Lever in 9mm

[strahd_zarovich]

Are there any out there in 9mm? I load for two pistols and one AR in 9mm and would like to keep it in the family.

[bobthenailer]

none that i know of ! but you may be able to have one rebarreled to 9mm with the required action reworking . but it would probley be cheaper to get one in 357 mag and just buy dies & brass for the 357 . i really lke mine ! i have a aimpoint on mine !

[Multigunner]

You might look into having one of the lever action Rugers with rotary magazine rebarreled to 9mm. The mag would probably require more modification than the action itself.

I vaguely remember seeing a lever action rifle fitted with a stick magazine, don't have the slightest idea what it was.

In Cuba they once modified Winchester autoloaders to shoot the 9mm using Luger Snail Drum magazines. I saw one photo of a US Citizen who'd helped the Cubans Afro-Engineer many improptu weapons during the revolution. He was holding one of the modded Winchesters. The caption said Castro had him executed soon after the revolution was won.

You wouldn't want to use a tublar magazine of course, even if you handloaded only flat nosed or hollow points, someone might get ahold of the rifle long after you are gone, a grandchild or other relative, and try Ball cartridges in it.

The Winchester 95 fed cartridges from a box mag just fine, so fitting a box mag is doable.
There are box mag conversion for pump and auto shotguns that normally use a tube mag as well.

Marlin once made a Savage clone lever action with box magazine in place of the Savage rotary mag. It was chambered for the .30 carbine cartridge.
Should you find one of those in need of a new barrel the bolt face would be about right and the mag could be modified for the shorter cartridge.
Those are interesting guns, I almost bought one when they first came out.

[strahd_zarovich]

You know looking into a 357 round might not be a bad idea. There had to be some reason why no one did a rifle in 9mm. Right?

[mike in co]

Are there any out there in 9mm? I load for two pistols and one AR in 9mm and would like to keep it in the family.

just get a 38/357 and shoot 38 in it.....

yep one could get a lot of rounds in the tube with a short 1.069 oal 9mm....

think a std rn would not be an issue with the preceeding primer.


mike in co

[Four Fingers of Death]

It's not a lever rifle, but didn't Ruger bring out the black stacked semi auto in 9mm as well as 40S&W? This may not be what you are looking for, as you already have an AR.

You could no doubt convert a 357 lever to a 9mm wityhout too much trouble, butttttttttttt, you are probably better off shooting 38s through it.

Since you have the 9mm area covered pretty well, maybe you should be thinking of a 30/30 or some such :D

[Ben]

Four Fingers of Death:

Yes, they were called the PC - 9 and PC-40.

No longer made however.

[mike in co]

which died with the marlin camp 9(9mm) and camp 45.

the 9 takes a sw 59 mag which means 10 to 20 rds with aftermarket going higher.

the 45 took the single stack 1911 mag so 7 to who knows where...


i have a camp 9 to go with my sw59, and looking for a camp45.....way too expensive these days due to 50 and 100 rd mags.


mike in co

[jimmeyjack]

Are there any out there in 9mm? I load for two pistols and one AR in 9mm and would like to keep it in the family.

STONE HIM!!!:shock:

[Four Fingers of Death]

Four Fingers of Death:

Yes, they were called the PC - 9 and PC-40.

No longer made however.

Thanks, I forgot what the pop guns were called.

Our armourer couldn't see past the fact that He could get by with only one type of ammo as we were starting to use the 40S&W Glocks. As it turned out, the plastic pop gun couldn't feed the lead reloads reliably and they still used factory ammo on the range with them. In the meantime, we lost the Mini14, which was not without problems, but it could be relied upon to reach out to 200 and deliver a reasonable blow. I pointed out several times that by the time the bullet reached the area where the prisoners were from the towers, it was already out of puff. My words fell on deaf ears once again.

This was like the time we bought a big batch of Model 10s to replace some of the originals. The armourer and his boss were overjoyed that they had saved $20 a gun by going with a standard barrel lenght of 4"(our originals wore a 3" heavy Barrel). I asked how much the holsters cost and the boss joyfullly replied 'we get a good deal on them, $40'. I then pointed out while they had indeed saved $20 on the gun, they had incurred an expense of $40 to buy a new holster to go with it. We had a shortage of guns for awhile as they tried to secure holsters. In fact we bought a batch of nylon holsters to tide us over, incurring yet another expense. It is amazing what floats to the top.

Sorry to hi jack your thread.

