When you say Winchester model 94, you know reliability and you know quality performance.Chances are, like my grandpa; you probably have a relative that would have a Winchester model 94 in the gun cabinet and the stories to go with it. World famous reliability, who can argue with over 100 years of dependable service and full proof design and will probably last another 100 years.

The rifle I have to try out is one of my favorites. Winchester model 94 Timber Carbine is chambered in .444 Marlin; an awesome cartridge. The Timber Carbine is built on the big bore action. The barrel is a compact 17 3/4" long and is ported to keep the recoil under control and with virtually no muzzle climb. With its good looks and balanced handling, this may be the ideal heavy brush gun for bear and deer hunting. The compactness is perfect for tree stands and in deep heavy cover.

Winchester 94 comes in 11 different verities of the model 94 and 6 different calibers. The Timber carbine has a tube magazine capacity of 5 rounds. With a 17 ¾' barrel with 10 portholes; 5 on each side of a hooded front sight. The forged chrome molybdenum steel barrel is of the same material and rifling technology used on the model 70s. Overall length is 36 inches and has a 13 ½' length of pull. A standard loop on the lever and a weight of 6 pounds with a 1in 12" rifle twist. The butt stock and forearm is made of a beautiful walnut hardwood, with sharp cut checkering on both parts of the forearm and stock.

A new feature on the model 94 is the improved safety, a hammer stop on the top back corner of the receiver, which is a major improvement over the older half cock safety. When looking through the sights, the safety is visible with your peripheral vision and can clearly see if the safety is on or not.

The Model 94's Rebounding Hammer is a safety feature designed to protect the firing pin from being struck by the hammer when the trigger is not being pulled. After firing your rifle, the hammer immediately moves to the rebound position. From this position, under normal conditions, the hammer is prevented from moving forward and striking the firing pin. The rebound position and the manual hammer stop are intended to work together to provide protection against unintentional or accidental firing. This gives you an extra margin of safety for young first time users.

Some of the updated features on the model 94 all models are drilled and taped for a scope mount. Some of the model 94 rifles are supplied with a hammer extension to be used when a scope is mounted. All models come in large or standard lever loop designs. The metal to metal tolerances of the new 94s is much tighter than the earlier model. The major improvement is the side ejection receiver configuration found on the new 94s that it ejects the spent shell out to the right, out from underneath a top mounted scope. In addition, you cowboy action shooters the 94 qualifies for use in the U.S. and Canada because it was originally design and introduced in 1894.

.444 marlin case was introduced in the early 1960's intended for close to medium range big game hunting. The .444 is a modern design, capable of driving a .429" diameter 240 grain bullet up to 2300 feet per second. This type of performance makes it one of the more potent cartridges ever developed for a lever action rifle. The 444-marlin case is almost twice the length of a 44 special casing. .444 marlin uses the same diameter bullet for 44 mag. and 44 special so you have a large range of bullet types to choose from and for different types of game hunting.

I enjoyed reviewing the model 94 Timber carbine in the awesome caliber of 444 marlin. This is worth keeping and I will have to buy this one; the amount of knock down power out of this little gun is amazing, with no muzzle climb. I watched my friend shoot this gun and there is no climb to speak of. I am thoroughly impressed with Winchesters Timber Carbine.

Contact you local Winchester firearm dealer and check them out on the web.
www.winchester-guns.com and for ammo www.winchester.com Write to Winchester.
U.S. Repeating Arms Company inc.
275 Winchester Ave. Morgan, UT 84050-9333

By: Ken Menge