Who makes the "best" 44 Mag Carbine

[osteodoc08]

Which current manufacturer produces the best all around 44 Mag Carbine. Evaluation to include in no particular order:

-Fit and Finish
-Stainless/Bluing
-Best twist rate for 240-300gr boolits
-Accuracy
-Aftermarket for replacement parts, sights, springs, triggers, etc.
-Reliability
-Scope/Sling Mountability

[runfiverun]

Henry.
and I have 15 or so rossi lever guns.
Taurus bought them out, I'm done.

since Remington bought marlin, I don't care how much better they are, they ain't what they used to be.
chiappa makes some decent rifles but they cost as much as an original Winchester.
Winchesters 94's are handy little rifles but their barrels demand a huge/hardish alloy boolit to shoot well [434-435]
the browning B-92's are nice but are limited to saami 1.610 [maybe plus .005] oal but shoot nice for sure.

my next lever rifle will be an older rossi 92 a win 92 or a Henry.

[9w1911]

both of my marlins are 44s I dont complain, they are more accurate than me, had a hell of a time getting one to feed normal

[M-Tecs]

Henry I have 15 or so rossi lever guns.
Taurus bought them out, I'm done.


How do you tell the old Rossi from the Taurus ones?

[GoodOlBoy]

Old rossi's don't have the safety on top of the bolt.

in order of current make?

Ruger carbine
Henry
marlin

there ya go

GoodOlBoy

[hanleyfan]

I just bought 3 new Rossi R92 in the past year with the top safety and they none of them had any problems, for the money spent they are well worth the price.

[fecmech]

I have 2 Taurus Rossi's and both have been trouble free from the start. I have no idea of total round count but well in excess of 5K each with 0 problems. My Winchester 94AE was accurate but junk internally. I've been looking at the new steel Henry's and they look good but have not shot any but Henry sure stands behind what they sell.

[winelover]

Taking current situations into consideration.....hands down on a steel Henry, if purchasing new.

Winelover

[BigAl52]

I owned 2 Taurus revolvers and they were both junk. Never again. Buy American Henry all the way. Al

[Shuz]

Just remember, the Henry's have the same 1:38" twist as the Marlins!

[Greg S]

I think the best bang for the buck is the Rossi 92. The 92 action is strong and smoother feeding by design for shorter cartridges, just alittle oversprung. A set of springs and alittle polishing is all that is needed. If your looking for fit n finish, the new lawyer proofed Winokows are nice and easy to un#$ck (minus the tang safety) but are spendy.

[DougGuy]

The Chiappa might be pricey but it has the right 1:20 twist for heavy boolits!

20" rifle: http://www.chiappafirearms.com/product/817

20" carbine: http://www.chiappafirearms.com/product/819

[ogre]

Apparently there are a lot of lever action lovers here. In my opinion the, "best" .44 magnum carbine would be the Ruger No. 3.

[Speedo66]

I owned 2 Taurus revolvers and they were both junk. Never again. Buy American Henry all the way. Al

I don't see the connection between someone inquiring about rifles and your comment about Taurus revolvers. Are you inferring that Rossi lever actions are somehow tainted by your experience with a handgun? I haven't seen anyone refer to the R92 as junk.

I found my Rossi R92 to be an excellent, functional firearm right out of the box. I'd put it up against most current lever actions, and certainly anything else in it's price range. Oh, there isn't anything else in it's price range. lol

It's a bargain for what you get, and from what I've read numerous times, perhaps the most accurate pistol caliber lever action out there.

[osteodoc08]

Wow. That Chiappa M92 is absolutely beautiful with the full octagon barrel.

[W.R.Buchanan]

IMHO the current Marlin rifles are better than anything JM Marlin ever made and are getting better everyday.
The ones I have seen locally on dealers shelves have good wood to metal fit and finish and the machine work is far superior to anything previous.

The Current CB version of the gun with a 20" Octagon Barrel in .44 Magnum would be my first choice if I didn't already have a 24" gun from 2005.

My rifle was built at a time when JM Marlin was descending into chaos, and as a result it required several hours of fine tuning and deburring to get to where it is now, which is nearly perfect. I had to drill and tap for a Lyman receiver sight also. That took 20 minutes.

All of the Marlin/Remlin guns are "Generic Working Guns," which is what they were from the start. They are not custom showpieces, and as such more likely to end up behind the seat of a Pickup Truck. They are designed to a "Price Point," and are very good value for the money.

They don't get the hand finish work put into them like a higher quality and more expensive guns get at the factory. To say this is a shortcoming is very near sighted.

I simply followed the instructions on how to slick up the actions of my guns from www.leverguns.com (http://www.leverguns.com) and after 2-3 hours my guns ran like they were Custom Shop Guns or guns modified to shoot Cowboy Action Sports by Gunsmiths who charge big money for their services. If you can work sand paper and a file you can do this too! It ain't that hard! Also you don't have to do everything on the list, you can pick and choose what things you want smoothed out and stop when you get to the really technical stuff.

I also refinished the Fence Post Grade Walnut Stocks and Fore Ends on my guns and was amazed what lurked under the goo that is used to seal the wood. This only required the use of Sandpaper and some paper towels, and Birchwood Casey's Tru-Oil.

