Winchester Model 1894

[aknomad]

Hi
I've recently bought a Winchester 94 in 30-30. My question is: should I keep the tube magazine loaded with soft point ammo? I keep it loaded as a home defense rifle however I'm unsure if leaving the rounds "head to tail" stacked up might damage the soft points and ruin them while they sit? Thoughts? I just don't want to HAVE to use it some day and have my ammo deformed from sitting in the tube and resulting in a malfunction.
Thanks.

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[jbett98]

I would buy some of Hornady's LEVERevolution® ammo. It has a special polymer tip that won't deform. Plus it's a great deer round.

 

[aknomad]

I was thinking about doing that however on the Hornady box there is a disclaimer that says "Do not use if you have a standard tube magazine..blah blah..and do not store for long periods of time as the tips will wear away and bend". Reading this is actually what prompted me to ask about other kinds of ammo.

 

[orygun]

A 30-30 is a terrible choice for home defense if you have any neighbors nearby. Even though it's not as powerful as many other rifles, I'm sure it could easily go through a couple of houses before stopping.
But, if the above isn't a consideration, I'd not use the polymer tip rounds if they say to not keep them stored in the mag, but would use a typical soft point, round nose bullet in the gun. You will not have any problems from leaving it with a loaded mag for an extended period of time.

 

[aknomad]

Thanks Orygun. That's what I was looking for. Just to clarify: my 94 isn't my primary (or even secondary) defense weapon in the house. My concern is only that its loaded in a SHTF scenario. I'm also not close enough to neighbors that shooting a few rounds off will be too much of a problem. Thanks for the advice though.