.40-65 levergun

[Dragoon 45]

Is anyone currently making a levergun in .40-65? All I can find are single shots.

Thank you.

[Ron.D]

I've been wishing for years that Marlin made a 40-65. There seems to be a real vacuum around .40 cal and yet for cast shooting it seems it would make a lot of sense. At least it seems it does to the two of us. Ron.D

[Dragoon 45]

I've been wishing for years that Marlin made a 40-65. There seems to be a real vacuum around .40 cal and yet for cast shooting it seems it would make a lot of sense. At least it seems it does to the two of us. Ron.D

I have a High Wall in .40-65 and would like to eventually have a companion levergun in the same chambering. My Marlin 1895 CB is a good companion to my 1874 in .45-70.

I though someone was making an 1886 Win clone, but can't find any reference to it anywhere.

[6pt-sika]

When I was really into the marlin's I purchased a second Marlin 1895CB specifically to reline to 40-65 WCF . And before I could bring myself to relining it I found a nice old Marlin 1895 of 1896 vintage in 40-65 !

That thing was a really nice rifle and I shot it quite a bit , however I decided to sell it not to long ago ! Even killed a deer with it a couple years ago !

We now have a nice Winchester 1886 of about 1900 vintage in 40-65 in our shop for sale ! It's a consignment gun and the owner wants $5000 !

Now I think the 1886 is a little steep in price but it ain't mine !

[Jon K]

Uberti makes a 1876 n 40-60.
Check BACO website

Jon

[Buckshot]

.............Get a 1895 Marlin and re-barrel it. Heck, go whole hog and buy a cheap beater if possible, but in the overall scheme of things the savings might be miniscule compared to the overall cost. Have the action and forend tip color cased, put a half octagon, half round barrel on it and new wood (not that FAT forend Marlin hangs on them) and a shotgun buttplate.

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

[Piedmont]

I read an article years back of a fellow doing just what 6 PT. Sika suggests. The reline is the cheapest way to get in to this.

[6pt-sika]

I read an article years back of a fellow doing just what 6 PT. Sika suggests. The reline is the cheapest way to get in to this.

Guy out in WA or OR told me he could do it for about $300 !

At the time I was thinking of doing it I bought a NIB 1895Cb for $565 and then the $300 for the relining and shipping woulda put me over $900 !

I saw the aforementioned 1895 that was an original for a bit over $2000 so i went that route ! And recently when I sold it the value had not diminished !

[6pt-sika]

.............Get a 1895 Marlin and re-barrel it. Heck, go whole hog and buy a cheap beater if possible, but in the overall scheme of things the savings might be miniscule compared to the overall cost. Have the action and forend tip color cased, put a half octagon, half round barrel on it and new wood (not that FAT forend Marlin hangs on them) and a shotgun buttplate.

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

And after all that you'll have more tied up in that rifle then I did in the "original" I had !

Half round half octagonal barrel thats decent these days is goona set you back atleast $400 for the blank and then you need to rent the reamer etc etc etc .

To be honest my original intention was to make 3 of them to go with the 1895CB I already had when I puirchased the 1895CB I was gonna make the 40-65 out of !

Anyway I had thoughts of doing the first in 40-65 the next one in 38-56 and then the third in 33 WCF . And as some may well know I ended up getting all three calibers in original Marlin 1895's that were made between 1895 and 1910 . Used the 40-65 and 38-56 to kill deer . Later I bought a fourth original 1895 but I have now sold all but my 38-56 I think that one was the best out of the bunch , but thats kinda a personal thing .

[6pt-sika]

I though someone was making an 1886 Win clone, but can't find any reference to it anywhere.

I believe Puma was the one supposedly making the clone 1886 .

[Jon K]

Buy an original !!! Marlin or Winchester.

Jon

[Lloyd Smale]

i think chapperal does.

[Irascible]

I can't find it right now, but I read an article about a guy who rebarreled his 1895 Cowboy to 40-65 and took it to the Quigly match and did very well. It seems they have a lever action class.
Does anybody remember the article? I'm guessing it was in Handloader, Rifle or The BP Cartridge News.

[6pt-sika]

I can't find it right now, but I read an article about a guy who rebarreled his 1895 Cowboy to 40-65 and took it to the Quigly match and did very well. It seems they have a lever action class.
Does anybody remember the article? I'm guessing it was in Handloader, Rifle or The BP Cartridge News.


That article was in "The Fouling Shot" the magazine of the Cast Bullet Association . That gentleman rebarreled his Sharps with a new 40-65 barrel and had the chamber recut on his old barrel for 40-65 and then had it put on a plain jane Marlin 1895 . He actually wrote two articles about this . One was the article you mentioned and the second he wrote was about antelope hunting with his rifle .

