The Price of an Icon

At a time when the U.S. government issued Springfield Mod. 1873 single shot rifles to their troops, Winchester was making an icon.

The lever action repeating rifle was the assault rifle of it's day with the rate of fire of two shots per second or at least that's what Winchester advertised at the time.

The Winchester lever action rifles developed from the origins of Vulcan Arms, and Henry Repeating arms have securely embedded there place in history as an American Icon. The last of the Winchester lever actions to be made in Connecticut, USA was the model 94 with over 7 million of it's variants sold.

The rifle enjoys the highest production quantity of any sporting rifle ever made.

Since 2006 the production of Winchester lever actions have been shifted to Japan. The quality is still high yet an icon of America should be made in America.

The price of guns in general varies depending on where you live, the brand and the caliber. With internet sales I've seen an unwarranted explosion in pricing of the 94's. Granted getting as much as you can is considered good salesmanship, yet one person overcharging for a product does not mean there's been an increase in value just because a sucker got took.

The pricing of commemorative Winchesters such as a John Wayne Special is a crap shoot at best. To pay top dollar for a gold plated, sub-production quality wall hanger takes a special type of person to buy.

When looking at lever guns somethings to consider is if the wood matches butt stock to fore-end. They were made from the same slab and the color and grain pattern should look that way. Any marks in the furniture or scratches in the bluing will have a dramatic effect on the price.

For over a decade the value of a post 1964 model 94 30-30 has been around $450.00 in new or like new condition. This really hasn't changed, remember there are over 7 million of these that where sold.

The pricing on Pre-64 model 94's are more subjective and you can expect to pay double that of the post 64 model. Finding one in 90% conditions is nearly impossible, because if it looks to good to be true it probably is.

The majority of Pre-64's that I've seen were in 60% condition with the expected ware patterns in the bluing, refinished wood, and a perfect bore. This I would expect to sell for at most six to eight hundred dollars.

The pricing of antique 94's involves a lot more than the overall condition. The year of manufacture, the caliber and most of all is it correctly configured based on serial number. Your more likely to find a fake or reworked antique, 94 than to find a completely correct one.

When looking for a good deal, first look at the quality of what you want. For example in the 1970's after the gas crunch everything was made cheep. The cars turned into plastic gutless wonders and anything made of solid steel became stamped sheet-metal. This also happened with the 94's, the quality of steel used, the receiver bluing and stamped sheet-metal followers. So try not to pay top dollar for this vintage of 94.

The internet has proven to be a overwrought source of information and it's not all good. When pricing an item refer to as many sources as you can. Check online pricing and compare them with historical references with the Blue Book of Gun Values. Using as many references as you can will all ways find the best price.

I could devote the rest of my life in the pursuit of Winchester knowledge but I'm not. Buyer beware, there are a lot of re-blued, restocked fakes out there and if it's considered a rare rifle, take the time to check. Just because people are asking a lot for a gun does not mean that's what it will sell for.       
  Good Luck

Guns and Kids

Guns and Kids

I was a child in the 1960's an era that began the formation of two different social paths. Depending upon how you were raised will determine your perception of the others path.

I was taught through my parents actions that having responsibility's, loving one's country, and traditional family values are what it takes to make you a better person. Life then was different, if you were told not to play with guns you generally did not. Back then we understood the meaning of : “Wait until your father gets home”.

My first gun I got at the age of seven. I don't remember whether it was a birthday or a Christmas gift but I do remember it was a Daisy Red Ryder lever action BB-gun with a 10,000 count box of BB's that mom and dad bought from the local Coast to Coast hardware store.

I tore open the box with mom, dad, my brothers, and my sister looking over me. There were the appropriate oohs then my brother spouted out “oh look he got a gun”. My dad said, “Do not shoot any body.” “If I catch you shooting at anything your not supposed to I'll break it and you'll never get another one”. Well that seamed pretty straight forward and if I wanted more freedoms, I needed to take this responsibility seriously. I had to work, to earn money if I wanted my own BB's, and it was kept in my closet right next to my bow an arrow from the previous Christmas. We lived in a rural area with plenty of room to roam and it gave me many years of enjoyment.

