Author Topic: Win 94AE vs Puma 92XP in 357? (Read 3251 times)

Okie2 · « **on:** January 14, 2009, 01:48:13 PM »

Sooo...I broke down & purchased a "new" Winny 94AE in .357 with xs ghost rings sights.... I love the rifle & caliber but, after about 200 shots is started double feeding out the tube (all types ammo)....The gunsmith said the parts on bottom where the tube feeds in & in front of lever (don't know the name) doesn't look stock...will probably need parts & who knows how long to fix. Also the feed gate pops "out" from time to time. I may have been taken in my purchase...that I can live with. So my question is: After repair should I keep the gun or sell & buy the Puma 92 "XP" (the new model with the removable tube for feeding 10 at a time...love this idea). Will also want to put the XS sights on the Puma. Will I continue to have problems with the Winny because of the design? (Not designed for pistol cartridges). Don't really want the Marlin. Thanks for your opinions. Scott

jbquack1 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 14, 2009, 02:37:21 PM »

I have owned the model 94 in 45 colt and own a model 92, i did have a feeding problem once,my son had the lever partially down while loading and caused a double feed,i personally had no problems, i replaced the follower in the puma with one i made myself.This seems to be the weak link in these rifles.I have had good luck with bhoth as far as accuracy, i chose the puma as it is a little stronger and quicker.jim

dpe.ahoy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 15, 2009, 03:20:45 PM »

I've got 2 Win 94's and 3 Pumas. The Pumas are lighter and the action is not so "disjointed" as the 94's. After use the Pumas seem to be smoother running. But at the same time I have no plans on getting rid of my 94 Trapper in 45 Colt. DP

Hank08 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 15, 2009, 04:52:30 PM »

The 94s in pistol calibers are iffy, work sometime. If your having problems, get rid of it
and get a 92, they always work, I have 5, the oldest one over 20 yrs, never had a problem with any of them. 4 .357s and 1 .45C.
H08

no.country · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2009, 07:01:01 PM »

I am offer a suggestion for those more in the know would the 94 work
better if it was converted to a 357 maximum. Don't know just asking
as it is a little longer? Cheers No.country

mutt1 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 16, 2009, 09:37:09 PM »

Have had the 94 EA with the lawyer junk. Couldn't keep it together. Kept falling apart. Bought a Rossi '92 and so far no problems. .357 is all I have ever shot after reading those that have the experience . Have several Winchesters top eject and several Marlins . No extra junk lawyer stuff. Just the way they were designed.
Love'm all. Feel well armed and happy . Carry a Kimber Ultra , and sometimes my Colt SAA .45.

My lovely young wife carries two that she can truly hit with with.

............People must be able to take care of them selves................

Mutt

retmech · « **Reply #6 on:** May 14, 2009, 08:08:01 AM »

I have a 94AE in .357 and I shoot a lot, couple hundred rounds a week. The gun is very accurate, after that it's all down hill. I replaced the link because of double feeds out of the mag tube. The new one lasted about 100 rds before it started double feeding(they are made out of a very soft sintered cast metal). Had a friend put some weld on the end to the link and shaped it to original specs, it works about 90% of the time. I still get occasional double feeds if I don't work the action quickly. When you get a double feed you can break off the rear end of the ejector that holds the spring , I'm on my 3rd ejector, which just arrived today. I plan on installing it and this gun is going "down the road". Also 94 AE triggers with rebounding hammers suck.
I picked up a LSI Puma a couple weeks ago, a 24" octagon bbl with case hardened receiver. Not quite as accurate as the Winnie so far but pretty good. I have not done much load development for it yet so that may change. Nice trigger and it feeds and ejects with no problems. In fact as soon as I get the 94 sold I'm going to pick up an EMF Rossi with the 16" barrel. I tried to love the Winnie but there is a reason Winchester went out of business.

teddy12b · « **Reply #7 on:** May 14, 2009, 08:22:53 AM »

I'd had a puma 44 for a while now and held a winchester 44 the other day. I may be biased but I liked the feel of my puma better when cycling the action. There isn't much difference, but my puma felt more natural to cycle.

