45 colt rifle?

[tcrocker]

I'm in the market for a 45 colt rifle but I wont a octogon barrel I see Puma m92 and Marlin 94 cowbow I realy like the 20" barrels. I intend to use it for hunting deer and hogs so long shot are few and far between. Does enyone have one of these gun or something they like better? I am using 315 cast boolits water droped make out of ww with gas checks over 23 gr of H110. I have them loaded for Ruger Redhawk only.:cbpour:

[schutzen]

I do not know about the Puma, but I have a Marlin 1894CB with the octagon barrel. I like mine! The barrel is a little heavy, but I no longer stalk hunt. The .45LC has plent of punch for hogs and you can get at least one if not two follow up shots on stragglers. You can not go wrong with the Marlin.

[mellonhead]

I also Have one of the Marlin Cowboy guns. Mine has proved to be a very accurate piece. I mostly feed it a RCBS 45-270-SAA over 13 grains of HS6. That load in my Marlin has proved to be quite accurate. It usually does 1-1.5" at 100 yards if I do my part.

Toby

[btroj]

I have the Marlin CB with the 24 inch octagon. I love it. The extra barrel weight is a bonus to me for hunting and range work. At the range it "hangs" better for offhand shooting and in hunting swings like a shotgun.
I use a 290 gr flat nose group buy bullet with 10.5 gr of #105 surplus powder. Shoots great.

[GrayFox]

I have the Puma in both the 20" carbine and the 24" octagon barrelled rifle. I recently put the Taurus copy of the Marbles tang sight on both as my 65-year-old eyes and tri-focals just couldn't handle the buckhorn sites any longer. My wife and I shot thousands of rounds through each over ten years of cowboy action shooting and we loved the faux '92 action. I now shoot either the 250 or 300 grain versions of the Lee RNFP of water droppped WW in them with less than maximum loads of either 296 or HC 110 and they both do great. The longer barrelled rifle with its longer site radius really is a tack driver, but the shorter barrelled one is no slouch and is what I'll be taking into the brush for hogs here in GA beginning the 15th of August when small game season starts. Either bullet weight at hog shooting distances should do the trick. Hope this helps your thought processes. GF

[Lonegun1894]

I have the Rossi 92 in .45 Colt, and love it. Also have a Winchester 94 in same caliber, and hate to say it, but the Rossi is smoother. That doesn't mean i'll ever get rid of the Winchester, but the Rossi gets much more hunting time.

[robertbank]

I have the Rossi in .44mag and am very happy with it. Full loads hurt the shoulder though due in part to the curved butt plate. I intend to install a permanent recoil pad on the gun to ease the pain. I suspect the .45LC with full loads would be equally hurtful and require the same treatment. Light loads are no problem though. Gun is as accurate as I can hold so no bother there.

Take Care

Bob

[ReloaderFred]

I have the Marlin 1894CB with the 24" barrel in .45 Colt. It's a great little rifle and is the only one of my Marlins that will feed SWC bullets. Mine has had an action job by Pioneer Gun Works, and is smooth as butter and a pleasure to shoot.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[rbertalotto]

How about the Winchester 1892 Take Down with choice of octagon barrel lengths ( I think 20 and 24"), and I believe they have a 16" "Trapper" but it might not be octagon. Those Take Downs are really neat and compact for traveling.

CDNN has them on sale for $995

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have a Rossi 92 45 Colt in the round barrel persuasion and I love that rifle. I have shot the octogon barrel model and I really don,t like it as it is front heavy. I have shot some pretty stiff cast 255 grain loads and they do kick but they are not unbearable. Follow up shots can be made quite fast.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have Rossi 92 16" Carbine with large loop. It is one of my favorite carry guns. It is accurate, light and easy to carry. I fire it with some heavy 265 gr and 255 gr loads for my Blackhawk loaded with H110 or 2400. For plinking I use the lee 200 gr RF and Unique or Red Dot. When I bought it, I didn't want the large loop, but it was the only 16" rifle that was available. After using it, and carrying it, the large loop grew on me. I also have 20"Rossi Puma in 44 Mag, but it doesn't get out much anymore since I got the little .45.

G

[T-Bird]

I have a rossi 92 45 colt mid '90's vintage that I love. Have killed several deer with it. I have a tang sight on mine. I live in Opelika, so like you , I know about shot hunting shots. I load it with the RCBS 270 SAA bullet so that out of the rifle it's moving about 1100+ fps which is plenty for game, also use the same load in my Ruger Bisley at about 900 fps (I like simplicity) don't hunt hogs, but wouldn't be afraid to with either. Fill up that full length mag and it holds a ton of bullets. T-Bird

[bigdog454]

I have the puma/rossi 92 in 454 casull, shoots 45 Colt or 454 casull interchangeably. You can go from mild to wild with it, shooting 45 Colt 255 gr at 900 fps or Casull 300 gr at 2000+.

