Iam looking to buy lever gun in 45 colt. What make/model of rifle would you guys recomend? It would be used for deer and possibly hogs. Thanks, Bruce
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Iam looking to buy lever gun in 45 colt. What make/model of rifle would you guys recomend? It would be used for deer and possibly hogs. Thanks, Bruce
Good morning
The Winchesters are very nice rifles. The Marlins also. But you have to pay for that nice !
Been using a Rossi built Interarms import for many years and it shoots as good as those nice ones. Have a newer made Rossi that shoots just as well but needed a little cleaning up of machining leftovers to get it smooth cycling. Both are No Safty models. The Newer Rossi is covered with cammo always ready to go hunting. The interarms is a nicer looking rifle with nice wood.
Now if you have 800 + get a used Winchester. 600 wil get you a Marline. 300+ will get an older Rossi that will shoot as good as the pricey ones. That is how they stack up to me. By the way I have a Winchester and have fired numerous Marlins. The Winchester sits in the rack and gets shot off & on.
Mike in ILL.
I would advise against modern Marlins, or Remlins as they are sometimes called. An older Marlin though would be top notch. A Rossi is what I got in 44mag and it required some tuning to get it where I wanted it, but it's one of my favorites now.
My brother has a reproduction 1873 with the longer octagonal barrel. It shoots little bitty groups and is very stable on the shoulder, like shooting a repeating Kentucky long rifle. Don't know what brand it is and don't know what you have in mind but available models differ hugely.
He wanted the 1873 action due to it's reliability and fewer feed problems. Then again, he wants a rifle that always goes bang and is very accurate rather than how fast he can push it. He has had great success with Triple 7 and the Lee round flat nose.
Too bad the 1873 action isn't made for Ruger Blackhawk loads.
I had a Rossi, and currently have a Marlin cowboy with the 20" octagon barrel. The Rossi is stronger if that is your desire, but the Marlin will handle pretty warm loads. The Marlin feels better to shoot and is more accurate. It also is easier to fit with aperture sights. I normally shoot moderate loads with the Ranch Dog 290 and Trail Boss powder or the NOE black powder bullet and FFg.
The Marlins are very strong and can be loaded to 44MAG performance.
The 1860, 1866 and 1873 rifles use a "toggle link" system and is not able to handle anything over a mild handgun load without potentially breaking something.
The Rossi and Winchester 1892 rifles are also very strong. (Rossi makes an 1892 in 454 Casull!)
I own way too many lever actions for my own good........:veryconfu
But my "GO TO" lever gun for hunting is my Rossi 1892 Stainless that I converted to Take Down.....read about it here: www.rvbprecision.com
Or I use my Rossi 1892 in 454 Casull.......... "Bang...Gone!!"
I have a Marlin cowboy with he 24 inch octagon barrel. Itis an awesome shooter.
Shoots well with loads anywhere from 900 to 1600 fps.
I handle taken a couple deer and 2 pigs with it.
As for the "new Marlin fear", ignore it. Like any other gun, look it over well and decide.
The biggest advantage to a Marlin over the others is ease of cleaning from the breech. A couple screwdrivers and 30 minutes and I can have the entire action taken apart, cleaned and lubed, and back together. Trynthat with a 92 winchester.
I am a Marlin guy clean thru.
I love my Marlin 1894 CB, with 24" barrel. It feeds any bullet I've put through it and is very, very accurate. I highly recommend it.
I also have Marlins in .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .45-70 and .375 Winchester. In Model 94 Winchesters, I've got them in .30-30 and .44 Magnum.
My personal preference is the Marlins for reliability, accuracy and ease of maintenance.
Hope this helps.
Fred
For hunting the Rossi M92 (my choice and I have the 24" rifle), Win M94AE and the Marlin are the choices. You can load the 45 Colt in those rifles to some decent velocities. If you've a handgun you might want to stick with loads that are also safe in it. Which rifle is simply an matter of personal choice you must decide. If shooitng iron sights (including reciever sights) then the Rossi is/was my favorite. If using a scope either the Marlin or the Win M94AE are equally good.
Larry Gibson
I have a 3 year old Rossi 92 in 45 Colt and it shots great. I shot a few hundred rounds through it then did the Steve Gunz tuneup on it and have since put a few thousand rounds through it about half have been black powder also. So I would say I've been very happy with my choice.
