What lever guns to get?

[bikerbeans]

Pre-hammer block safety Marlins are the way to go.

BB

[Greg S]

1892s - 32-20, 357 and 45 Colt
Looking for a Henry in 327FM
94s Looking for a cheap 24 or 26" in 30-30
1895 in 45-70
1886 in 45-70

The pistol caliber 94s are OK, they just cycle clunky. Had a 45 Colt that would eat Keith SWC like they were round noses. The 92 cycles smooth. Completely different animal and stronger than the 94 design.

For the try to like program, try a Rossi pistol caliber in 357, 44 or 45. I believe the 44 and 45s bores run alittle large.

[Hick]

I wouldn't rule out 32 Winchester Special. Brass is available and can always be converted from 30-30 (just run it through the die). Jacketed bullets are expensive but who needs them? The 32 WS with its 1:16 " twist just loves cast boolits and isn't prone to leading.

[wv109323]

I think a Marlin 44 mag. and a Marlin 45-70.

[Texas by God]

My wife has a Rossi .357, I have the Win 94 30-30 my dad bought in the early 1950s. We love them both but there is room for a Marlin 45-70 if one comes along at the right time. I'm a bolt gun guy myself but levers are great companions in the woods.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[GhostHawk]

Saw a dandy today at the pawn shop, I think it was a model 92 built in 95 .38-40 octogonal barrel, immaculate condition. Did not look at the bore, to rich for my blood. Man I wish they made blueing that looked that good after 100 years these days. That gun was so immaculate i did not want to touch it.

And truth be told I have enough in the bank I could have made a deal and walked away with it.

Dang sweet lever action for sure, with nice wood, nice slim stock.
tag was for 1900$ but I think I could have knocked a fair chunk off of that.

But the wife was standing there, and I can't keep up shooting all the guns I have. So I walked away.

[OverMax]

Buy a 30-30. Easy on the pocket store bought ammo. And its fun to shoot.
45-70 on the other hand is a cartridge those shooters of. Some question their decision why they bought one?

Link provided states recoil in lbs. Pay attention to the Energy Column. >Less is best.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

[Mr_Sheesh]

I figured a 45-70 isn't going to be "NEEDED" often here - but you could definitely load a 45-70 as a reduced charge round, for plinking. (Just don't plink at polar bears, it ticks them off.)

[MOA]

Pre 1960's Marlin's with pistol grip stocks in 25-35, 38-55 and 45-70. Good solid battery of rimmed western style firepower. If your looking for long distance rifles, forget lever, buy Weatherby instead.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Pre-safety Marlins made in the late 60's and 70's are priced reasonably and well-made. Marlin in 30-30, 32 Special, 35 Rem good place to start. Can be scoped easily, trigger easy to improve, most will group close to or under MOA. A Savage 99's in 300 Savage from the 60's or 70's are also very capable and reasonably priced. The Marlin 45-70 and 444 can be unpleasant unless loaded very light. There is a lot of loading info on the Marlin 30-30 and 35, the 32 Special is one of THE best cast bullet cartridges.

[starmac]

I recommend you check out any of the older ones you can if you are thinking used guns. I prefer the old Winchesters much better than marlins, but others are the same way about marlins, just different tastes.
If I was looking at new manufactured guns, I sure wouldn't discount the henrys, even there some models will feel better to you than others.
The new remlins have a bad rep, but a good one is just as good as an older one in my opinion, and yes I have both.

[Speedo66]

If you're going to use them for hunting, both calibers you mentioned are fine. For plinking or target shooting, you can't go wrong with a pistol caliber carbine. Much easier on the shoulder, and definitely on the wallet. Get 50 rounds for the price of 20 rifle cartridges.

A .38Spl/.357 Mag lever is a great choice, and with Buffalo Bore or other hot loads, you can hunt with it, too.

I've got a .357 Rossi 92, an original '73 in .38-40, and a Browning BLR in .308, very happy with all of them, but I use the Rossi the most..

[beemer]

Buy a 30-30. Easy on the pocket store bought ammo. And its fun to shoot.
45-70 on the other hand is a cartridge those shooters of. Some question their decision why they bought one?

Link provided states recoil in lbs. Pay attention to the Energy Column. >Less is best.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

I bought a Marlin 45-70 about 15 years ago, things change and I don't like the recoil even with mild loads. I like my 30-30 much better. So count me among those who question that decision.

Interesting link, thanks. The comments about the Enfield were interesting.

Dave

[dverna]

I figured a 45-70 isn't going to be "NEEDED" often here - but you could definitely load a 45-70 as a reduced charge round, for plinking. (Just don't plink at polar bears, it ticks them off.)

Think about plinking and why you do it. Using a 45/70 is doable but why?

To me, plinking is fun and inexpensive shooting with a lot of trigger time. I use the .38/.357 lever actions for that. I am only throwing 125-130 grain bullets downrange and I can load hundreds an hour on a progressive. Until recently, when .22 became affordable again, it was less expensive than shooting .22's.

The .45/70 is a fine short range hunting gun. It can be loaded mild to wild but hurts when wild. Like others have stated, the .30/30 is hard to beat for a hunting gun if you keep ranges reasonable and relatively cheap to feed. If I wanted something for bigger game, I would look at the .358 in the BLR. The .358 Savage 99's are crazy expensive.

For a handy truck gun, a 94 Winny is a great choice. More range and energy than the pistol caliber carbines and a fine deer/black bear gun for the ranges most likely encountered. It makes a pretty good "hillbilly assault rifle" as well. I have two as well as a Marlin 336. The 336 is more accurate and easy to scope, but heavier and does not handle the same.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'm a big guy; used to plink with 690 round lead balls in the 12 gauge. I was suspecting I could come up with a paper patched .452 230 Gr. truncated cone cast boolit that would suffice, and not kick much; Or something else will come to mind. Can get a 30-30 first, see what I think

[Drm50]

I've got 8 levers made post WW2. 2 pre 64 Wins and 6 Marlins the newest a 1970. I als have several prewar Marlins and Winchesters. Never have had any problems with them, 25/20-32/20
38/40 Marlin 94s work smooth as butter. I'm a little more snobbish that most if a Win isnt pre64
I'm not interested and don't want any Marlin from hammer block to newer. And I don't buy the
foreign replicas or Henrys. None of these guns are of the quality of Win & Marlin before their demise.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

A 45-70 barrel dimension usually runs .458 to .461 so all those neat pistol bullets don't usually work. The .450-.454 pistols vs .458-461 rifle bullets is an annoying fact. There are the 22 levers also, the Henry is low cost and shoots very well, Marlin 39's before the rebounding hammer and crossbolt safety were the premium 22 lever guns. I have a Winchester 9422, but I prefer the Marlin 39A and it is the classic. We do shoot a Henry .22 and .17 a lot.

[robg]

Had my win 94 as in 357 mag since 1998 ,must have put 40 thousand boolits through it only breakage has been the ejectors ,3 in total the pin snaps off ( got a fix now ) cut a slot in it and solder in a nail .my favourite gun!

[2ndAmendmentNut]

My preferences are as follows.

1. The Browning run of Winchester lever actions produced by Miroku in the 1980s and 90s.

2. Pre-64 Winchesters.

3. Uberti 1860, 66 and 73s.

4. Pre safety Marlins.

For new production guns I’m only interested in Pedersolies and Ubertis.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jedman]

No one mentioned Savage 99's. They are different in many ways but still a pure levergun.
Also as a investment they are certainly better than money in the bank.

Jedman