But really, getting back to the lever gun, you can't be a real American hunter unless you try a 30/30 at one stage :D

[NickSS]

I agree with three fingers in everything he says. I can see a good use for a 357 mag lever gun but a 9mm in a long gun is definitely very limited in usefulness. I never could see a need for any of the semi auto pistol popers and as I see various companies come out with them and then discontinue them in a brief time, it shows that most people agree with me. I can see a use for a selective fire sub machine gun in 8mm or similar caliber but that use is for short range firepower for high risk police entry work ans well as for some special forces ops etc. I personally like the 9mm and have several handguns in that caliber but I see no need for a rifle. In fact an all time great rifle in a 30-30 lever action carbine. With proper loads it has a wide rage of uses while a 9mm in a rifle has almost none.

[1Shirt]

Never had much use for a 9MM in anything, but that is just a personal choice. Think that the necessity for slightly loose chambering in a lever might pose a potential headspace problem anyhow on a rimless case. One of the best things I have done in the last few years was to pick up a used 94Win in 357 before Win went belly up, and got it at a very reasonable price. You couldn't pry it out of my cold dead hands so to speak. Not legal for deer in Ne (and a lot of other states for that matter), but you can use a 357 handgun for deer in Ne. (Go figure). Wish I had also picked up a Marlin 357 before the prices on them launched like the space shuttle. Another consideration involving 9MM is the limitation of blt selection, which is a no brainer for 357 in jacketed or cast. And there is also the factor of blt weight and energy with to me is also a no brainer. Just my opinion!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[missionary5155]

Good morning
On a side line I know of a badly malled 1892 Winchester that was rechambered with a drill after a 357 barrel was cut and rethreaded. It is a single shot as it has no magazine tube. Fired rounds are removed with whatever piece of steel. Rear stock is wired one. forearm is taped on.
The conversion was made with a 357 barrel scrounged from somewhere. Reasoning is that "Surplas" 9MM is easily and cheeply obtained from military officers. Sort of accurate to 50 yards which is enough to pop rabbits out of the fields.

[strahd_zarovich]

I like the 9mm since I already have everything to make more rounds. I need to look into what the 357 uses like SP or LP Primers and all. I have a nice stock of SPP and SRP and dont want to start hunting Large Primers now.

[Mk42gunner]

In theory it would be doable; but in reallity, I think the costs would outweigh the benefits. I have read of one 92 Winchester that was converted to .45 ACP.

To stay with your small primers, a lever action in .357 would enable you to reload both .38's and .357 with them. Plus some of your boolits may work.


Robert

[Multigunner]

I like the 9mm since I already have everything to make more rounds. I need to look into what the 357 uses like SP or LP Primers and all. I have a nice stock of SPP and SRP and dont want to start hunting Large Primers now.

.38 Special and .357 Magnum both use the small primers. You'd want magnum pistol or small rifle rated primers for full house .357 loads.
Lighter loads can be loaded using .38 special cases. Most .357 Lever guns feed the slightly shorter case just fine from what I've been told.

Once fired .38 special cases used to be dirt cheap, but that was when it was a common police caliber.

Around here locally produced well cast presized and lubed .38-.357 bullets could usually be found very cheaply at local gunshops among the reloading supplies.

Bullets you may already have or intend to cast for the 9mm would be very close in caliber.

A converted .357 barrel would still require bullets suitable for that caliber to shoot at its best anyway.

Theres probably a good deal of crossover in the types of powders best suited for the .357-.38 and the 9mm.

[dualsport]

I knew a retired prison guard from the old school. He worked Folsom Prison, in Ca. According to him the granite walls inside the yard of the old part are pockmarked all over from 30-30s fired from Winchester 94s. I think there was even a FMJ round nose available back then, unless I dreamed that part. I know, off topic, but see above, this is for Four Fingers' enjoyment. He's interested in more better funner ways to shoot convicts, I like that.

[Multigunner]

I knew a retired prison guard from the old school. He worked Folsom Prison, in Ca. According to him the granite walls inside the yard of the old part are pockmarked all over from 30-30s fired from Winchester 94s. I think there was even a FMJ round nose available back then, unless I dreamed that part. I know, off topic, but see above, this is for Four Fingers' enjoyment. He's interested in more better funner ways to shoot convicts, I like that.

A FMJ round nose buried in the wall probably came from a .30-40 Krag rather than a .30-30.
There was no prohibition against use of exposed lead or flat point bullets on Convicts or Criminals.
Lever action rifles in .30-40 and .30-06 were not uncommon in Law Enforcement and Corrections Dept use.

The .32-20 was once favored for wounding unarmed fugitives on the run with leg shots to shorten the chase.

The Mexicans once used a combo 7mm Mauser bolt action with a .22 LR autoloader mounted under the barrel. To break up fights they'd spray the legs of the fighters, if that didn't work they dropped them with the 7mm.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I was on a day off when we had a riot at the prison I worked in at Long Bay (it is a complex containing several prisons, the one I worked in had another prison on the other side of one of the walls.

