Do you want the brass to eject out the top (1892 or 1873 clone) or eject out the side and mount a scope ( marlin)…..two questions to ask your self
Do you want the brass to eject out the top (1892 or 1873 clone) or eject out the side and mount a scope ( marlin)…..two questions to ask your self
Skip the 73’s for .44 Magnum treat those as intended with low pressure loads they will last forever. The 92’s will let you shoot about any level you want with aplomb ,I like my BACO 92 in 45 Colt mild to low end 45-70 level loads with 300 grn. boolits.
I have a Henry big boy and it shoots great.
The Uberti '73 in .44 Mag has it's supporters, but I'd limit such to between medium level handloads down to .44 Spl loads. Over a certain range, brass cling will carry much of the breech thrust, but my feeling is the full power loads will push on the toggles too much. I once did some basic calculations using dimensions from .44-40 brass, and the brass is likely to carry all the peak pressure in that cartridge. I've never sectioned .44 Mag brass and tried the same calculations.
I just put in a order at my LGS for a Henry BBS Carbine in 44 mag.
They said they haven't been able to get any new Henry's from their distributor since the Covid, but now they are starting to trickle in...they got 4 in last week, two of them were 410, and the 410 is kinda neat looking in a levergun with side-loading gate
FYI, the New 44 mag Henry's have 1:20 twist rate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001
I have a Winchester 94 in .44 Magnum. It causes me some trouble. It does not like to feed cast bullets which protrude a long way out of the case, the way Kieth bullets do. It does fine with bullets which are more like factory jacketed bullets, crammed way back in the case.
There is a henry big boy x in 44 mag at the exchange and its been calling my name. But it will probably be gone before I save up for it. I love a pretty wood stock, but the synthetic i think I would shoot more since I wouldn't be as mad about getting it dirty/scratched. And it has a side gate and a threaded barrel.
Have a Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum. Have a bunch of the Berry 240 grain copper coated truncated cone style bullets. I load them at about 1200 fps and get decent accuracy at 100 yds. Took the scope off my Marlin in 444 Marlin and installed it on the little gun. All local ranges closed due to covid and now with the delta variant anybody's guess as to when they will open up. Frank
I have a Rossi "Puma" stainless in 44. It smooths out with use. It is quite accurate. I upgraded the sights to Skinners and am very pleased with this rifle.
Older, pre safety, Marlin for sure!
Buy one of the better 92 Winchester copies . I have the 94 Marlin LTD and the Winchester and both are great but the Winchester feels better to me .
Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!
Being you are just using it for targets and plates etc. I would think about sights , barrel length, looks, handling and not necessarily in 44 magnum. All of the lever guns mentioned have their good points but only you know what trips your trigger so to speak.
Maybe a 44-40 or 44 spl. might do what you want ?
Jedman
I like the idea of shooting the same bullets from revolvers and lever guns. I have a few .357 mag S&W revolvers and a Henry .357. It's just fun to shoot them both on the same range day. I ended up with a Marlin 1894 20 inch 44 magnum. I actually bid on a Winchester that I really wanted, but gave up when the price went north of $1300. The Marlin arrived today, and I was happy to get it for $850. I'm looking forward to learning what the rifle likes in terms of ammo. I've got 3 different 44 molds and I think this rifle will fit in nicely to the rotation with my 629.
Your point about the sights is a good one. I hated the stag horn sights on my Henry. My old eyes just didn't do well with them, so I changed them to high visibility optic yellow and orange. Kind of ruins the nostalgic look of the gun, but now I can hit what I'm aiming at consistently. It will be interesting to see how I like the sights on the Marlin. They may end up coming off as well. Nice thing about this rifle is having tons of 44 mag and 44 sp ammo already loaded up and ready to go.
What could possibly go wrong?
Some Marlins with the micro groove barrels need just a hair larger bullet when reloading. Both mine have Ballard in the 44 Mag. you did well and will enjoy that rifle. Try a peep sight on her. The peep sight makes aging eye's do extremely better when aiming. Helps them focus.
Aim Small, Miss Small.
In hindsight, I should have bought a Italian made M1873 in 44 spl. that a local small gun store had last year.
I just happened to be in the store when they put it the used gun rack so even though I wasn’t interested I went and picked it up to look at the fit and finish . It had gorgeous case colors plain but nice wood and looked 99 % as new. The price was $ 700 which I knew was a very good price but set it back in the rack.
After doing some looking I found there isn’t a lot of them around in 44 spl. and they fetch probably twice what that one was priced at. It sure was Purdy!
Jedman
A vote for a '73. In the first place I hear people fret about the toggles but the manufacturer seems comfortable with it and the alleged weakness seems more speculation than anything. In the second place you might not enjoy shooting full house .44 loads all day anyway, but could laugh and pump out .44 Special loads at bleach bottles all afternoon. I never owned a .44 but owned a '92 in .454 and with full power loads believe me it was no fun at all. In the third place what's a set of toggles cost? $130? So you shoot 3000 rounds and replace a set of toggles. Guns are wear items. Sometimes you replace an extractor even on a '98. Part of the game.
I have a '92 Rossie in 44mag. I had a recoil pad installed to tame some of the hurt from a curved steel butt plate. I would shoot it more but my existing Lyman 519 mold casts lead bullets out at 427 and I have been to cheap to buy another mold for the gun sp it sits. I have a Marling 357 lever gun arriving in the next 48 hours and will evote atrtention to it for awhile. I would much prefer a Marlin over the 92 series. Just easier to clean and mount a scope.
Take Care
Bob
Its been months since I bought the book, "How to scam people online". It still has not arrived yet!
"If the human population held hands around the equator, a significant portion of them would drown"
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |