Tabletop look at a Winchester Model 94 AE .44 Magnum carbine

Ah the old west… life maybe was very hard, average life expectancy in the U.S. in the19th century was somewhere in the mid to late 30's; but being independent was a good trait to have for survival. The lever action repeating rifles, truly an American invention, the Henrys, Winchesters, Marlins and Savage rifles and shotguns were used for defense and putting meat on the table to go along with the daily bread. The hunting tradition with these rifles is still pursued today. Pistol caliber lever repeating rifles are also used in “Cowboy" action shooting contests. The Winchester Model 94 was designed by John Browning which resulted in a stronger action able to shoot more powerful calibers. The basic design remained unchanged until after WW2 when changes were made in 1964, 1982, 1992 and 2003. The 1964 changes involved using other manufacturing processes to reduce milled parts, including the manufacturing of the receiver, internal parts, pins, etc. 1982 design changes involved changing the cartridge/case ejection which is discussed below. 1992 -2002 change involved installing a manual button cross bolt safety. In 2003 the safety was redesigned again, this time to a top tang mounted sliding safety switch. For Winchester lever action repeating rifle collectors, pre-1964 Winchester 94s seem to be valued more. Winchester’s 30-30 caliber Model 94 was probably the most produced of their lever action repeating rifles. In this video, a 1990 made Winchester 94 AE .44 Magnum is examined. The “AE” in the model name stands for “Angle Eject”, the design change that ejected a cartridge/case to the side and not straight up as the older Model 94 rifles did. This allowed for the introduction of the top mounted scope. The shorter carbine length of this rifle also makes it handy to pack in and carry in the field.