Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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Ok- I have to admit upfront that I got a little obsessed with lever guns at one point. I've got three henrys- brass -framed .22, .38/.357 and .44 special/.44 mag, a marlin (jm stamped) 30/30, and a .22 mag winchester takedown (actually on loan). The henrys are by far the smoothest, and even after I polished it and put in a wild west trigger the marlin isn't quite as good. The henry .22 is perfectly balanced for me, as is the .44, while the .357 is definitely nose-heavy to the point of annoying for me. The two big boys are heavy, but they make all of them (even 30-30 and 45-70) now in steel (I've never held/shot one and they are made in Wisconsin rather than in New Jersey (or wherever the other ones are made now). I'm not fond of the marlin loading gate- it actually peels brass off of the cases sometimes- but it was almost new when I got it and it still doesn't have many rounds through it. I hate the henry back sights and put Skinner peep sights on them- which are awesome no matter what model you get (or even if you keep yours). The winchester .22 mag is beautiful wood-wise but "meh" other than that- I don't really know why they cost so much comparably (but I've never shot one that's in a more powerful caliber). If you do have to sell/replace, I think I might try the henry steel ones or find an older marlin (depending on the whole loading gate/tube loading preference). and then get a skinner sight :) And with reloading, I think the .357/.44 price difference is minimal, so if you go for a brass-framed henry I would go for a .44 or .45- they just feel better (of course I'm also kind of partial to big bangs-lol).

I'm actually trying to sell the .357 now, because that .45/70 henry is a siren that keeps calling to me. :laugh:

Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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I'm going to disinter this thread because I've turned crazy about lever guns. My first was a Henry 22lr -- love it. It's my "barrel full of monkeys fun" gun. A pocket full of cheap 22lr and this rifle makes for some fun plinking.

Second was a Marlin (Remlin) 1894 in 357mag. Also a hoot. Only gun I've taken a deer with. If I could only have one lever gun (horror), this one would be a strong consideration. 38spc for plinking and 357mag for deer hunting. I know the internet is full of horror stories about Remlins, but mine runs like a champ. Only problem I've had with it was user-induced. I short-stroked it and it choked on a round. Lesson learned. It's been reliable since. Mine was a later production Remlin (~2019 I think), so internet lore says these were generally good to go and that's been my experience. I put on an XS rail with ghost ring sites that I like. I have a scope with quick detach rings, so I use the scope for hunting but ghost ring for plinking.

Last year I picked up a Rossi 92 44mag with 16" barrel. Oh my. This one is fun. Crazy light. Fun gun to walk the woods with. Will not scope this one. Still not good enough with it with the iron sights to hunt with it yet, so I guess I need to shoot it a lot -- and I do. It finally pushed me over the edge to reload, which has been another fun endeavor all on its own. And of course, once I had this I had to get a 44mag revolver, which has been fun too.

So, there is currently a rage about 45-70, and while the kid in me loves the idea of a lever gun rated for T. Rex, I just don't know what I'd do with one. Maybe in a few years after everyone who's buying the new Marlin 45-70s up at crazy prices realizes that they don't shoot them, I'll look for one on the used market (wishful thinking?).

But, I would like to add a proper rifle caliber to my lever guns, and I'm thinking 30-30 is the way to go. I found a Glenfield 30a for a pretty good price. From what I read, it's a Marlin 336 with budget stocks and sites that was sold at K-mart, etc., as a cheap hunting rifle. People seem to think they are a solid gun and a good value. They are JM-stamped from the 70s and early 80s, if I'm reading correct.

I've seen Glenfield mentioned in this thread. Anyone have negatives to say about the Glenfields? Anything to watch out for? I'm giving this one serious thought.

Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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cooper wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 11:15 am Second was a Marlin (Remlin) 1894 in 357mag. Also a hoot. Only gun I've taken a deer with. If I could only have one lever gun (horror), this one would be a strong consideration. 38spc for plinking and 357mag for deer hunting. I know the internet is full of horror stories about Remlins, but mine runs like a champ. Only problem I've had with it was user-induced. I short-stroked it and it choked on a round. Lesson learned. It's been reliable since. Mine was a later production Remlin (~2019 I think), so internet lore says these were generally good to go and that's been my experience. I put on an XS rail with ghost ring sites that I like. I have a scope with quick detach rings, so I use the scope for hunting but ghost ring for plinking.
I have the same Marlin 1894, also in .357 mag and .38 spec, but it's an older, 1979 JM stamped rifle. It's action is smooth as silk (when I haven't re-assembled it wrong after cleaning--my bad!), it's accurate and it's easily the most fun to shoot gun I own. I put a split Picatinny rail on it so the iron sights are still usable but I can mount glass on it, too.

I would like a lever action in .308 and they are made, but it's a really low priority now.
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Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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Preferred ammo? Definitely handloads.

I shoot both .38 Spl and .357M in the Rossi 92. The .38 Spl is a powder-puff LSWC load that I call, "the reloadable .22" because of how it feels when you shoot it. The .357M loading is a LRNFP loading, close to full-house, that also shoots very well out of this rifle.

