.307 owners?!

.307?

  • I own a rifle that shoots .307.

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • I know someone that has a .307.

    Votes: 6 15.4%

  • .307?

    Votes: 28 71.8%
  • Total voters
    39
  • Poll closed .
C

chilton1990

New member
A good friend of mine picked up a lever-action Winchester 94ae Xtr chambered for the .307 Winchester. As far as we know if is a very rare rifle. We were wondering if we could run across any other owners of a rifle of such caliber.
 
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update

I just did a little homework and found out that the "ae" stands for "angle eject", which means that the gun can be fitted with a scope (no problem with spent cartridges hitting the optics). The Xtr is a grade rating. The Xtr model has a higher quality wood stock and other options.
My buddy's 94 has a scope mounted on it....I guess it's a good thing that it's an "ae" model!
 
The .307 Winchester was introduced in 1982 (IIRC) by Winchester as a .30 caliber alternative for it's Model 94 Angle Eject rifle. I'm not sure when it was discontinued but I believe that factory ammo is still available for it. Yep, look! Midway has it, just as an example.

The cartridge never really caught on, it being so close between the .30-30 Winchester and the .308 Winchester. It was neither fish nor fowl and the design of the Model 94 required the use of flat-point bullets.

I suspect that it would shine with 130 or 150 grain Speer flat-nose bullets. A quick review of Gunbroker shows two examples currently for sale in the $600.00 range. My buddy down the road has one and likes it a lot, but he's fond of weird cartridges. He's also got one in .375 Winchester that he uses for hogs.

Is it rare? Yeah, I guess. As in all things, value is in the eye of the beholder.
 
Me and my buddy are both into lever-action rifles and wheelguns. He got a hell of a deal on the rifle, he was thinking of selling it if the price was right. It would be hard to get him to part with it though, I bet. Ammo would be almost impossible to find if not for the internet. We searched everywhere until we found a single box of 20 for over $30, locally.
I had never heard of a .307 until he showed me his rifle.
 
Wasn't the .307 and .375 lever action Winchesters advertised back then with a Free Stetson hat, or a steep discount on a Stetson? I think I remember seeing the ads back then. :confused:
 
I have a 94AE chambered for the .307's big brother, the .356 Winchester. Ammo is expensive, but not all that difficult to find.
 
Wasn't the .307 and .375 lever action Winchesters advertised back then with a Free Stetson hat, or a steep discount on a Stetson? I think I remember seeing the ads back then.
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Never heard of that...huh...
Well, his doesn't have one with it!
I guess a Stetson would go well with one though!
 
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I have a 94AE chambered for the .307's big brother, the .356 Winchester. Ammo is expensive, but not all that difficult to find.
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Yeah, I guess it just depends on the area. I have heard that the .307 was/is popular in the western states. I bet there'd be a lot of it over there.

Wonder if anyone on the forum from the west would know....:D
 
The rifle's owner and I are planning on making trips to the local gun stores around here to see if any of them would give him a good deal on a trade or something.
 
I would probably own a .307 if I got the right deal on one. I like odd ball cartridges and I handload so the ammo shortage wouldn't be a hardship for me. I like the idea of owning a lever gun in something other than .30 WCF so a .307 would probably be a good option. But then again I also like the idea of a Savage 99 in .303 Savage. Kind of cool when some one at the range looks at you like you've got 3 heads when you tell them what caliber a rifle is.

Stu
 
bullet

Stu: What caliber bullet do you use when loading the .303 Savage cartridge? I have read everything from .308 to .311.
Just curious.
About the .307:
between the .30-30 Winchester and the .308 Winchester.
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Makes me think about the .300 Savage. Same kinda thing. Same fate. Nice cartridge, though.
Pete
 
307/375

hang on to that .307 it will only go up in value. I believe it is a "rimmed " .308 for those looking for a little more power than a 30-30. Kind of a ".308 marlin express" if u will, before it's time. It was not widely excepted, neither was the .375 winchester, (of which I have one) both are great cartridges with big game power at reasonable ranges (200 yds or less).
 
I use .30 caliber bullets in my .303 Savage. I think that some of the real early guns may have used .303 bullets but they would be really rare.
 
caliber

Did any of the .303s ever use a .303 bullet? The ones that I know about use .310 - .313. Yours is getting fed .308s.
What kind of powder and charge weight?
It is not a "rimmed .308" if one has the .308 Winchester in mind, the Winchester case is larger and has different dimensions across the board.
Pete
 
the poll results aren't to surprising...rare stuff

If anyone reloads .307, let me know what you reload. It'd be worth knowing if he keeps it.
 
I know he'd want a good chunk of cash for the gun if he ever sold it, but you'd have to find the right person to sell it to. We both like the rifle, but the availability of ammo and the price of it makes it a pain to shoot.
308 ammo can be found for about 15 bucks and 307 ammo is about 30 to 35 bucks. Ouch!
 
As I recall, and if I'm wrong don't hesitate to correct me, the .307 was a flat-bullet, rimmed version of the .308, so the stock extractor would work. A .308 could be fired, but wouldn't extract.

But this is from a dim memory of the G&A tests when they brought it out 30 years ago or so.
 
I don't own a .303 Savage but I'm considering it. The early rifles used a .311 caliber bullet, that lasted a couple of years and then was changed to .308. The majority of rifles are .308 from what I understand. I wouldn't much care whether it was .308 or .311 I could load either bullet. I'll have to see if one turns up at the gun show on the 4th.

Stu
 
I have an 94 XTR in 307 win. This is an excellant cartridge in the platform it was designed for giving near .308 win. ballistics. The one I have has poorly regulated sights but also came with scope rings and bases. However, I just could not bring myself to scope the rifle and I already have a savage 99 in .308 that is the rifle I use for most hunting. For these reasons I just have not shot the rifle much. Some time ago I got a bug and decided to bring it out and use it. I did not want to burn up the ammo I bought when the rifle was new and was going to reload .307. I called one of the die manufacturers-Hornady or RCBS- don't remember which now, to purchase some dies and was told that .308 dies with a 30-30 shell holder would do the trick. But then at that time brass was not available for .307 and I just put the rifle back in the case. Been thinking about again lately since the flex tip bullets have come out.
 
my understanding was that it was meant to duplicate the performance of a .308 winchester in a lever-action IE the .308 marlin express before it's time as was stated above.
 
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