I no longer have any varmint rifles. I do have a 1894C 38/357 rifle that is not used. Currently, it is sighted-in at 50 yards with a ghost ring and fiber optic front sight. Here's my question. Rather than spent money on a groundhog, raccoon, skunk rifle, should I scope my 1894C. I must admit, I'm not fond of a scoped lever-action. But if I do, how accurate would it be, and what's a reasonable shooting distance? Also, what mount and scope would you recommend?

Welll sure.

The standard Weaver 63B base should work fine, with any weaver-style rings.

Suggested sight-in is 2 inches high at 100 yards. You will be dead on at about 125 yards, and 3-4 inches low at 150. This with standard magnum handgun ammo.

That's what I'd do. Stay upwind of skunks if possible :eek:

What Mike said.

There are many times I had wished I had your rifle instead of my .44. It would be fine for the small deer we have here and I think I could still us one of Marshall's hard cast offerings with success. The .357 round is so accurate and forgiving. I would have no quams about scoping the rifle either.

As RD says, that little cheap 1.5-4.5 Banner by Bushnel is hard to beat.

Guys I was thinking of using WWB factory .38 rounds on the small varmints. Cheaper than .357. If scoped is 100 yards still workable for accuracy?

AJ, you will have to wait forever for those 38 specials to get all the way out there to 100 yards. I have a 1982 1894C in .357 magnum. I switch between a 1960's vintage Weaver wide View 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 and a Lyman peep. This is a good little gun for what you are thinking about.

I will repeat it though, I hated waiting for those .38 Special rounds to finally land at 100 yards. Mr Bunnyrabbit would have to sounds asleep not to be able to get out of the way of one of those.

Most .38s are sub-sonic.

At 100 yards, I'd think the critter would hear it coming and have time to jump out of the way.

That's why bow hunters have to be so close. The noise/time of flight has to happen in such a short time, a critter can't dodge the incoming round.

.

I've heard of jumping the string but not jumping the bullet. If we think an animal is on alert and jumping the string is a possibility we aim low for the heart in hopes if he does drop at the sound of the release the vital lung area will drop into the arrow path. Through the years I have missed more animals low than over the back. The deer does not have time to move laterally, his feet,legs just bend at the knuckle and he drops in prep. for bounding off.

I missed two deer standing in the same place within seconds one time with the SBH. Could they have jumped the bullet? Maybe?

I doubt it. An arrow at 300fps leaves a LOT more reaction time than a bullet at say 1,000fps....

I'd guess that the deer don't hear the arrow, but hear the bow or release.

That's right mike. I have seen them be mesmarized by the flight of the arrow. It is the motion or sound of the release that gets them.

Good evening gentlemen. I thought I'd chime in on this one.

+1 on the Bushnell Banner scope w/ weaver 63b and low rings.

As far as 38spcl. goes, Remington's 125gr JHP +p clocks at 1350fps out of the 1894c. So it's definitely getting a boost over pistol velocity.

At 100yds it's still pushing over 1000fps and still hits as hard as a point blank shot from a revolver.

I have mine sighted in at 85yds. So I'm never more than 1.5" higher or lower out to 100yds. And I generally can shoot 2" groups at this distance. The Remingtons are very consistent in velocity.

Last year I killed a coyote a little over 110yds away with my 1894c w/ Bushnell Banner 1.5x4.5 and Remington 125gr JHP+p. It didn't have time to react and it dropped on the spot with a clean broadside hit. I'm sure it was hit by the time he heard it go off.

So it is more than suited to the task.

Great account there meanc. Way to go!

Thanks meanc. As stated, I'll be shooting groundhogs. With your info I think this rifle will do fine within the defined range. Besides, it's illegal to use a rifle on deer in Ohio. I'm going to research the Weaver 63B and Bushnell scope.

Cool, thanks for the suggestion on the Rem 125 gr +P factory loads at 1350 fps. I'll give that a try in my 1894C.

Cheers,
Barney

I have a Weaver V3 on my 1894c, seems like the perfect combination to me.

Buffalo Bore's 125 grain load gives 2298 fps from the 18-1/2" Marlin. That sound like pretty potent varmint medicine!

Darrel

I have a Weaver V3 (1-3x) scope on my 1894c. I had this exact setup on another 1894c that I had to sell after being laid off.

Both of these are/were 2-2.5 MOA guns for me. To do much better than that I would have to use a higher magnification scope.

I shot handloads exclusively in the first one, and the one I have now really like the American Eagle 158 JSP load.

I just got a ‘94C recently. It wasn’t drilled for a receiver sight. I had it done and mounted a Williams Foolproof sight. This makes a nice light, handy package. If you want to scope it, you have a bunch of choices, but since you already have nice iron sights on it, consider a setup that is compatible with the iron sights, either a receiver base or a forward base to mount a scope with QD mounts. I really like Warne QD mounts for this kind of stuff. The forward mount limits you to a 2.5x “scout” scope. The rear mount lets you put on anything, but you probably have to remove the receiver sight slide.

i wouldn`t put a scope on it,a levergun ain`t meant to have a scope on it but it`s whatever you prefer,i have a 1894 44 mag i used it back last fall to take a fine 6 point buck through brush no scope 132 yds busted his lungs he ran maybe 60 yds and dropped,but it`s your choice

Gotta recommend the Leupold VX series 1X4, or a good fixed power 4X. Just my .02.

I use a Pentax 2.5X shotgun scope on my .357 and like it a lot, plenty bright, quick target acquisition, low profile.

I no longer have any varmint rifles. I do have a 1894C 38/357 rifle that is not used. Currently, it is sighted-in at 50 yards with a ghost ring and fiber optic front sight. Here's my question. Rather than spent money on a groundhog, raccoon, skunk rifle, should I scope my 1894C. I must admit, I'm not fond of a scoped lever-action. But if I do, how accurate would it be, and what's a reasonable shooting distance? Also, what mount and scope would you recommend?
AJ, slap on Weaver's 1x3x20, scope and go for it.

Accuracy and power will be no problem; just look what Buffalo Bore does with the .357 out of a rifle barrel;

18.5 inch Marlin 1894a. Item 19A/20-180gr. Hard Cast = 1851 fps
b. Item 19B/20-170gr. JHC = 1860 fps
c. Item 19C/20-158gr. Speer Uni Core = 2153 fps
d. Item 19D/20-125gr. Speer Uni Core = 2298 fps

Some rifles don't shoot the 110-125 grain bullets well as there's not enough surface area for the rifling to engage well, but I figure that the 158gr. Speer will put down most deer, hogs, skunks and varmits down if you do your part and put the bullet in the right place.

If your looking for a good scope for the money check out the 2 by 7 Cabela's Pine ridge shotgun/black powder scope. Their $70.00 and I've used a bunch of them with great success on both shotguns, black powder rifles and 22 rifles.

They have a really good field of view on low power and turned up to 7 power would work great for shots out to 125 yards with your .357 rifle.

They have a 50 yard hyperfocal distance that works great for guns shooting this yardage.