The Henry Big Boy side-loader gets .45 Colt handloads, and Buffalo Bore has said that the Big Boys can take their "+P" loadings, which are basically the Ruger/TC-only loads. That means they can take my .45 Colt Magnum loading, which is right in that range.
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Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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IANAL much less gunsmith or mechanical engineer, but everything I have ever read is that the .45 Colt SAAMI standard is 1873 Colt Peacemaker limited and that the lever actions in 1892 are much stronger. The only reason I'd ever consider a .454 is to be absolutely confident that a stout .45 Colt load wouldn't blow it up, but the 1892 is not a delicate flower.

Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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featureless wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 7:58 pm Anyone care to share their preferred ammo?
For 38 spc, I use whatever I could get my hands on. I think I mostly have CCI Blazer Brass 125 grain fmj.

For 357 mag, I've mostly been using Sellier and Bellot 158 grain semi jacketed soft point. Mostly because that's what I found at a reasonable price when ammo was scarce. I'm happy with it.

I've started reloading 44 mag, and will branch out into 38 spc / 357 mag soon.

Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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@ Cooper That gets you into the long arguments about the relative merits of mass vs. velocity vs. meplat vs. sectional density. All I got for you is - nobody has ever complained that .44 Magnum was insufficient. OTOH, I've never read about anyone complaining that .45 Colt was insufficient and they wish they'd gone for .44 Magnum instead.

Probably because they got eaten by bears.

Wait, I shoot .45 Colt. Hmm.

I really link this piece comparing .357 vs. .44 Magnums in level action and 4" revolvers. My takeaway is no surprise to anyone who has read up on defensive handgun use - the cartridge doesn't matter near as much as shot placement.
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/357- ... r-actions/

Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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My favorite of the lever action gun I own is the one I own--a Rossi Rio Bravo in .22LR.

I shot one really nice lever-action gun belonging to Hiker a couple summers ago, and it was truly a wonderful rifle. Ammo costs being what they were at the time (and probably still are--I don't even remember what cartridge that thing fired), I didn't get to put a lot of rounds through it, but it sure was a smooth action and gorgeous rifle.

Maybe some day my budget will allow me to collect a few...
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Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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BearPaws wrote: Thu May 18, 2023 12:02 am
I shot one really nice lever-action gun belonging to Hiker a couple summers ago, and it was truly a wonderful rifle.
That was an Uberti 1873 in 357mag. According to Marlene (she is my idol), the mechanism of the 1873 is the best of any lever gun. And I absolutely adore mine!
I also have the Rossi in 357mag which I like very much. While it doesn't have the fit and finish of the Uberti, it is a nice gun. It is shorter and lighter than the Uberti even though they both have 20 inch barrels and hold 10 rounds. I have seen comments here that their Rossi doesn't always feed 38s, but reliably feeds 357. Mine is just the opposite. And when I say it doesn't reliably feed, it's just like the commode, sometimes you have to jiggle the handle to make things work.
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Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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Hiker wrote: Thu May 18, 2023 12:54 pm
BearPaws wrote: Thu May 18, 2023 12:02 am
I shot one really nice lever-action gun belonging to Hiker a couple summers ago, and it was truly a wonderful rifle.
That was an Uberti 1873 in 357mag. According to Marlene (she is my idol), the mechanism of the 1873 is the best of any lever gun. And I absolutely adore mine!
I also have the Rossi in 357mag which I like very much. While it doesn't have the fit and finish of the Uberti, it is a nice gun. It is shorter and lighter than the Uberti even though they both have 20 inch barrels and hold 10 rounds. I have seen comments here that their Rossi doesn't always feed 38s, but reliably feeds 357. Mine is just the opposite. And when I say it doesn't reliably feed, it's just like the commode, sometimes you have to jiggle the handle to make things work.
A few months ago, I bought a box of .38 Special so that I could rent a couple revolvers at the indoor range I frequent. Those revolvers were not entertaining to shoot (one was a Smith and Wesson Airweight, so felt recoil was far greater than what I'm accustomed to with my auto-loading pistols), so I didn't use the whole box.

I also have some corrugated plastic sheets that would be good for use at just about any outdoor range saved for you.
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Re: lever action rifles you love or hate?

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featureless wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 2:28 pm I may or may not be waiting my 19 days to pick up my first lever action, a Henry Big boy X in 357...
Son has one, great fun to shoot and I don't have to buy one.
A few months ago, I bought a box of .38 Special so that I could rent a couple revolvers at the indoor range I frequent. Those revolvers were not entertaining to shoot (one was a Smith and Wesson Airweight, so felt recoil was far greater than what I'm accustomed to with my auto-loading pistols), so I didn't use the whole box.
Had a S&W 642 and yup, no fun to shoot for this 'recoil sensitive' old fart with an arthritic wrist, bunged up RH thumb and RH ring finger 'trigger finger/arthritis)..so traded it.

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