7-03 Waters cal

longspur rider

Was at an auction that had a 94 Win. in 7-03 Waters cal. Is this for real? When I looked through the firearms I saw the 94 but figured it was 30-30 like most others. It was a 94 AE.

nononsense

longspur rider,

Hopefully you mean 7mm-08?

Best.

4440rk

I think someone transposed a couple of digits. They used to chamber Waters 7x30 .
Edit; yes it was chambered in the '94 for awhile in the mid to later 1970s for a short time.
Edit two: just noticed I used the dreaded x. It is the 7-30 Waters

longspur rider

I relooked at the sale sheet when I got home and it and the auctioneer both said 7-03 Waters. There were actually 2 rifles sold as 7-03 Waters cal. I'm puzzled.
Would the 7x30 waters be a cal for lever Winchesters?

nononsense

longspur rider,

The 7x30 Waters is the correct nomenclature for an M94 cartridge. I'm still want to get some sleep...

Best.

longspur rider

Thanks for the info.

rufe-snow

quote:Originally posted by 4440rk
I think someone transposed a couple of digits. They used to chamber Waters 7x30 .
Edit; yes it was chambered in the '94 for awhile in the mid to later 1970s for a short time.
Edit two: just noticed I used the dreaded x. It is the 7-30 Waters


Wasn't Winchester. It was brought out by U.S. Repeating Arms, after they started making the licensed "Winchesters" in the early 80's. They brought out the 94 XTR lever. ( Supposed to have been a beefed up 94 , with angled ejection?). That chambered the 7-30 Waters, along with the .356 & .307 Winchester cartridges. Didn't sell, so USRA folded them after about 4 years.

Riomouse911

7-.30 Waters was also chambered by T/C in their Contender pistols and rifles during the same time period. With spitzer bullets the idea made sense because the Contender's pressure limits and the cartridge rim worked well with the design, and the recoil and performance was pretty good from the 10 and 14 inch barrels.

In a tubular-magazine lever gun with the need for blunt-tip bullets, the idea wasn't all that great, so the 94AE in that chambering rightfully disappeared from the catalog.

deerhide

Winchester/USRA had some good ideas during those years and some real bad ones. Why in h would you bring out a rifle in .307 to compete with a.308? .309 sounds more like 'better' to me. Why go with rimmed ammo? why use a 'mm'designation in the US, attached to a brass that should of been 40 grains capacity....284-40 still stunned sounding. Then finish the steel with a beautiful dark 'bluing' that you almost couldn't keep from going bad real quick. Then a stupid push-through safety that soon fell out. They had two models of the xtr one was a 'Big Bore' and it was bigger.
My 7-30 is the regular sized, early, no safety ever, rifle. 24 or 25" barrel. It punched 4 out of 5 shots through a 3/8" steel tank at about 30 yds....good deer gun.

tsr1965

The 94 XTR was chambered in the standard 30-30 based cartridges, while the 94 BIG BORE was chambered in 307, 356, and 375 Winchester.

That said, yes it is a 7-30 Waters, and it is one heck of a round for that rifle. The chambering can be found on the barrel, and never mind the "7-03" that the auction sheets says. Look on the barrel and see what it says. If it is indeed stamped 7-03, then take it to a gunsmith that can cast the chamber and assure you that it is 7-30 Waters. If it is a 7-03 chambering stamp, then there is a 99% chance it was a factory "ooops", and could possibly be worth a little more.

If it is a 7-30 Waters, you have one fine shooter!

longspur rider

Never looked at the chambering on barrel. When I looked at the guns I just assumed it was a 94 in 30-30. Wasn't one of the guns I was interested in. Didn't take notice until the auctioneer stated the caliber. too late to reinspect the rifle