If you're going to go through the trouble of fixing your winchester, why get rid of it? I like the idea of being able to load or unload 10 rounds at a time, but it's not that big of a deal to me either way. The puma is what it is and it's a great knock off of the winchester. The winchester will always be a collectors item and I doubt the puma ever will. I buy my guns to use though and not collect. I can't see why anyone wouldn't be happy with either rifle, but get whatever makes you happy!

valvesinmyhead · « **Reply #8 on:** May 14, 2009, 02:41:26 PM »

I looked at a Win 94 and a Henry. The Winchester felt small and operated like a toy compared to the Henry. Not near as smooth. Forget both and buy a Henry. At least hold one.

retmech · « **Reply #9 on:** May 14, 2009, 02:58:48 PM »

Quote

If you're going to go through the trouble of fixing your winchester, why get rid of it?

Mainly because I don't like to have to fix the darn thing every so often. The ejector is a $6. part but Browning charges almost $8. to ship it and this one will be #3. I've learned enough about this gun, it was probably a good design for the 30-30 cartridge but it doesn't play well with the .357. The 94 AE will never be a collectors item IMO.

A friend has a Henry and they are nice, well made rifles but they are kind of heavy. As I said earlier I have a 24" octagon Rossi that is heavy and thats ok but I'd also like something light and fast handling like a 16" rossi or maybe a Marlin 94C.

salvo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 14, 2009, 03:36:46 PM »

I have a Winchester 94AE in .44Mag and it has been trouble free for 15 years now. I changed out the rebounding hammer parts for half cock parts a while back, but that's another story

Tycer, over at Leverguns posted a list of parts that are unique to the Winchester 94 .357
If you decide to keep it, I would get it running and round up some spares. I have read of many problems with the .357 and very few problems with the .45 or .44

Here is the list from Tycer

Winchester 94 .357 Parts

Prices have changed, but here's the parts that are unique to the 357:

u346432060 carrier spring cover 357 magnum $3
u346421180 carrier spring 357 magnum $2
u341450220 carrier 357 magnum $20
u344912370 cartridge block screw $1
u346410100 cartridge block $4
u346401830 ejector spring, 44 Mag, 357 Mag, 45 Colt $1
u341850310 ejector $4
u341900720 extractor $12
u343030110 link, 357 magnum $22

Guides too. Which I bought cause I modified mine to cycle 1.85" OAL loads.

Tycer!

canon6 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 14, 2009, 03:56:29 PM »

I have had Winn' 94's ,notice the past tense.Hands down the '92 Rossi is a better weapon.Lighter . slicker,and a darned site easier to work on.IMHO Doug

243dave · « **Reply #12 on:** May 15, 2009, 02:06:25 AM »

I admitt that the 92 is slicker and stronger than my 94 trapper in 45colt---- I still wouldn't trade it for two of them. My 94 shoots really well and the little trapper has been 100% reliable. Plus I try to buy stuff made in America----now if I could just find some American made clothes and shoes !!

retmech · « **Reply #13 on:** May 15, 2009, 09:59:22 AM »

Quote

u346432060 carrier spring cover 357 magnum $3
u346421180 carrier spring 357 magnum $2
u341450220 carrier 357 magnum $20
u344912370 cartridge block screw $1
u346410100 cartridge block $4
u346401830 ejector spring, 44 Mag, 357 Mag, 45 Colt $1
u341850310 ejector $4
u341900720 extractor $12
u343030110 link, 357 magnum $22

Yep that pretty much says it all. Of the above list I have broken and replaced the cartridge block, 3 ejectors, had to stone the carrier cam square, replaced the link and when the the replacement crapped out I had a friend weld it up. I then reshaped it to slightly larger than original to help prevent double feeds( which it still does occasionally!). As I said in a previous post, I can see why Winchester went out of business.

