A friend of mine brought over a Win 94 in 30-30 that had been passed down to him. It's newer, in pretty good shape, but had no front sight. It has the angled eject but does not have the cross bolt safety. When I looked for replacement sights I found that his barrel band was located differently than any photos we could find. Front of barrel band is 1" behind muzzle. All the ramped sights, etc would never fit. We ordered a "replacement" sight kit from Tru Glo that was supposed to go with 94's. We had to grind the rear of the front sight to fit over the barrel band. Sighting shots at 25 yds were 12" over POA. It looks like the front sight is not high enough as the rear sight (also Tru Glo) is bottomed out. Questions: What kind of Ranger has the barrel band located in this position and second, what to do? Need a little help...

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Sounds like you have a Trapper model. How long is the barrel? Measure from the bolt face to the muzzle.

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Does it look like this?

http://www.ozarkguns.com/Winchester/94%20Trapper/534094m.jpg

That's a picture of the trapper model. If this is what your friend has, it would appear that the sights are supposed to go behind the barrel band, rather than in front of it.

Have you guys contacted Winchester and asked them about it?

It does say Ranger on the barrel. The distance from breech face to muzzle is 20". I checked that the barrel band might somehow be positioned wrong but there is a relief between the barrel and the magazine tube for the screw so it looks like it's in the intended position. The dovetail for the front sight is definitely in front of the band. Leading edge of the dovetail is a bit over 1/2" back from the muzzle. And, uh, no I hadn't even thought of contacting Winchester. That might be a pretty good idea!!! Proof that two ignorant heads aren't necessarily better than one. Let me know if any of these measurements ring a bell. I may need to contact Winchester directly if you guys can't solve the mystery. Thanks for your interest.

www.winchesterguns.com/services/parts/index.asp Winchester Firearms Parts Listings has phone number and part numbers. Lever-Action Rifle Angle eject under Model 94 shows ref. no. 65 part no. U345300880 sight front .575 high, Ranger, 20" Carbine , 30-30win. I would call them to verify but this is probably what you want.

Thanks, TomC, for the link. I'll check it out.

Possible chop job?

The front barrel band is still right behind the dovetail for the front sight. The crown of the barrel is blued exactly like the rest of the barrel. Anyway, my goal was to put some fiber optic sights on it for my partner and make it into a pig or brush gun. IMHO the factory sights just aren't that good, especially at dusk or early morning. The sights purchased as "94 replacement sights" from Tru-Glo don't seem to line up well. It appears the rear sight is too high even at it's lowest depression to shoot on target. I may need to go back to the factory rear sight to get the rifle hitting the POA. That's a bummer because the Tru-Glo sights give great low-light performance. We don't think we're messing with any kind of classic here as it's a late model 97 with no real collectible value as far as we can tell. It's just interesting that it was apparent that there was never any way the typical ramp front sight was ever possible on this gun. I guess I need to contact Winchester to find out about that. Thanks for the input, though.

IMHO the factory sights just aren't that good, especially at dusk or early morning.
I would think that thousands of hunters and scores and scores of animals taken over a century with the Model 94 with factory sights during the dusk and early morning hours would tend to support the idea that factory sights on the Model 94 are probably just fine. ;)
If you want something else, perfect, be my guest, but to replace the sights under the premise that the factory sights are somehow substandard is IMHO a bit of a stretch.

trickg,

I suppose, then, I'm not alone in thinking those **** peep sights look horrible? Optics on a Winchester levergun are an absolute abomination. Marlins look like crap, anyway. Hang all the crap on them you want, IMHO.

Does it look like this one?

http://www.zanesgunrack.com/images/MD2-02A.jpg

trickg,

I suppose, then, I'm not alone in thinking those **** peep sights look horrible? Optics on a Winchester levergun are an absolute abomination. Marlins look like crap, anyway. Hang all the crap on them you want, IMHO.
Neither of my Winchester lever guns have bad iron sights. My Model 1886 doesn't have the stock sights anymore - it originally had Express sights which I believer were a notched 'V' rear with the standard post front, and that's what my 1950 Model 94 has as well. I have a Marlin model 1893 (appx DOM 1910) in 30-30 and it also has a notched 'V' rear sight with a brass blade front - all of them are easy to see and use.

Neither of my Winchester lever guns have bad iron sights. My Model 1886 doesn't have the stock sights anymore - it originally had Express sights which I believer were a notched 'V' rear with the standard post front, and that's what my 1950 Model 94 has as well. I have a Marlin model 1893 (appx DOM 1910) in 30-30 and it also has a notched 'V' rear sight with a brass blade front - all of them are easy to see and use.

Hi Parick,

Has your '86 ever had a receiver aperture sight on it? Or a tang sight? If so, that would explain why the rear sight was changed. The Lyman no. 6 will lay down against the barrel and out of the line of sight when using an aperture sight. Otherwise, the standard rear sight obstructs the view of the front sight as seen thru the aperture.

Jim
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My 1886 has the Lyman No. 2 Peep sight, installed at the factory. My only complaint about the Lyman No. 2 is that it has to be dialed all the way down after use so that it doesn't ding the stock when it's folded back down again. It has 3 small dings in the stock from that - probably a good 100 years old at this point, but they are there nonetheless. As a side note, when the leaf is flipped up and the rifle is at the shoulder, it's not the typical, traditional sight picture you expect to see, but it's pretty clear and easy touse anyway.