Smoothest pistol caliber levers?

[AbitNutz]

I'm looking for a pistol caliber lever rifle in 45 Colt. I have a choice between the Marlin 1894 Cowboy and Chiappa 92. Shockingly enough, the Italian gun is more expensive than the Marlin...

[wellfedirishman]

I'm looking for a pistol caliber lever rifle in 45 Colt. I have a choice between the Marlin 1894 Cowboy and Chiappa 92. Shockingly enough, the Italian gun is more expensive than the Marlin...
Look for a Rossi 92 and put a Gunslinger spring kit in it. I did that for both my Rossis and they are so smooth you can operate them with your pinky finger. I used them for cowboy action and they are super slick and fast.

[dverna]

My slickest is an Uberti 1873. I have two Marlin 1894's and they are nearly as fast.

BTW look at what the top shooters in Cowboy Action use. They need both speed and reliability. Not many 1892's

Don Verna

[Greg S]

I'd have to say a 92 style action. Polish the burrs off and break edges, tune the springs and polish the sear and hammer engaugement surfaces and go at it. Strong actions.

[Texas by God]

Don Verna nailed it according to my CAS friends.

[Wayne Smith]

You will note that essentially the answer is "None of them without modifications" - out of the box all of them will need some attention.

[dverna]

BTW, I had a Rossi 92 clone and did not waste my time or money on it. It cannot run like a 73 or Marlin 1894. But I was competing.....so it mattered. I had two 73's and three 1894's. If the 92 had any advantages I would have used it.

The question is, "How important is it to you?" For plinking and most hunting is it worth the money to get a "race gun"?

Both the 73's and 94's are easy to dissemble and slick up if you want to do the work yourself. The 92 is a bit more challenging.

Don Verna

[Kestrel4k]

Certainly not an expert here, but my tuned Rossi M92 is /very/ nice; substantially smoother than my 1966 Marlin 336/44 (another animal entirely I know).

[Idaho Mule]

AbitNutz, just out of curiosity, what are your goals with this lever in 45 Colt? Myself , I am a hunter, not a Cowboy action guy (nothing against it). I recently acquired a Marlin 1894 Cowboy in 45 Colt and will be working up loads for hunting deer, bear and elk. Much to my astonishment the thing will feed the RCBS 270 SAA boolit which will make a hard hitting round. JW

[Photog]

Depends on what you mean by "smoothest". The 1866/73 action is shorter, "smoother" and less strong than the Mar94/Win92 design. The 66/73 is MUCH quicker to cycle the action, with action kits available to make them even quicker/shorter stroke than stock. The Mar94/Win92 design can be smooth, but its action requires a 50% longer throw to achieve the reload, and there are more unsupported parts at its max opening, making it feel less "smooth". If you wnat to compete, go get a 1866/1873 (Ubertis dominate CAS for a reason). If you want to get the most velocity out of your chosen caliber, get a Mar94/Win92-94, (they are a toss-up for smoothness)/

[bearcove]

Hard to beat a worked over Rossi unless you want a race gun. Don't do SASS stuff myself. But I think a Rossi that has been worked on, in 454 or 45Colt is the most awesum gun a man can carry in that format.

[W.R.Buchanan]

You can completely deburr the interior of a 1894 Marlin in 2 hours if you can work sand paper and a file. The instructions are at Leverguns.com and are easy to understand, and you can go as far as you feel comfortable.

They all, no matter how much you paid for them, need attention. I picked up a brand new Marlin Custom Shop gun at the Show last week and it ran fairly smooth but the lever still needed to have the sharp edges knocked off.

The two main areas of drag on the Centerfire Marlins are the ejector groove and the cam on the bolt that pushes the hammer down. The 1894,1895, and 336 actions all work exactly the same way so what works for one works for the others, and I have done them all. Even the 39A is similar.

When the bolt pushes the hammer back it must push it beyond the sear or the gun won't stay cocked. But rather than mess with the cam on the bolt you round the top edge of the Hammer so that the cam slides over it easier. The problem is not the hammer being pushed back,,, it is the bolt going forward over the hammer which gets pushed down the same amount as when you opened the bolt,,, but,,, it is being pushed down while the bolt is going forward which takes more effort than when it is being pushed back as the bolt opens. Radiusing the top of the Hammer eases this and makes the lever run smoother.

The groove the Ejector runs in on the bolt is cut with a Milling saw, and it is wavy. Use the edge of a flat file to smooth this out and finish it with fine sandpaper on the file.

Install a Brownell's Reduced Power Spring kit and fiddle with the Trigger /Lever Detent Spring and you are there. The sear will wear in quickly so there is no need to mess with that.

But you should really go to the Leverguns site and read this for yourself. Lots of times people don't understand exactly what I said.

Happens all the time.

Randy

[iomskp]

I have a B 92 in 44 mag and a 1913, 92 rifle in 32/20 they are both very smooth but I would give it to the B 92.

[flint45]

My Father in law has a Uberti m-73, its like butter!My 1970s Marlin is to! 1894 .44mag.

[T-Bird]

I have a '73 Miroku .357. I don't shoot CAS but I can't imagine that anyone would ever need to "remove the burrs" from this rifle to make it slicker. Would assume the 45 colt version would be the same.

[jmort]

A tuned 73 will be smoothest and fastest.
Something from Evil Roy or Long Hunter or the Cowboys and Indians store would be real nice.
Not inexpensive, but smoothest and fastest

[buckshotshoey]

You will note that essentially the answer is "None of them without modifications" - out of the box all of them will need some attention.

Not sure I would put a Henry in that category. They are as smooth as silk right out of the box. But you could categorize it as an 1895 action i guess.

[Flinchrock]

Not sure I would put a Henry in that category. They are as smooth as silk right out of the box. But you could categorize it as an 1895 action i guess.

This is true, my Brass Big Boy was slick right out of the box, 400 rnds later it is very slick.

[historicfirearms]

How are the Miroku 1866s? I have been eyeing one at a local gun shop and it looks like a bunch of fun. Are they as good as the Ubertis or better?

[45 Dragoon]

W.R.B. is exactly right. My Rossi Rio Grande is rather nice. Even though a 30-30 isn't a round you would "rapid fire" (mine won't be), it is " light as air" in function and "lightening fast" un-loading the tube mag.! I reduced the main (not the number of coils), trued and polished the areas W.R. pointed out, removed the rotational play in the bolt with a lever mounted rivet "dressed to fit" the cleaned up slot in the bolt.
Cleaning up the locking lug and the area in the bolt will remove the action binding when cycling that many of these rifles exhibit (with the barrel pointed down).
Mike

[smalltownguy]

my rossi 44mag is doing better after 200 rds

[johnhenry57]

I have an Uberti Model 73 that I sent to Cody Conagher to have slicked up for CAS. Smooth as silk and never had a hiccup in 4 years of competition. I guess you have to ask yourself, A What do I plan on using this rifle for.
B How much am I willing to spend.
My 2 cents :bigsmyl2:

[Sigmanz]

I have an early model Navy Arms '73 and it is very smooth. The '66/'73 just doesn't have many parts to move.