The wife wants a lever gun

[ddeaton]

What should I look for and what caliber? I want to cast for this and dont want to break the bank, but want good quality. Marlin 1894 Cowboy in 45LC?

[crabo]

357 Mag is hard to beat. Load it with Lee 125s and shoot cheap or 180 GC and go hunting.

[cattleskinner]

Ditto what Crabo said, if I had to choose, my 1894C would be one of the last to go. Cheap to shoot, doesn't use a lot of lead or powder and it's FUN.

~Amos

[cowboy]

Howdy-
Marlin is in the fore, since Winchester folded it's tent. The new Mossberg Lever actions look to be a copy of the Win 94 except for the tang mounted safety.
Have several Marlins, the ones I shoot with regularity ALL needed to be tuned for smooth operation.
I have handled untuned 1873 model Uberti lever rifles, and, though costly, they are sweet rifles.

[missionary5155]

As far as caliber.. My wife is not an everyday shooter... 5-7 and not heavy built. She shoots our 44-40 Winny 1892 SRC 240 gr 9 grains of Unique and does not suffer any pain. She shoots our 308 about 3 rounds a year and says that kicks some...

[bobk]

ddeaton,
When I was married, my wife wanted to hunt, so since she is a lefty, I bought her a BLR in .308, and later a 1894C. The Browning has a wide buttstock, so recoil is distributed over a larger area. It was comfortable and accurate. I had to shorten the stocks, as she is only 5-0 tall. The Marlin was a lot of fun. I bought it from her, and worked up a load with 158 XTPs. Removed the scope and installed a fiberoptic front sight. Short, 6# gun, accurate enough for anything within range. Can't go wrong with that choice, IMO.

Bob K

[ddeaton]

ddeaton,
When I was married, my wife wanted to hunt, so since she is a lefty, I bought her a BLR in .308, and later a 1894C. The Browning has a wide buttstock, so recoil is distributed over a larger area. It was comfortable and accurate. I had to shorten the stocks, as she is only 5-0 tall. The Marlin was a lot of fun. I bought it from her, and worked up a load with 158 XTPs. Removed the scope and installed a fiberoptic front sight. Short, 6# gun, accurate enough for anything within range. Can't go wrong with that choice, IMO.

Bob K

Recoil is not an issue. She shoots 308 and 223 bolt actions until I run out of reloads and yells at me for more. I like the 357 being cheaper to shoot. You brought up another point, she is a lefty, does this matter on a lever gun?

[Doc Highwall]

I shoot left hand and Marlin lever action are great. I must have 6 of them and you can also get a model 39 to go with it for when it is to hot to cast or when you want to shoot when their is snow on the ground and you do not have to pick up the cases to reload.

[JesterGrin_1]

I have to agree the Marlin 1894 in .357 Mag is one heck of an all around rifle from plinking to hunting if kept with in the range of the .357 which is up to Deer sized game to a max of 100 yards and less.

And also the Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt though more expensive to reload for gives a bit more thump but if you reload you can make them from mild to wild just as anything else. But I do not feel that even a heavy load in the .45 Colt will kick that much in a rifle.

I picked the Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt here for you over the same rifle in .44 Mag as it seems the Colt is much easier to make shoot well than the .44 Mag Marlin.

Good Luck just pick the rifle you like the best and load from there. :). As I will say I messed up bad and purchased a 1894 Marlin SS in .44 Mag and now I have 3 of the darn things lol. Do not even mess with an auto or a bolt gun anymore lol. One is the Marlin 1894 in .357 Mag / Marlin 1894 SS in .44 Mag and the Marlin 1895GS in 45-70 and will be looking for one in .45Colt lol. :)

[Doug Bowser]

I have a .44 Mag Rossi 1892 blued carbine. I shoot BP only in it. It shoots 3" at 100 yards with open iron sights. I am pleased with it. If I need to, I can load hot loads for a 100-150 yard deer rifle.

[Pat I.]

I'd look for a used Marlin or Win in 30-30. You can load pb 32 cal bullets for a real cheap plinking load and heavier stuff or factory for hunting or if the mood hits. I picked up a Marlin for 220 bucks off Auction Arms a couple of weeks ago. With shipping and transfer it came to $258.

[ddeaton]

This place is real bad for me!!

[redneckdan]

I found a savage 99 for Jen and she really likes it. .300 savage will kill just about anything at the distances she is intrested in shooting.

[jhrosier]

I went with the Marlin in .44Mag. No chance of putting a hot load in a .45Colt that way.

Jack

[Ed Barrett]

Look at the Rossi/LSI 92 clone in .454 Price is the same as a 357 and it's a lot more gun. You can shoot 45 LC's to practice with or full bore .454's. You have 45/70 balistics is a very handy inexpensive lever rifle.

[ddeaton]

What are the Marlin 39A's going for now?

[crabo]

$300+

[Marlinreloader]

I'd look for a used Marlin or Win in 30-30. You can load pb 32 cal bullets for a real cheap plinking load and heavier stuff or factory for hunting or if the mood hits. I picked up a Marlin for 220 bucks off Auction Arms a couple of weeks ago. With shipping and transfer it came to $258.

Are you talking about shooting .32 cal bullets in a .30-30? If so what ones, powder, grains of bullet weight?

Thanks
Marlinreloader

[Pat I.]

The Lyman 31108 or any of the 32 cal handgun bullets loaded over 4 grs of BE or 6 grs of Unique would be fine. I came across a 4 cavity Saeco 322 I'm going to use in mine.

[PatMarlin]

Bought my wife a BLR in 308 Winchester. The light weight model. She loves is.

Would like to find her a real fancy lever action in .357 mag.

[jkingrph]

Just found a little Marlin 1894cl in 32-20 and picked it up for the Wife. Got brass and bullets just waiting on dies(backordered) Stock finish was a bit rough, apparently some very open grained wood soaked in the factory finish leaving grooves or gaps in the finish, so I scraped off the factory finish and am proceeding with an oil/wax finish. I added a bit of red to the color and it is looking much prettier so far.

I caught the upper respiratory crud, and have been coughing pretty bad so we are delaying a trip to range until I get to feeling a bit better and the Skinner sight gets here.

[kodiak1]

Mine likes my Win 94 in 25-35 has a 26" Oct pipe.
Ken.