[6pt-sika]

There is another alternative !
Now bear with me because this one is a little long winded !

Marlin will take a 336 rifle and convert it to an octagon barreled 30-30 or 38-55 for you for about $250 . Everyhting in front of the action will be replaced .

Okay so you send your beater 336 to them and have that done . Then once you get it back in 38-55 you send the gun off and have it rebored to 40-65 for I expect something like $200 and of course you may need to have the reborer do some feed work .

A fellow on Marlinowners took an orginal Marlin 336CB in 38-55 and made a 336CB in 444 Marlin thru reboring ! I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with a 40-65 .

[Mk42gunner]

Two things to think about if you convert/ rebarrel/ reline a current rifle into a .40-65; cartridge length and twist rate. The .40-65 was originally designed for lighter bullets and shorter ranges; it wasn't until Ron Long (I think) rebarreled one of his Sharps with a faster twist barrel to use in BPCR Silhuette matches that people started using 400+ grain bullets with this cartridge. Twenty years ago it was a lot easier to find .45-70 brass to reform than to find some obsolete .40 cal rifle brass.

While I am sure the Winchester 1886 and original Marlin can take longer cartridges, how long can a converted 336 (ie current 1895) take?

If the actions can take a cartridge with a 400 or so grain bullet, it would be fun for a long range plinker.

Robert

[6pt-sika]

Two things to think about if you convert/ rebarrel/ reline a current rifle into a .40-65; cartridge length and twist rate. The .40-65 was originally designed for lighter bullets and shorter ranges; it wasn't until Ron Long (I think) rebarreled one of his Sharps with a faster twist barrel to use in BPCR Silhuette matches that people started using 400+ grain bullets with this cartridge. Twenty years ago it was a lot easier to find .45-70 brass to reform than to find some obsolete .40 cal rifle brass.

While I am sure the Winchester 1886 and original Marlin can take longer cartridges, how long can a converted 336 (ie current 1895) take?

If the actions can take a cartridge with a 400 or so grain bullet, it would be fun for a long range plinker.

Robert



A present manufacture Marlin 1895 can accomodate the 40-65 or 38-56 now you may have a valid point with the 33 WCF but I think that "should" cycle okay also .

Only time the need for the old longer actions was necessary was with the 40-82 and 45-90 class of cartridges in the original 1895's . I've even seen original Marlin 1895's that had been rebored to 50-110 !

As to bullet weight in the older 40 cals . All I ever loaded in my 40-65 or 40-82 were 240 to 260 grain cast bullets . However Marlin made the 40-70 in the old 1895 and this was the same case as the 40-82 except loaded with a 300 grain bullet and 70 grains of powder !No whether the twist was different in these two I don't know as I've never had a original 40-70 in my hands .

[Irascible]

"Marlin will take a 336 rifle and convert it to an octagon barreled 30-30 or 38-55 for you for about $250 . Everyhting in front of the action will be replaced "
Well, sort of. They will only do later year guns. I'm not sure of the cut of year.

[6pt-sika]

"Marlin will take a 336 rifle and convert it to an octagon barreled 30-30 or 38-55 for you for about $250 . Everyhting in front of the action will be replaced "
Well, sort of. They will only do later year guns. I'm not sure of the cut of year.

Last time I asked 35 years back seems to stick in my mind !

Last week I asked about rebarreling a rifle made in 1976 and they said no problem !

[Mk42gunner]

Last time I asked 35 years back seems to stick in my mind !

Last week I asked about rebarreling a rifle made in 1976 and they said no problem !

Well heck, I just may have to do that to get my long awaited .38-55; I am getting tired of lokking at beater Winchester 94's for $400, and still have to rebarrel them.

Robert

[Jon K]

Well heck, I just may have to do that to get my long awaited .38-55; I am getting tired of lokking at beater Winchester 94's for $400, and still have to rebarrel them.

Robert

I believe the current price from Marlin is $400(38-55 rebarrel/tube/forend)

Jon

[czech]

I've got a nice old Marlin 1895 in 40-65 for sale. If you're interested, I'll send you some pictures.

[KirkD]

At the 2010 Shot Show, Winchester showed their new Winchester Model 1886 Extra Light chambered in 45-70. It will not be offered in any other caliber, but there are folks out there such as Mike Hunter who might be able to supply you with a 40-65 barrel, properly marked and installed. Everything else about the rifle should be fine, so all you would need to do is to change the barrels. I believe he can also remove the tang safety if you are against that, and properly fill and re-stamp the upper tang. See Hunter Restorations.