My whole point here is that comparing Marlin Leverguns to higher priced guns is apples to oranges. However I would compare mine to Factory anything out there with confidence. Just a little TLC added to a basically strong design yields a gun that is NICE!

I might add that the only thing wrong with Marlin Rifles in .44 Mag/Spec or .45 LC is the 1:38 barrel twist. And knowledgeable Gun Writers and enthusiasts are beating the factory mercilessly for the change to 1:20. Even so with boolits in the 250-270 gr range they are still accurate enough and more than powerful enough for any intended use of the gun.

I shoot short range silhouette with mine mostly, and I assure you that it knocks a 55lb Ram at 200 meters down with authority when I connect. It knocks 30 lb. pigs flying at 100 meters. Chickens at 50 meters have to be "Retrieved!"

I would not hesitate to shoot an Elk sized animal inside 100 yards with it with a 260 gr SWC boolit, although I'd prefer using my 1895 CB .45-70 .

The Marlin Rifles are my favorite Leverguns for these reasons. They are cheap to acquire and easy to make nice.

How is that Bad?

YMMV

Randy

[georgerkahn]

I have a Henry H006 Golden Boy with their big-loop lever, and it is one fine firearm! To me, the only thing I don't love is it seems a bit on the heavy side. I'm sure its weight is readily Goggle-able. My other is a Harrington & Richardson Shikari, which is a single-shot, and I almost enjoy shooting the Shikari better than the Henry. The Henry is a great lever; mine has the brass receive. Tombstone has several in stock @ $700.08 , and here's their URL if you wish to check it out: http://www.tombstonetactical.com/catalog/henry/big-boy-rifle-44mag-44sp-20in-octagon-10rd-walnut/
BEST!
george

[BigAl52]

I don't see the connection between someone inquiring about rifles and your comment about Taurus revolvers. Are you inferring that Rossi lever actions are somehow tainted by your experience with a handgun? I haven't seen anyone refer to the R92 as junk.

I found my Rossi R92 to be an excellent, functional firearm right out of the box. I'd put it up against most current lever actions, and certainly anything else in it's price range. Oh, there isn't anything else in it's price range. lol

It's a bargain for what you get, and from what I've read numerous times, perhaps the most accurate pistol caliber lever action out there.

I said that because of the Taurus and Rossi connection. I have also handled a couple of the model 92 lever guns and I don't think to much of the roughness of there actions. It doesn't make sense to me to spend 500.00 on a gun that needs to be worked on to smooth out the action. Just my 2 cents worth. Al

[pietro]

.

YMMV, but I'd much rather pay $500 for a rifle that I could fine tune myself (I've done 5 Rossi M92's), instead of spending 2x as much for a Chiappa or another $200-$300 more for a Henry, etc - and put the money saved into a peep sight & ammo, instead.


.

[Ramjet-SS]

Oh boy very subjective and many of opinion to contemplate.

As crazy as it sounds I have owned every gun mentioned here except the Chiappa arms lever gun. To that I say the that crazy looking Rhino they built I owned several ,one of the most interesting well built guns I have handled and shot. So with that in mind the lever gun really intrigues me. The Henry is Ok but they have had some real feed tube issues the past year. Yes they do a real nice job of Customer Service without a doubt the best in the industry. But that said it should right from the get go. Yes I have owned at one time owned 5 of them now I down to one. They need to clean up their act on the front side yes that is harsh but from someone who experienced allot of issues, and yes, I was taken care of, yes it was out standing service but all after the fact and with issues frankly that should have not occurred to start with.

Somi am really looking close at the Chiappa carbines.

[hanleyfan]

I wish Henry would make a lever with a loading gate instead of that stupid 22 style loading from the front. If they did I would try one of theirs.

[DougGuy]

.

YMMV, but I'd much rather pay $500 for a rifle that I could fine tune myself (I've done 5 Rossi M92's), instead of spending 2x as much for a Chiappa or another $200-$300 more for a Henry, etc - and put the money saved into a peep sight & ammo, instead.


.


AWFUL HARD to tune a 1:38 twist into a 1:20.. :shock:

Honestly, I have been lurking on the levergun threads. I don't have one but definitely have interest in getting one in either of the two pistol calibers I hunt with, .44 mag and .45 Colt. I had two Trapper AEs one in each caliber when they first hit the market years ago, and wasn't too impressed with either.

Now, the more I read and soak up on this forum, the better equipped I am to make a smart choice. I think. Maybe. I have learned that I want to avoid rifling and chambers that are too large to interchange boolit diameters because I would have to have a special set of dies and a sizer just to be able to load for a Marlin if it wanted .434" boolits. I'd take a Henry over many others, but now we are looking at twist rate which would need to be considered since I will only shoot heavy for caliber boolits, ok so how about the chambers? Are they loose as a goose? How is the chamber throat? Can a Lee 310 cycle through the action and chamber snugly in the throat at .432" diameter?

Some of the leverguns can take a LOT of time to get them smoothed up, and find out what THEY like as far as boolit size and fitment. I would love to see a spreadsheet with a lot of data on chamber, throat, bore dimensions, max COA that each would work with. You could then compare a whole slew of leverguns on one page, and maybe be able to choose based on the chamber/throat/barrel dimensions and have a real good one as opposed to reading and reading and reading and then taking a semi educated stab at getting the right one..

[Speedo66]

And yet everything I read has the Rossi's as the more accurate lever in pistol calibers.