something about the feel and sound of a 94.

What bullet will you be using with this?
Thanks, not sure yet. One of my two TLC bullets. When my dad last hunted with it, he was using the original TLC311-170-RF sized at .310".
Missionary wrote:Greetings RD
That blesses my heart reading that super connection you and your dad have. Spend all the time you can with him and do let him know what he means to you.
And then to get to have some levergun time together !
Thank you Mike. Yeah I'm a lucky guy! We might mess it up but we will mess it up together!
Michael
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by coyotebc »

Not sure how I missed this
thanks for sharing
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by akuser47 »

Awesome rd, this will be worth while for sure.
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by Ranch Dog »

Thanks guys, I really thought I would get to this project over the summer months but other events kept me busy. Looking at it over the next 30 to 45 days though.
Michael
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by ksmoose »

Thanks for the story and way to revive a classic.
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by Ranch Dog »

It has been a year, the project never got started last summer because of the time I spent involved with my Mom's health issues.

The project has been kicked off with my decision to have JES rebore/rechamber the rifle to 35/30-30 Win. It's in Oregon but should return within 10 days. The CH-4D 35/30-30 dies arrived today so I formed some cartridges and brass so that I could custom order a Lee Factory Crimp Die and their Case Length Gauge.

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Once the rifle returns, I will drill and tap the barrel for the scout mount. My drill press is set up and ready. Then I will refinish the stocks.
Michael
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Re: Dad's M94

Post by akuser47 »

Sweet +guns looks like a nice round already
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