FourBee · « **Reply #14 on:** May 17, 2009, 12:02:03 PM »

I liked my Dad's 94, but this Puma 92 is really nice. I don't shoot it much, but it's never failed me yet. When i first got it, it was full of packing grease and the cocking mechanism was stiff. I finally just shot the degreaser to it and cocked the fire out-a it. I did this routine a several times. Afterwards, I cleaned it up and lightly oiled the mechanical parts. Now it works as smooth as butter.

Harry Snippe · « **Reply #15 on:** May 19, 2009, 08:39:38 AM »

Quote from: salvo on May 14, 2009, 03:36:46 PM

I have a Winchester 94AE in .44Mag and it has been trouble free for 15 years now. I changed out the rebounding hammer parts for half cock parts a while back, but that's another story

Tycer, over at Leverguns posted a list of parts that are unique to the Winchester 94 .357
If you decide to keep it, I would get it running and round up some spares. I have read of many problems with the .357 and very few problems with the .45 or .44

Here is the list from Tycer

Winchester 94 .357 Parts

Prices have changed, but here's the parts that are unique to the 357:

u346432060 carrier spring cover 357 magnum $3
u346421180 carrier spring 357 magnum $2
u341450220 carrier 357 magnum $20
u344912370 cartridge block screw $1
u346410100 cartridge block $4
u346401830 ejector spring, 44 Mag, 357 Mag, 45 Colt $1
u341850310 ejector $4
u341900720 extractor $12
u343030110 link, 357 magnum $22

Guides too. Which I bought cause I modified mine to cycle 1.85" OAL loads.

Tycer!

Would you let us know were your getting the parts . We have a trapper 94 AE down for the same problem and our gunsmith is having problems finging parts . The rifle has had about 3000 rounds lead through it , so it has gone well in our books .
Happy

S.S. · « **Reply #16 on:** May 19, 2009, 01:21:14 PM »

I just never much cared for the 94AE (and I had one of the fancy ones)!
I love the top eject 94 and my trapper is utterly reliable. I also have the
92 Puma and in all honesty it is rough inside. Not much polishing at all on the internal
mechanism.. It is however quite reliable also. On all the mentioned models though,
The kings loading gate screw works loose rather quickly. That is one of the
weaks spots in the designs. Lok-Tite that sucker and it solves a lot of problems.

retmech · « **Reply #17 on:** May 19, 2009, 01:51:07 PM »

Quote

Would you let us know were your getting the parts . We have a trapper 94 AE down for the same problem and our gunsmith is having problems finging parts . The rifle has had about 3000 rounds lead through it , so it has gone well in our books .

The parts are sold by Browning in Arnold Mo. Phone # 1-800-322-4626 ext 2863.
Hope this helps.

NickSS · « **Reply #18 on:** May 19, 2009, 11:11:08 PM »

I had all three angle eject 94 pistol caliber rifles. The 44 mag and 45 colt ones work fine and I have used them for years. The 357 one gave lots of trouble with double feeding and I also broke two cartridge lifters when it occurred during cowboy action shoots. The lifter on the 357 is slimed down and is missing one of the struts on the left side so only the strut on the right side is there. This makes this part even weeker than the others in larger calibers. That rifle went down the trail after I fixed it for the second time. I bought a puma to replace it. Have not had a problem since in several thousand rounds.

Harry Snippe · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2009, 04:42:26 AM »

Quote from: retmech on May 19, 2009, 01:51:07 PM

Quote
Would you let us know were your getting the parts . We have a trapper 94 AE down for the same problem and our gunsmith is having problems finging parts . The rifle has had about 3000 rounds lead through it , so it has gone well in our books .

The parts are sold by Browning in Arnold Mo. Phone # 1-800-322-4626 ext 2863.
Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot I will relay the message to the gunsmith