Scoping the Winchester 94

N

Nightcrawler

New member
I have a Winchester 94 Angle Eject Trapper (16" bbl, .357 Magnum) that I'd like to scope one of these days. The semibuckhorn sights are crude, and aren't great for shooting past 30-50 yards (for me, at least) and I figure a good scope will make my Trapper a good little carbine for targets at a hundred yards and in.

I'm on a tight budget. I was going to sell the trapper, but...I just can't bare to part with it. The 870 will have to wait. :) I can't pick it up from the shop until payday, sadly (June 15th) but what the hell, I can wait.

So, what would be a good scope mount? Where can I order one? What would be a good scope? What power? I'm thinking probably a 2x, 3x, or 4x.

Thanks!
 
You can get a Weaver mount with rings for your rifle for about $15 from Walmart or K-mart. As for a scope you can get Tasco Bantam 2.5x20mm for less than $40. With this combo you'll have a ideal stup for under 150 yards at low price. I'm thinking about same setup for my Win. 94AE.
 
scoping the Winchester 94

I tried using the Tasco Bantam 2 1/2 on my 357 Trapper. The tupe is too short. I've kept mine open sighted.It seems the flat receiver was made to hand carry.
 
I put a Millet red dot on one of the lever guns in the safe. It seems to work pretty well as long the range is kept under 100 yards.
 
I have that same gun. I've tried a Williams Peep sight, Weaver mounted scope, and most recently, Firesights.

The peep looks good and should be almost as accurate as a scope, but never worked for me. The scope was put on to test the accuracy of the gun, not for normal use. I found it made the small gun too top heavy. I haven't shot the gun with the firesights yet, but it looks like it will be a winner.

Chris
 
A scope will actually "reduce" the range of that rifle. What I mean is that currently (with iron sights) you can shoot from 0 to 100 yards, right? You have a "kill zone" 100 yards in extent.
When you scope it, you will then only be able to shoot from say, 25 to 100 yards - losing 25% of the effective range of the rifle. Your "kill zone" is now 75 yards.
That loss depends on the strength of the optics of course, but even with the lowest power you will still blur things up close and lose effective range.

Unless you have an eyesight problem, scopes don't make sense on rifles that have an effective range of less than about 150 yards - in my opinion anyway.
You'd be surpised how often game pops up right at your feet, and how difficult it can be to find close and/or running game in a scope.

You don't need pinpoint accuracy to put a bullet through a deers ribs at 100 yards. Check out the various peep sights and I think you'll find something better suited to that rifle.

On the other hand, if this rifle is strictly a plinker and you don't ever plan on hunting or using it for self-defense you have nothing to lose by scoping it - so go for it.
 
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