[tcrocker]

I fount one at a box store but they will need to order it but it's the 24" version instead of the 20". The price will be 475+ tax, does that sound about right? It's the octagon with blued receaver. Does eny one use one of these? How does it feel in the hand?

[Buckshot]

................Tcrocker, I bought a Rossi Puma in 45 Colt maybe 4 years ago. It's a 24" octagon bbl, with color casehardening.

http://www.fototime.com/7848272124A4E8F/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/95900A3C1D2F5E8/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/6095DE66E2CE882/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/6D5B36957F8A650/standard.jpg

It was my first Rossi and first M92. Years before a buddy in SASS bought his wife a stainless Rossi 38/357 for his wife and internally it was rough as a cob. Lots of floating bits of metal and some rough ragged sharp edges. Naturally I took mine apart and happily it was very well done, and operated smoothly. I suppose Rossi was really pushing production when my friend bought his.

Mine has shallow rifleing, with the grooves only .002" deep, and it's tight at .446" x .450". The twist is 32" so I don't know about how it'll handle heavy (300gr+) slugs. I have gotten some decent accuracy from it, but it seems picky. There are absolutely NO problems with it's fit or finish, although the barrel isn't polished, but is left with a even fine surface ground type finish. It handles nicely, and is overall a nice rifle. I like it very much and it now sports a Marbles tang sight. I'd REALLY like to put one of those Winchester M92 barrel mounted ladder sights on it, but the $125 price is a bit offputting at the moment. A couple years before I bought mine, I was in a gunshop and saw a Rossi in on consignment for $300 that I should have bought. It was chambered 45 colt, all blued but had a half octagon half round 24" bbl. I really like that setup and if I ever win the lottery I'd like to put one on my Rossi. I wanted to be mature about it and decided I'd call them on Monday (this was on Friday) and if they still had it I'd drive over and buy it. But you know what their answer was, right? Sold it on Saturday

http://www.fototime.com/745969169444B08/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/96B6094162EA240/standard.jpg

I also ended up buying a Miroku/Winchester M92 in 45 Colt also. It was in a shop on consignment for $350 but didn't have a buttplate:confused: In the right photo I have a replacement buttplate fit and installed so I could refinish the buttstock to match. It still needs to come off to be polished and blued.

http://www.fototime.com/B655FB7E5A3EBD2/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/DA71F46E61B6784/standard.jpg

This one has been much easier to please loadwise. It's bore and groove is .443" x .451" and it has a 16" twist and really likes the Lee 340gr 45 cal slug sized .452". http://www.fototime.com/744223B96FDE8AF/standard.jpg

One thing I've noticed on quite a few Rossi lever guns over time, and that is the lever can sometimes exhibit a full quarter inch of space between it and the bottom tang when the bolt is closed and locked. Mine in 45 Colt lays flat as it should, but one I more recently bought in 38/357 has that problem. Somewhat mitigating that fax paux is the fact it seems to be happy with most any load. However that space above the lever just isn't the way it's supposed to be.

.................Buckshot

[GARCIA]

If your pocket's are deep enough you can have this one!

Tom

[LuvMy1911]

Those are all fine looking rifles

[missionary5155]

Good morning
For the price the CB´s are going you would be served better to get a round barrel model & have an octagon put on it. Serach about as there were a couple places making aftermarket barrels. Marlin was doing the swap & may still be as I saw on the Marlin sight a feller just had Marlin do a 38-55.
But I shoot the Rossi also(2) and find when actually "laying the tube" on a live target I have little rememberance of any pain... now shooting in the summer in a T-shirt is another joy to drive home with but a folded towel & cross sticks has keep my little bony body from suffering to awful bad.
Mike in Peru

[Stevie]

I own a Marlin 1894 cowboy 20" carbine in .45 Colt.

Really can't find any real mechanical faults in the cool little Marlin. Shoots excellent...works perfectly...if I was to 'nit-pick' the Marlin short rifle..I could maybe find it a bit tough to load...the hammer is set up for scope extension spur while the cowboy style case-hardened receiver has no provision for scope mounting....and the buttstock has a plain plastic Marlin buttplate instead of a fancier curved buttplate befitting the 'cowboy style' of the Marlin cowboy. This all minor gripes...it's a perfectly satisfactory .45 Colt levergun.

[ia1727]

I have the Marlin 1894 CB w/ 26" barrel and I love it, in fact, for just shootin' paper and having fun it's probably my favorite caliber and gun.

