?? 45 Long Colt Lever decision>>>> help.

[Ramjet-SS]

I've owned a few Henry's, but I wouldn't pay a nickel...well maybe a nickel for the big boys as there's no loading gate. Prototypes had the gate, but it was omitted from production for whatever reasons. I went with Rossi and believe it to have been a fantastic bargain.

I will tell you why I like the tube loading;

When unloading the tube out you only have to lever one round out. SAFER

So if you judge the gun on that one feature frankly you are short sided as all the qualities make the Henry a fantastic American made Rifle. More positives than negatives.

[Ramjet-SS]

My only complaint about the Henry is the 8.6 Lb weight. I can live without a loading gate. I have Rossi's in 44 Mag and 45 Colt and I have had no problems with them. Both are accurate and feed everything I load. For an interesting .45 Colt, I have a Taurus Thunderbolt. I know there are a lot of complaints about the Thunderbolt, but I got a good one and it shoots great.

G

The 30-30 brass has the best of both worlds. I just do not see the loading gate as big issue tube load is easier and unloading is safer. But everyone has there own preferences.........mine safe and American Made, high quality and great customer service. Henry has all that. Way higher quality than the Rossi or the Remlin. Again I have owned all three now own 3 Henry's and a customized Remlin so that I could get it to function as well as the Henry. The Rossi is just truck gun and in caliber not common to Leverguns so I got it but had allot of issues with it fixed them and hoping that no more crop up.

[kingemandigger]

I second the notion of getting an older rossi 92 in 45 colt. The 1892 action is very strong and you can load up some pretty hot rounds if you want to. Also, with some use, the action will smooth out and shoot really well. I currently own a newer chiappa 1892 by cimarron firearms (45 colt, 24 in octagonal barrel. The fit and finish is wonderful, and the action is smooth as butter right out of the box. One of these is a bit more expensive than the rossi, unfortunately. I load my 45s with blue dot, which is an excellent powder for this purpose in my opinion... b/w 12 & 13 grains depending on boolit weight produces standard pressures with a little more oomph than factory, and great accuracy characteristics.

[superior]

I love the Rossi with stout loads of Hs6,2400, and H110

[avogunner]

I love my Uberti 1860 Henry.....it's accurate, fast, and just plain fun to shoot.

[robertbank]

I have two Rossis and am happy with both. As a more "experienced" shooter ie age 69 I have shoulders that don't enjoy recoil anymore. The .44Mag with any load resembling factory was brutal on the shoulder with the crescent shaped butt plate. A 'smith solved that problem with a flat recoil pad and now the gun is a joy to shoot. If you intend shot heavy loads in your .45Colt version I would strongly suggest a recoil pad purchase.

I do like the Marlins. I have a 336W made in 2009 by Remington and it is well made, fit and finish is excellent and it shoots cast boolits. That said a Marlin would cost me close to a grand up here and the Rossis run around $600. I still want a Marlin for scoping though as the eyes aren't what they once were. Consider the latter point. A quality gun that you can't see the sights isn't much more than a glorified sling shot.

Take Care

Bob

[retiredPO]

Bob... thanks for the advice.... there have been all kinds of great suggestions and expierence to pic from... I agree with the recoil pad, Since I retired, my wife got tired of me being around, and told me to get busy doing something away from home, I started Soil Sampling 10 weeks in the fall and 4 weeks in the spring... and we get paid by the acre, so of course I have to go fast ( its in the blood) and some serious crashes.. have tore the sholders up pretty good.... so recoil pad is a must, and most guns are a bit short for me anyway, so the pad gives me that extra inch I need (sounds familiar) thanks again....

[snaketail]

Propwash47 -
The tang sight is from Marbles. I bought the suggested one and then replaced it with the "Improved" one so that I could change the sight posts - the first one was out of elevation at 50 yards. The "Improved" is only halfway up at 200 yards - much better. Get the "Improved" - you'll be much happier.
M

[TheCelt]

All the rifles listed are good shooters. See if you can "try a few on for size" and see what fits you the best. The 1873 is a toggle bolt gun and is not quite as stout as the model 92s and 94s or the Marlins. fact is ALL of the modern lever guns are good rifles and as you have discovered the 45 Colt is fun to shoot!