Now myself, when it came time to teach my preteen kids the responsibility of gun ownership I had a different perspective. For several years I worked at a local gun store and I'm very familiar with what's available for kids to learn on. Since we lived in a small town I had to take a different approach.

I bought them there own Daisy Red Ryder. When the day came to give them there first rifle I had it all planned out. The back yard was perfect for a small BB gun shooting range. With the property backed up to a hill side there were plenty of places to set up paper and tin can targets. The firing line was a piece of rope laid on the grass.

I explained the procedures of target shooting and then they got there first lesson in gun safety. It was the same four universal rules that I was taught by an NRA instructor while getting certified at a Hunters education class when I was 12.

1. Always treat a gun as if it is loaded.
2. Never point a gun at anything you don't intend to destroy.
3. Do not put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Teaching responsibility through gun ownership is a part of the American experience. An older gentleman I knew said that in the days of the great depression a country boy with his 22 cal. rifle and six bullets had the ability to feed his family for a week. Wasting ammo just to have fun wasn't a part of the plan and if he didn't come home with two rabbits and four live shells he didn't get any more ammo. You learn to be more responsible and how to be a good shot.

Where you live and how you were raised tends to reflect the method of how you pass down the American heritage and at what age. I've seen where young hunters have grown, with the experience of there first kill. Each child develops differently and a child understands cause and effect based upon they're personnel experience.

Aside from the standard safety rules for handling guns, we as parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents need to be responsible gun owners and to take greater strides to improve the storage of our heritage. By being more responsible we can provide a safer environment for our homes and community without government legislation.

If you have kids in your home lock up your guns.

The average weight of trigger pull is 3-5 inch. Lbs.

A toddler can exert that much force.

“Be Safe, and Keep Your Powder Dry”

Terry the Gun Guy

Buying an Assault Rifle AR vs. AK

Buying an Assault Rifle

AR vs. AK

If you don't own a civilian-ized military rifle, it's not to late. Most manufactures have stepped up production to meet the needs of our free society.

The first thing most of us consider before we purchase anything is the price. In the Pacific Northwest the price of an item has a lot to do with where the store is

located. In my recent travels I have found a dramatic difference in pricing for ammo, guns and accessories seemingly all based on demographics. The more affluent the neighborhood the higher the price.

When I'm asked, what's the best rifle to buy?

I respond with what are you going to use it for?

The type of shooter you are really makes a difference as to what I might recommend.

If you like going to the local gravel pit and love to burn up ammo get an AK-type. The re-manufactured imports are less expensive and ammo is cheaper.

The maximum effective range of the 7.62 x 39mm is 300 meters and are known to shoot groups over minute of angle or (MOA). When your shooting at an old computer, TV, water jugs, or even at an over ripen fruit, accuracy is not a high priority.

Do you like going to your local rifle range? Is accuracy, craftsmanship, and owning an American icon what you are looking for?

Then defiantly get an AR-type.

The average AR-type using the .223/.556mm has an effective range of 500 meters.

The accuracy is often well within MOA.

They are mostly built out of aluminum and lighter weight than the AK.

Most of all they are American Made.

To be fair, the AK has a history of operating under more diverse conditions. You can bury it in mud, let it rust up and abuse it all you want and it will still shoot.

I have never meet anyone with a lick of sense who is willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a new rifle just to bury in mud and let it rust up.

If weight is a factor consider this. An AR-type with one fully loaded 30rnd magazine weighs about the same as a AK-type with an unloaded 30rnd mag.

That means with the AR-type you can carry 2/3^rd more ammo.

I am bias as I am a former Marine and I was trained on the M16A1. The civilian-ized rifles available today have the same effectiveness as that old Colt I carried, with the exception of being fully automatic.

The reason I didn't name other designs is simple, I tend to group together rifles based upon operation systems.

A gas piston type of operating is an AK-type

(ie: Galil, Valmet, AK47, )

The gas impingement system of the AR-type

(ie: AR-15, XM15E2S, LAR-15)

The newest trend is the bastardization of making AR's into gas piston guns,

that I will leave for another day.

Be safe and Keep Your Powder Dry

Terry the Gun Guy