Howdy Hey
Im fresh meat around here.. my first post in fact
My "pet" is 356 AE, and I am in love.. its an exceptional rifle for big game, joe527, as long as you know its limitations and your own.
Alot of people hear Win94 and go straight to thoughts of the 35Rem and thick eastern woods.. but a 356 in the hands of those in the "know", it is as much rifle as most of us will ever need (NEED, not want.. god help us if we ever have to have just the guns we NEED).
If you hand load, and are cautious, the round will reach 300yrds with enough energy to drop deer, antelope sized game, with -10-12" drop (spitzer type bullets, one in the chamber one in the mag/+2-3"@100yds).
You can plug game animals with some serious lead in the 200+ range of cast bullets or pop off light hand gun rounds at rabbits or empty soda cans. Hand loading is where the 356 really starts to shine.
If your using the lonly Winchester factory round, your better served to keep shots on down to 200yds 250max..
Traditionalists Love the Williams Foolproof rear with a sourdough front sight. Bear hunters love the low power straight tube scopes. I bought my rifle with full intention to hunt Deer and Elk and everything in between that I could get a tag for in Utah.. so a weaver K6 sits atop my rifle.
If you havent shot a 356 your missing out on a real treat.. the are stiff if not beligerant. But not overly abusive. I would compair it to the likes of a hot 30-06 in a standard weight bolt gun. If you can handle the '06 you can handle 356. But be warned, the compact package of the 94 makes you forget the power you hold in your hands and one lapse of memory and it will cross your eyes real quick.Haha
So take her out and punch some holes in papper and I bet you'll want to get her after some game. Appearently those of us who know what this cartridge is capable of are few in the eyes of the manuf. and out spoken authors of the mags' we read.. but you wont find a more loyal almost fanatical group of hunters.. yes hunters.. this is a hunting round, in a hunting rifle...If your looking for rounds that must go three times the speed of sound, or super high tech ballistic wonder bullets, long range shots that would make a military sniper think twice, scopes that you can see dirt on the moon with or if your a fan of fancy, catchy names like "magnum" "nitro" "lazeroni" your going to be disappointed in the big bore 94's
But if your a simple person that still believes hunting requiors some skill in the woods (thats why it called "hunting" not "killing") and you dont mind pasing on a shot because, well in reality you probably shouldnt have take the shot anyway...welcome to the 356 club you'll find great satisfaction here.