As soon as the order was given to fire the tear gas and charge, one of the older (supposedely more mature) officers who had been sent to the Armed Reserve which overlooked the square, opened up with his shotgun and the junior officer took the que and opened up with his Mini 14. The two Internal Investigation Officers who were on the balcony filming the event tried to physically stop them, but my mate was a hugely fat guy and he just steamrollered them into the wall while he kept firing. The riot was quickly terminated (all of the shots going off probably dampened their ardour I suppose.) and our two heroes ran out of ammo. 25round shotgun belt, 4x mags for the Mini 14 with 10 shots apiece and two Model 10s with 6 rounds each.

The boss was livid as he had to explain it all to HQ. He asked why they opened fire and my mate said that the prisoners were trying to get on the roof and that during the last disturbance, they removed the tiles and kept the offivers at bay for some time. The boss pointed out that the tiles had been replaced with 24foot sections of colourbond steel roofing after that incident. My mate then piped up that if they had managed to get on the roof, they could jump onto the wall. The boss then pointed out that there was at least a 30' gap to the fence and anyway, there was another prison on the other side of the wall anyway. He coudn't figure out what to do and then stated 'I ought to make you pay for the ammo!' My mate who was a big noter and had a part time job collecting rents for a real estate agent and always walked around with a huge wad of notes which he regularly flashed. He pulled it out, threw a $50 note on the table, then a second one and said, 'I'll have another 50 bucks worth!' The boss threw them out of his office, but I did notice a big smile on his face when he walked back to his desk.

Back to your thread, the 357 Rossi is a brilliant rifle. I have one (it is the one I am shooting in my avitar). It has never missed a beat.

I had a 357 Trapper 94 Winchester a few years ago. It was the angle eject with the rebounding hammer, safety, etc. I liked it, but was not suitable for cowboy shooting so I swapped it with a mate. He was in his late 60s wore glasses and couldn't use the sights very well. He got me to get him a scope, I got him a Leupold 1.4-4 VariX111. It is a brilliant outfit.

You can get that scope with illumination now, ain't cheap, but it is awesome.

[John Taylor]

You know looking into a 357 round might not be a bad idea. There had to be some reason why no one did a rifle in 9mm. Right?

I think most of the problem would be the feeding. I have done several of the 94 Marlins to 45 ACP and I think a 94 could be made to work with the 9MM. It would be very difficult to make it work on a 92 Winchester.

[strahd_zarovich]

I went with the Marlin 1894 in 357 Mag:

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz83/zarovich69/Firearms/Marlin1894002.jpg

[9.3X62AL]

You'll enjoy that 357 Magnum levergun a lot!

[strahd_zarovich]

I plan to shoot 38spl with it. I wanted to take it to the range today but got lazy after work.

I will let everyone know tomorrow how she feels.

[mroliver77]

strahd, tomorrow has done come and is ancient history. How did it shoot for you? One nice thing is you can shoot some pretty light loaded .38 spcl ammo for plinking and whatever then go to a slower powder with a heavy boolit and get some amazing power out of the .357 case. Beautiful gun!
J

[strahd_zarovich]

Sorry I didn't say anything earlier, but here you go.

First the thing shoots great from the get go. It was a little low out of the box but was shooting fine in no time. I was shooting some really light loaded 38spl. There was basically no kick at all which surprised me (first time ever shooting 38). I plan to pick up some 357 Mag and loading some hotter 38 to see what that does.

Ok now for the other side of this rifle. The action was a little ruff and could use some smithing to make it a little smoother. I do get some jams if I try to cycle the rifle really quick.

[sargenv]

I just picked up the same rifle and I have a question. Since I shoot the action game with a revolver, I use nothing but RN bullets for their ease of loading, 8 at a time via moon clip. My question is are RN bullets ok to use in a lever gun? I thought they were ok, but wanted to make sure. I have seen Jacketed RN bullets with a bit of lead exposed onthe tip for the 30-30 so I figure if it's ok in that caliber, that it would likely be ok in this pop gun (comparitively) :)

[runfiverun]

sarge
lay some on the bench end to end.
strahd.
go shoot about 500 more rounds then evaluate.

[strahd_zarovich]

runfiverun - I never do anything to a gun until it has close to 500 rounds down them.

[sargenv]

500 rounds? for me that's 3 matches or two practice sessions.. I'm itchin' to go shoot my new aquisition.... I have some nice plinkers loaded for it.. leftover Icore practice ammo set up for my 627 and Winny primers... Don't want to waste the Federal primed ammo that is for the lightened 627 trigger.. :)

[strahd_zarovich]

OK So I went to the range today with my first 38spl loads.

Winchester SRP
6 gr. of HS-6
Beanies 125 Cast Hard Lead

I should have put something up to this to make things easier. This was 10 shots unsupported.

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz83/zarovich69/Firearms/Marlin1894C.jpg