Steve:mrgreen:

[robertbank]

I own a Marlin 1894 cowboy 20" carbine in .45 Colt.

Really can't find any real mechanical faults in the cool little Marlin. Shoots excellent...works perfectly...if I was to 'nit-pick' the Marlin short rifle..I could maybe find it a bit tough to load...the hammer is set up for scope extension spur while the cowboy style case-hardened receiver has no provision for scope mounting....and the buttstock has a plain plastic Marlin buttplate instead of a fancier curved buttplate befitting the 'cowboy style' of the Marlin cowboy. This all minor gripes...it's a perfectly satisfactory .45 Colt levergun.

Be happy it doesn't have the curved butt plate. The curved butt plate is a killer on the shoulder with full loads. I have the Rossi in ,44mag and it hurts.

Take Care

Bob

[Lonegun1894]

Be happy it doesn't have the curved butt plate. The curved butt plate is a killer on the shoulder with full loads. I have the Rossi in ,44mag and it hurts.

Take Care

Bob

I shoot several muzzleloaders and they all have those curved buttplates. The curved plate is not a problem in itself, it's all in how you hold it. Most modern shooters are taught to mount the rifle with the buttplate on the very outside of the chest and just slightly inside of the shoulder joint itself in the "pocket". And this set-up works well with modern flat buttplates, but it is a great way to get hurt if shooting a curved buttplate like found on many leveractions/muzzlelaoders/etc. With these curved buttplates, if you use them the way they were used in the old days, and mount them on your arm, just on the outside of the shoulder joint, they handle very well. In fact, I prefer them on heavy recoiling guns over a flat buttplate as the arm tends to give way a little bit instead of being fairly solid like your chest or shoulder joint. The down side is that it does take a bit of getting used to, and many people arent willing to change their shooting stance/mount to accomodate these curved plates. I am not trying to be critical, as there is a definite advantage to being consistent, jusy saying it is a little different. If you like them like I do, great, and if not, thats not a problem either, at least you speak from experience about your personal preference, instead of parroting what has been said/written by someone else. :drinks: Besides, not all guns will fit all people, and a little variety keeps this obsession interesting.

[btroj]

I far prefer the flat butt late of the Marlin over the curved steel plate on the Rossi. I like to get the rifle in on my shoulder as that is where all my other rifles go. If I shot muzzleloader a lot still I might prefer the steel for the reason stated, but I don't.
Reason for the hammer being made to alloy the extension is because it allows Marlin to use a common part. Most of their rifles are set up for a scope so the hammer is made to allow for that.

My 24 inch barrel Marlin CB in 45 Colt is a great gun. It is one of those "never sell" guns in my opinion. Great at the range, great for deer or pig hunting. Can shoot well with a wide variety of loads. What more could I possibly ask?

[Ziptar]

Lee 340gr 45 cal slug sized .452". http://www.fototime.com/744223B96FDE8AF/standard.jpg


Oh My! I may have to try those in my Marlin one of these days.


I can't speak to octagon barrels specifically, I've never been a fan. When I decided I wanted a 45 Colt Lever I looked at allot of them.

Winchesters are nice, a little more than I wanted to spend but, what put me off of them the most was that big hole that opens up on the bottom of the receiver when working the lever.

I didn't like the Henry at all, it just didn't feel solid at and just felt wrong. I handled one for about 5 minutes and never picked one up again.

The Pumas are nice, I almost jumped on an early (pre-safety) Interarms Puma but, it just didn't fit right for me. IMHO the early Interarms Puma are the best of them (Rossi, Braztech, Chiappa, etc). The build quality is better and the actions are smoother, I think.

What fit and felt best for me was a Marlin 1894 so I set about finding one. I really didn't want to shell out for the Cowboy premium though.

In the end I found a pre-safety 44 Mag 20" round barrel at a gun show cheap. I bought a 20" round microgroove barrel from Numrich. I sent the Marlin and the barrel to Clements Custom Guns to have the barrel swapped and they did a little carrier work to it.

In the end the rifle, barrel, smithing, and shipping back and forth came to $580.00 total.

It feeds anything without complaint, shoots well, is accurate (although the shooter still needs some work. ;) ), light, and nimble.

The Marlin action is tops in my book much simpler than the Winchester or Puma. It's smooth, simple, and reliable.

I'd have no hesitations using it for deer or hogs.

So my vote is for the Marlin.

