What do y'all think of Big Horn Armory lever guns?

[keithd]

So here I sit, drooling over a BHA in .460 Smith & Wesson, but man are they pricey!

I understand why, but $3500 in the configuration I like is a bit tough. It answers a lot of must haves in one gun as you can run "mouse fart" light 45 Colt up to over max load .460 S&W.

I was thinking of a 45 Raptor, but that requires an AR-10 platform, isn't SAAMI approved, and can't auto cycle light loads. A lever gun can cycle just about anything.

Was already planning to get a Henry Steel in .357. Too bad they don't have a 360 DW or 357 Maximum chambering. I know you can hunt hog with 357 Mag but I'd feel more comfortable with the extra margin of 460 Smith.

Why not other cartridges? Mostly that I really do not enjoy reloading bottlenecked cartridges and I already own revolvers in 357 and 460.

[ReloaderFred]

I've never shot one, but I handled one in their booth at the SHOT Show a couple of years ago. Compared to my Marlin rifles, it was rougher than a cob. If the action can be smoothed out, it "might" be worth buying, but the one they had on display left a lot to be desired as far as the action goes. It was so rough, it would be hard to make a fast followup shot, the the guys with me agreed, and we all shoot leverguns. They want so much for their guns, we were afraid they were going to charge us for handling the display rifle :>)........

I've never found anything on this continent I couldn't take with my .45-70, and you can load that up or down, too. The moose I took in Northern Alberta dropped right where it was standing from the .45-70.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[flint45]

I like the BHA guns but they are just to expensive, plus I have five .45-70 rifles two are lever guns and to me they can do anything the .460 can do and better.That being said I still would like to have a Big Horn but in .500.

[keithd]

Fred,

Actually that helps a lot! I was just thinking about the 45-70, a Henry in that and 357 together would be less than half the cost of a Big Horn. Also good to hear from feedback about the Big Horn, good, bad, or other.

My only concern, how difficult is it reloading 45-70? It's not straight walled, not bottlenecked, but tapered.

[Gunlaker]

Reloading the .45-70 is about as straight forward as reloading can get. There is a ton of data for light to heavy loads using cast or jacketed bullets, plus a huge variety of molds.

Chris.

[ReloaderFred]

Loading for .45-70 is about as simple as loading for .38 Special, only a little bigger. You can load them so light you can hear the round hit the paper target at 100 yards, or so heavy it will rattle your teeth. You can load from under 300 grain bullets to over 500 grain bullets, your choice. And like Gunlaker said, there's a ton of data for it with both cast and jacketed.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[dragon813gt]

The BHA rifles are too(A Grammar Nazi told me to fix it) expensive for what they are. I realize they have to handle higher pressures. They're essentially pricing themselves out of sales. I bet some people are buying them but they're few and far between.

[keithd]

Thanks all! Guess the only thing to decide at this point is a Henry or a Marlin in all weather stainless/laminate. Like the gate load, like the 6+1 vs 4+1 of the Henry, but costs $250 more and needs a $100 trigger right from the start. The Henry is good to go from day 1.

[Ramjet-SS]

Henry is smooth as melted butter. I agree they are a substantial deal compared to the $3500.00 these guys are asking. Plus you could buy a Marlin have it customized and have a much better rifle than the BHA out of the box.

[osteodoc08]

I'd look at a Marlin 45-70 before dropping that kinda coin on one.

I'd really like a 50 Alaskan especially since brass is available from starline IIRC.

[OverMax]

To much money wanting for a lever rifle shooting pistol cartridges. Can buy 6 Henry's for the same price.

[tim338]

I pondered one in 500 S&W in fact almost ordered one a couple of times. I ended up handling one at Cabela's. A little rough and the sights seemed cheap. Definitely not the quality I would expect for a semi-custom rifle in the $3500-$4000 range.

[Ramjet-SS]

I would guess because of the low number the production cost/part is higher that is the real reason they have to charge the amount they do. When you produce at high quantity your costs go down in this case how many per year do you think they produce? You actually can have mass produced gun and send it off to one of many very competent custom gun builders to be re-worked into a unique and fantastic gun for significantly less money. I do not want to hammer these guys as the mfg costs on short run items is high. They are trying to fill a very narrow market demand. You can buy one of Reeders 375 GNR #2 that is complete re-barrel and action job along with some custom engraving for allot less money. That particular caliber is significantly better than either of the pistol calibers mentioned. Down side is you have to deal with the crumudgeon attitude of Reeder .

[snowwolfe]

I spend way to much money on guns and don't mind parting with a lot of coin if it is worth is. But just don't see a BHA rifle being worth the premium to buy one. $1,500 maybe.........$3,500? They are nuts.

[Greg B.]

Before I spent that lind of money on a levergun I would see what Doug Turnbull has to offer. He has a good reputation and some of his stuff looks like the old special order Winchesters from around the turn of the twentieth century.

[Shawlerbrook]

For the price they are asking, the action should be slicker than eel snot. Think I would opt for a Marlin and then customize if necessary to another caliber. Check out one of Regan Nonneman’s 50 Alaskan.

[salvadore]

I'm no spelling or punctuation nazi, but it's too as in too much, too little, too not to.

[dragon813gt]

I'm no spelling or punctuation nazi, but it's too as in too much, too little, too not to.

That's minor compared to the people that refuse to create paragraphs

[KMac]

Before I spent that lind of money on a levergun I would see what Doug Turnbull has to offer. He has a good reputation and some of his stuff looks like the old special order Winchesters from around the turn of the twentieth century.

I had looked at Turnbull's site before but I just looked again and WOW!
He offers 1895s that he has done his magic on that are $1300 and they are gorgeous.
I personally would go that way before I would spend the money on a BHA.
https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/...l-restoration/
Of course there is probably a long wait time to get one.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
If you want a 50 Alaskan and do not mind doing some work latch on to a used Japchester in 45-70. Send it to JES Reboring to get rebored and chambered to 50 Alaskan.
Your part will be open the controlled case lifter.
Bevel the inside lip of the mag port on the receiver right side where the "door" closes.
Ramp the left side of the magazine area where the cartridge enters the mag tube.
Install a padded leather butte cuff over that awful curved steel plate or on the stock after removing the plate.

Knowing what I do know now that hand work can be done in less than 6 hours.
Mike in Peru