My wife and I have the 20" Rossi carbine and the 24" octagon barrel rifle in .45 Colt. We shot hundreds of rounds through them during 8 years of cowboy action shooting, and now I have them set up with Taurus tang sights and near top end loads of H110 for hunting. I load the Lee 255 RNFP for the carbine and the Lee huge flat point 300 grain GC boolit for the long rifle. Both will bust clay birds all day on the dirt bank behind a 100 yard target. Both guns shoot without a problem. The crescent butt plate on that rifle does get your attention with the stiff loads if you're not careful. GF
I purchased a new Rossi 1892 Lever Gun in .454 Casull, in SS with a 20" barrel several months back. It eats up .45 Colt rounds like candy and can easily handle .45 Colt rounds loaded to .44 Mag specs. A .45 Colt round loaded to .44 Mag Specs. is a fairly powerful round but is still milder than .454 loads.
If your okay with open sites out to 100/150 yards the Rossi is a great gun. If you need a scope then you need to look at the Marlin.
You need to f ind a 24" marlin Cowboy. It is all as stated above.
1Papalote
"I love my Marlin 1894 CB, with 24" barrel." +1:drinks:
Mine shoots waaaaay out there, and so accurately I bought a smith ladder sight for it. Get the ballard rifling (not the micro-groove) and a 24" bbl. The only knock is my (and I hear others) trigger is in need of help, and the chamber is OVERSIZED pretty bad, but a gunsmith can fix that for 1.5" and $300
The Marlin chamber is slightly/deliberately "oversized" to ensure reliable chambering of some pretty ugly SWCs.
I've loaded my CB pretty hot -- and yes, it results in the Marlin 'bulge' as then extractor holds the case to one
side of the chamber. It's pretty uniform and not an "unsupported chamber" bulge like the Glock.
It sizes right out with minimal brass working.
No big deal.
Personal favorite is my 94 Trapper, post '64 and pre AE. Very nice gun but have read reports of (but never experienced) feeding issues. It's a fine, quick-handling little rifle if you don't mind using iron sights. Prices are coming down a little but still above what I feel they're worth.
In your shoes today I'd buy the Remlin, an old Marlin or a Rossi for the reasons given above, depends on what you intend to use it for and whether you intend to scope it. Haven't seen a Remlin in 45 Colt yet.
For a fun gun I'd look hard @ the Cowboy but the Cimmaron/Uberti offerings would get a look too.
I've been using my Winchester 94 trapper since 1988 and have no regrets. It's plenty accurate, and will get you 150-300 fps over a 7.5 in handgun with the exact same loads.
I've been using Alliants bludot data for the last couple of years, and it shoots very well out to 250 yds. I have not chronographed it but would guess a 250 gr bullet at very close to 1200fps. I don't think there's manyhogs that'll walk away laughing after you pop him with that load.
So pick the rifle that feels the best to you and you can afford, and don't sweat the +p loading's the ol 45 did it's work well enough to stay around since 1873, and it only gets better when fired from a rifle.:drinks:
Reading the works of John Linebaugh got me interested in the 45 Colt. I ended up with a RedHawk, a BlackHawk and a Stainless Steel Rossi. I'm still enamored with the ctg. and the Rossi. Light loads of RedDot or 700X and a 220 gr LFN make for a fun afternoon of plinking. Lil'Gun loads with the 250 gr pulled 1850'/s and was pushing the limits of comfort. H11o pushes the 310 gr SWC to near 1600'/s with amazing accuracy. It will do anything you want it to do in America and offer you a bunch of fun in the process
A Henry Big Boy is a fine shooting 45 lever.
..............I have a Rossi M92, 24" octagon in 45 Colt:
http://www.fototime.com/7848272124A4E8F/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/95900A3C1D2F5E8/standard.jpg
Nice rifle, but has rather shallow rifling @ .446" x .450". Has a 32" twist.
http://www.fototime.com/745969169444B08/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/96B6094162EA240/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/B655FB7E5A3EBD2/standard.jpg
Also have the above Japchester in 45 Colt. It has a 24" round bbl with perfect .444" x .452" rifling dimensions. It sports a 16" twist. They will both shoot well, but thy won't necessarily shoot the same loads well. The Miroku M92 was the easier of the 2 to get shooting well. With it's fast twist it will handle loads with the 340gr Lee FN where the Rossi sprays them all over.
The only reason I have the Miroku is because I was able to buy it used for half of what I paid for the Rossi. Simply couldn't pss it up for the price.
..............Buckshot