[old sparky]

I have 3 1894 marlins. 1 - 357 2 - 45's one 20" the other 24" two 1873's in 45 a 20" and a 24" all are fine rifles but do somthing better than the other. The 73's are smooth and I can shoot them faster they are the toggle action designed for a pistol caliber in those days black powder that didnt reach the pressures of today. I got them for cowboy action shooting and they can flat put some lead down range. I can not shoot them as accurate at 100 yards but their sights are not as good so that plays into that. The marlins are more accurate and can shoot stout loads if your wanting to hunt with them that could be a consideration. I have worked up loads for the marlins to shoot rifle Sillywet with 240 and 300 grain boolits in the marlins. they will shoot 1.5" - 2"ish groups at 100 yards. I have tried alot of powder boolit combinations and thats about it. Now I got a marlin 1894 in 357 its a shooter. I never had a rossi 1892 several guys I shot with in cowboy action did. I dont have a idea about accuracy since distances were so short but I do know they were not designed to shoot as fast as they were shooting and they had feeding jamming issues from having someone lever them sloppy. So they got work on them and somtimes it worked and somtimes that created new issues. I would love to play with a 92 for accuracy. Nothing compairs to a good running 73 for smooth levering with a plinking load! I love my marlins they are quaility not quite as fast but no dog can shoot any ammo out there. If you want target accuracy the 45 is not the best choice. I have seen several people set out to make it be but they have the same results. The 357 and 44 just group better. I still love the 45 and wont get rid of the marlins and another may follow me home.

thats my .02 cents

[joec]

I'm also a Rossi man for lever guns and have 3 of them. My 45 Colt is an octagon barreled model with the other a round barrel 454 Casull. The last is a Rossi Rio Grande in 45-70. I also suggest go with a newer one as some of the older models are hit and miss as are the new ones but easier to fix due to more consistent machining.

[Clark]

I bought a Win 94 trapper 16.25" barrel for $299 at BIG5 in 2004, took it to the range and shot a group at 50 meters with open sights.

[KCSO]

I have had them all and my current 45 Colt gun is not a lever but a pump, a Lightning. But if i had to have a levergun in 45 Colt again i would probably choose a Rossi. The price difference between the Rossi and the Puma isn't balanced by extra quality. I had several of the more expensive 45 Colt levers from the Charles Daly to the Marlin 24" barreled Cowboy and The Rossi's i have had shot just as good for a lot less money. I don't admire the stock shapes or the roughness of the Rossi and occasionally you have to send a bum one back but they smooth up easy and for a lot less than the price difference. Bear in mind that with the leverguns in 45 Colt you will be working the case down more during resizing but case life is still acceptable.

[Ramjet-SS]

The 44-40 is sweet I have no idea if they will come out with 45 colt or not but the Big Boy in the same caliber is treat to shoot and will out many high dollar center fire rifles I have owned. Recoil is low because it is a heavier rifle but like all lever actions carries easy with it thin receiver.

By the way I am drooling over one of the 44-40 reproductions I want one and probably will order one soon. What a wonderful American made classic.

[retiredPO]

Hivelocity tipped me off to a post for a Rossi.... got it... 425 plus shipping... I feel like its gonna be a treat.... I have both
452 and 454 molds.... so let the loadmatching begin.... God life is good.....

[kbstenberg]

Retired PO Good morning
I don't mean to rain on your parade. Have you checked out the Rossi website. it is run by our Ranch Dog. It has a tutorial on smoothing out the rough spots on the Rossi actions. Just trying to give a Helping hand. Kevin

[retiredPO]

No rain here... just snow.... yes I have been on the RD site, and joined, and read,... the gun I bought has already had many of the modifications needed to smooth out.... but even if i have to do more to it.... thats part of the bonding process....
thanks for the heads up.

[Maximumbob54]

Bought the R92 in .44 magnum and would buy it all over again. Looking for the carbine .357 magnum next. Will likely end up with the .45 Colt with the octagon barrel at some point. It's sad that Brazil makes a better 1892 than I can buy that's made in the US these days. I won't complain about Remlin twice in the same day. Henry? I pass on the lack of a loading gate. Safer? Never heard of a slam fire or whatever from ejecting out the unused ammo from an 1892. Sounds like they just saved some money making them with a rimfire tube load instead of the traditional loading gate. And Henry is anything but cheap. But they do look snappy in the brass. The brass skinner sights really top them off well.

[KCSO]

I will be picking up tonight and posting tomorrow a 45 LC Marlin Cowboy, an origianl with the 24" barrel. Probably looking at $600 and will post in swapping and selling.

[TheCelt]

I will be picking up tonight and posting tomorrow a 45 LC Marlin Cowboy, an origianl with the 24" barrel. Probably looking at $600 and will post in swapping and selling.

That model is probably the most accurate 45 Colt rifle I ever shot!!!! It'd cloverleave 200gr Lee RNFP in front of 6 gr of clays at 50 yards.