If you aren't married to the octagon barrel Cabela's offers a Marlin 1894 45 LC with a 20" round Ballard rifled barrel for $579.00 SKU# 2817643 (http://www.cabelas.com/product/Marlin174-Model-1894-Lever-Action-Rifle/706395.uts?Ntt=2817643). If I was in the market for one now I'd probably go that route. My only qualms would be that I'm partial to pre-safety Marlins. Secondly, I'm guessing at this point the Cabela's 1894 would probably be a Remlin. I'd want to look it over hard in person before plunking down my dough.

[maglvr]

I have a Rossi/Puma 16" trapper in 45 Colt.
Absolutely a precious little woods gun. I use the 45-270-SAA(283gr). over 9 grains of UNIQUE.
This load is used in all my 45's, from SAA clones to S&W 25's to my Blackhawk 7.5".
I see no reason to go to a heavier load when this one will bowl over anything in it's path, from largest whitetail buck, to the heaviest black bear ;)
1 word of advise, if you plan on using the original rear sight, be sure to secure it to it's base before trying to sight in, there is only 1 rivet that hold the 2 pieces together, and the upper part WILL swivel enough to drive you NUTS when trying to get a good grouping.
Super glue or solder works just great.

[robertbank]

I shoot several muzzleloaders and they all have those curved buttplates. The curved plate is not a problem in itself, it's all in how you hold it. Most modern shooters are taught to mount the rifle with the buttplate on the very outside of the chest and just slightly inside of the shoulder joint itself in the "pocket". And this set-up works well with modern flat buttplates, but it is a great way to get hurt if shooting a curved buttplate like found on many leveractions/muzzlelaoders/etc. With these curved buttplates, if you use them the way they were used in the old days, and mount them on your arm, just on the outside of the shoulder joint, they handle very well. In fact, I prefer them on heavy recoiling guns over a flat buttplate as the arm tends to give way a little bit instead of being fairly solid like your chest or shoulder joint. The down side is that it does take a bit of getting used to, and many people arent willing to change their shooting stance/mount to accomodate these curved plates. I am not trying to be critical, as there is a definite advantage to being consistent, jusy saying it is a little different. If you like them like I do, great, and if not, thats not a problem either, at least you speak from experience about your personal preference, instead of parroting what has been said/written by someone else. :drinks: Besides, not all guns will fit all people, and a little variety keeps this obsession interesting.

Thanks, I'll try it before installing the recoil pad. I had an old Win 38-55 with a deeper curve that I shot as you suggest with good results. The Rossi in 44 mag with full loads does recoil though and I suspect you will hear the cry from here. I'll be out tomorrow. Beer is on you if I come away with bruises.:?


Take Care

Bbo

[Stevie]

I wasn't knocking the Marlin 'Cowboys' plastic buttplate...but more the style. Old timey looking..expensive gun...should have a buttplate to match the period. But no..the Marlin Cowboy has a plastic buttplate right off a modern 336.

It is probably a better buttplate for competition shooting.

[helice]

Like MagLVR I have had rivet trouble with the rear sight on my LSI Puma. I concur that it did drive me nuts. Nuts enough to contact Steve's Guns' and pick up one of his peep sights that fit in the bolt safety. With this sight I could not be more pleased.
I have reloaded for the 45 using Lil'Gun. 250's at 1750'/s can cause that Stainless Steel butt plate to become a true attention getter. Maglvr's Unique load is quite comfortable and highly recommended. His choice of the 270 gr SAA is a good one. This or the 300 gr RCBS SWC are enough bullet for anything you'll use the 45 for.

[robertbank]

I shoot several muzzleloaders and they all have those curved buttplates. The curved plate is not a problem in itself, it's all in how you hold it. Most modern shooters are taught to mount the rifle with the buttplate on the very outside of the chest and just slightly inside of the shoulder joint itself in the "pocket". And this set-up works well with modern flat buttplates, but it is a great way to get hurt if shooting a curved buttplate like found on many leveractions/muzzlelaoders/etc. With these curved buttplates, if you use them the way they were used in the old days, and mount them on your arm, just on the outside of the shoulder joint, they handle very well. In fact, I prefer them on heavy recoiling guns over a flat buttplate as the arm tends to give way a little bit instead of being fairly solid like your chest or shoulder joint. The down side is that it does take a bit of getting used to, and many people arent willing to change their shooting stance/mount to accomodate these curved plates. I am not trying to be critical, as there is a definite advantage to being consistent, jusy saying it is a little different. If you like them like I do, great, and if not, thats not a problem either, at least you speak from experience about your personal preference, instead of parroting what has been said/written by someone else. :drinks: Besides, not all guns will fit all people, and a little variety keeps this obsession interesting.

Tried what you suggested yesterday. The location of the bruise moved from my shoulder to my arm and it was just as painful. Gun is off to the 'smith for a recoil pad.

Take Care

Bob