Morning Gang,
I've picked up several really sweet lever guns and a reproduction Sharps from Pedersoli recently. The guns specifically are as follows:
- Pedersoli 1886 by Taylor & CO in 45-70 - https://taylorsfirearms.com/long-guns/cartridge-rifles/1886-lever-action-rifle.html
- Pedersoli Sharps Buffalo in 45-70 with Vernier Sight - https://www.davide-pedersoli.com/en/product/1874-sharps-buffalo-30
- Winchester 94 Deluxe Short Rifle in 30-30 - https://www.winchesterguns.com/products/rifles/model-94/current/model-1894-deluxe-short-rifle.html
I've had the notion to hunt with these rifles and may have gotten too caught up in the nostalgic side of the appeal of these rifles and neglected the practical side of their limitations in hunting situations. I also enjoy shooting them at the range and have spent some time building up "mouse fart" loads for the sharps and the 1886 tossing 405 grain lead projectiles at low velocity so you can plink all day with these and not get beat up by them.
The stories of the model 94 30-30 taking more deer than anything else under the sun are legendary, I can't shoot buckhorn sights well at all so opted to put a peep sight (Williams Foolproof) on the rifle for easy adjustments and a better sighting setup. I have good eyesight, better than 20/20 vision uncorrected I'm 47 yrs old so consider that a blessing for sure. Similar to most others I get a couple of weeks off a year and spend some of that time typically on hunting ventures, I live in southwest Ontario so calibre restrictions and land access are real issues here, most of my hunting is with friends in Northern Ontario where those problems of calibre and access go away for the most part.
Now with all that context out of the way getting to my question, is what to expect for practical accuracy especially out of the 1894 in 30-30 as this is the most hunter friendly gun of the 3 from a carrying perspective in the field and versatility point of view. I'm able to keep a roughly 6 inch group with the gun at a 100 yards with regular Winchester 150 grain whitebox crappy ammo, when shooting rested off a bench. Should I expect better performance, does the target being used play into this much I've tried a variety of targets to see if I can get better results and so far this has been the best result around a 6 inch group. The front sight is the standard gold bead that comes with the rifle, a few folks have suggested switching out to a fibre optic to see if that improves things, even going to a bigger dot that is easier to acquire and maintain sight picture with. I don't want to scope the rifle even though there are options to do so that are period correct and wouldn't look awful, but then the nostalgia engine kicks and I want to keep the gun as close to original as possible.
Of the 3 rifles the 1894 is the one I would keep if I could only have one, and to that end I am pondering selling off the other two (Sharps and the 1886) on the EE in support of a nice bolt action scope combo to compliment the 30-30 for longer range hunting when the situation requires it, shots down a powerline or across a wide clearing etc...that are outside of the 30-30's capability and mine as an iron sight shooter with that gun. My hesitation is the potential sellers remorse of then not having those for range time plinking, which I get a lot more time to do than actual hunting I live 13 minutes from our range and it goes out to 300 yards which for this part of Ontario is above average.
Welcome your thoughts and opinions on the matter as always.
I've picked up several really sweet lever guns and a reproduction Sharps from Pedersoli recently. The guns specifically are as follows:
- Pedersoli 1886 by Taylor & CO in 45-70 - https://taylorsfirearms.com/long-guns/cartridge-rifles/1886-lever-action-rifle.html
- Pedersoli Sharps Buffalo in 45-70 with Vernier Sight - https://www.davide-pedersoli.com/en/product/1874-sharps-buffalo-30
- Winchester 94 Deluxe Short Rifle in 30-30 - https://www.winchesterguns.com/products/rifles/model-94/current/model-1894-deluxe-short-rifle.html
I've had the notion to hunt with these rifles and may have gotten too caught up in the nostalgic side of the appeal of these rifles and neglected the practical side of their limitations in hunting situations. I also enjoy shooting them at the range and have spent some time building up "mouse fart" loads for the sharps and the 1886 tossing 405 grain lead projectiles at low velocity so you can plink all day with these and not get beat up by them.
The stories of the model 94 30-30 taking more deer than anything else under the sun are legendary, I can't shoot buckhorn sights well at all so opted to put a peep sight (Williams Foolproof) on the rifle for easy adjustments and a better sighting setup. I have good eyesight, better than 20/20 vision uncorrected I'm 47 yrs old so consider that a blessing for sure. Similar to most others I get a couple of weeks off a year and spend some of that time typically on hunting ventures, I live in southwest Ontario so calibre restrictions and land access are real issues here, most of my hunting is with friends in Northern Ontario where those problems of calibre and access go away for the most part.
Now with all that context out of the way getting to my question, is what to expect for practical accuracy especially out of the 1894 in 30-30 as this is the most hunter friendly gun of the 3 from a carrying perspective in the field and versatility point of view. I'm able to keep a roughly 6 inch group with the gun at a 100 yards with regular Winchester 150 grain whitebox crappy ammo, when shooting rested off a bench. Should I expect better performance, does the target being used play into this much I've tried a variety of targets to see if I can get better results and so far this has been the best result around a 6 inch group. The front sight is the standard gold bead that comes with the rifle, a few folks have suggested switching out to a fibre optic to see if that improves things, even going to a bigger dot that is easier to acquire and maintain sight picture with. I don't want to scope the rifle even though there are options to do so that are period correct and wouldn't look awful, but then the nostalgia engine kicks and I want to keep the gun as close to original as possible.
Of the 3 rifles the 1894 is the one I would keep if I could only have one, and to that end I am pondering selling off the other two (Sharps and the 1886) on the EE in support of a nice bolt action scope combo to compliment the 30-30 for longer range hunting when the situation requires it, shots down a powerline or across a wide clearing etc...that are outside of the 30-30's capability and mine as an iron sight shooter with that gun. My hesitation is the potential sellers remorse of then not having those for range time plinking, which I get a lot more time to do than actual hunting I live 13 minutes from our range and it goes out to 300 yards which for this part of Ontario is above average.
Welcome your thoughts and opinions on the matter as always.
