Evan 44 that holds 34 rounds lever action

[bouncer50]

Watching You-Tube in a cowboy contest one guy Had a Evan 44. They hold between 34-28 rounds in different models. Sure was a ugly lever action but a neat looking rifles. Some real firepower in it days but they had some problems. Some reading i did it was a fairly common rifle and some famous people used them. Does anyone own one and have common on them.

[EDK]

Tom Selleck movie CROSSFIRE TRAIL. Wilford Brimley had an Evans; said "I ain't much of a rifle shooter and it gives me XX rounds." IIRC last cartridge loaded is the last you will fire...has to go all the way through the cycle.

[Markbo]

No link? :-?

[herbert buckland]

I have a NM Evans and still have not got it to shoot well,the only bullet I can find for it is a mould from BACO which works but I think is a bit short for the 1 in 22 twist that my sporting rifle has,I make brass from 30-40 brass (rims have to be reduced in diameter)Shooting this rifle is fun but you have to be a keen re-loader an as mentioned I am still not happy with accuracy.The OM Evans is much more loader friendly as it basically uses a pointed version of the 44 Russian cartridge

[Fishman]

There are several pics here:

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/cartridge-antique-long-guns/

[M-Tecs]

That is one unique looking rifle!!!!! I also like the Remington-Keene Repeating bolt action rifle used in Crossfire Trail and Joe Kidd.

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/remington-keene-repeater/

[W.R.Buchanan]

That Evans Rifle is a new one on me. I assume that the magazine is in the tube in the buttstock? And it has several tubes within it?

The caliber is .44 Russian?

Also what is the thing hanging down in front of the lever? is it a safety? or is the action a two part cycle where you lever the round in with the main lever and then use the other lever to cock the gun??? Similar to a Spencer?

Interesting gun.

Randy

[gnoahhh]

I just finished reading Robert Bausch's "Far As the Eye Can See" . Helluva good book about a Union veteran who heads West and gets into a lot of interesting scrapes. The hero carries an Evans and delights in it as he shoots all kinds of stuff from small game to elk and not a few 2-legged varmints. A well written description of life in the northern plains during the 1870's- so well written that you can almost smell the body odor of those unwashed ill educated guys. He writes of a lot of different guns in the hands of his characters and gets them all almost right. The big fault I found was describing the hero's use of a Henry in the Civil War, both in the commonality of it and its magazine capacity. The rest of the gun stuff is spot on.

I understand the Evans utilized a spiral magazine (that big tube that constitutes most of the butt stock), hence the huge capacity.

[texassako]

The caliber is .44 Russian?
Randy

They had a proprietary round. .44 Evans Short and Long. The short was about like the .44 Russian except with an outside lubed heel based bullet.

[M-Tecs]

Evans in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM6Rg91WT3E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkz9GtR2WJw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnd6tUt-ifY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bonhdeilpBQ&list=PLV7o3CWVfzkXBz7lGkc-Ut4M6Axjx1alp&index=3

[bouncer50]

M-tecs I seen you had to look it up about Evans. Really neat rifle for the old west that a lot of people never hear about. A high cap gun of the old west. You can shoot 34 time without reloading. If i could travel back in time that Evans would my choice of gun in the wild west.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

You can do a lot of missing with 34 rounds. I wonder if anyone ever used the Evans to do a lot of hitting?

I don't know the Evans close up, but there were many European patents for very large-capacity rifles operating on a similar principle. The main reason none of them made it into large-scale (or usually any) production was that the ammunition supply would last a while, it was a big and immobilizing job to recharge the magazine. The Henry wasn't too good in this respect either, but with the Winchesters you could add a round or two to an emptying magazine in a second's lull in the firing.

[gnoahhh]

Sort of the 1870's version of today's point and spray mentality of a lot of AR shooters I see at the ranges these days, huh?! :)

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, and old catalogues show that ammunition was quite a bit more expensive, relative to the cost of guns, than it is nowadays. I doubt if the Evans was often used to its full potential, and it isn't surprising that its Unique Selling Point never made it catch on in the marketplace.

[gnoahhh]

I bet aesthetics played as big a role back in the 1870's as it does today. Put the Evans beside a Winchester 66, 73, or a Henry and tell me which one just "looks" better.