For deer hunting, fun shooting, and all around great combo. Which is the better combo. Probably a single shot rifle and a Ruger BH revolver. 44 Magnum or 45 Colt?? Tom.

I would recommend the 44 Mag.

My first Centerfire rifle was a Ruger 44 Mag Rifle in the 1960's. I have had a Marlin Lever and now have a Winchester Trapper.

It kills deer and pigs like the Hammer of Thor.

As for the handgun either the Ruger or the S&W work great.

I agre with NE450No2. The BH gets my vote because of the tank like construction. I load my Marlin on the "hot" side and I'd hate to wear out a nice 29 with those rounds.
I personnally carry the Marlin in .44 and a BH in .41. Of course this season I have the choice of the BH, a 57 MG, or a Rehawk.

I've had several single action cowboy revolvers, and I love the looks of em', but I don't like the feel as well as DA revolvers. How about a Rossi M-92 style .357 Magnum and a 4" Smith M-19/66 to go with it. I like the Marlin lever rifles but they don't have the classic wild West look like the Rossi. If you need more power I would get the Rossi .454 Casull/.45LC and a .45 Long Colt Smith, I don't have any desire anymore to fire a .454 handgun.

I have this .44 mag browning 92, as well as a rossi 92 in .357. The .357 looks identical and is sweeter to shoot.

I'm partial to .45 Colt. I bought the three-screw Blackhawk way back in the early 70s. I tried some loads from the then-new Speer #9 "Ruger and Contender only" section. I soon settled on 10 grains of Unique and a 250 grain Keith style lead SWC. Supposed to yield close to 1000fps from the 7.5 inch Ruger. The S&W is a 625-6, which I believe SCSW says should be .45ACP. Mine is .45 Colt. I shoot the same 10 grain load in it. The rifle (bad picture, 2nd lever action from left with sling) is a .45 Colt Model 94 AE Trapper. I have shot deer only with the Ruger, and it will hole a 160 lb whitetail through and through, and usually drop it in its tracks. John Linebaugh says the .45 hits so hard compared to smaller bullets because it is a "BIGGER HAMMER." I agree. It is a much more pleasant caliber to shoot than a .357 or .44 Mag in a sixgun.

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Georgia On My Mind

I bought a Ruger Deerfield for my 14 year old daughter thinking she might deer hunt with me. She shot it once and decided she didn't want to kill a little ole deer (after she got up off the ground). So now I have a .44 carbine to go with my 629.

I have an A. Rossi 92 in .357, to go with my M-66. Mostly shoot .38 in both.

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My Mother likes me.

I think my Henry Big Boy in .45 Colt goes well with my SS Blackhawk .45 Colt and/or my 625 Mountain Gun in .45 Colt. I load that round to power levels that range from mild cowboy loads to heavy hunting stuff that is well beyond the .44 Mag...I am very careful to keep the hotter stuff out of the 625. I also have a pair of Uberti SAA clones. I started out with the two Ubertis and the Henry for CAS but eventually gave up on the cowboy stuff because it seemed I encountered too many people that took it and themselves WAY too seriously and took much of the fun out of it. So, now they are all for general shooting and playing with. I gave up hunting a few years ago but if I were still doing that, they would be useful hunting guns I guess.

Cimarron Lightning in .357 paired with a Cimarron 1873 Short Rifle in .357. Eminently shootable.

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Some day, I'd like to have a Cimarron .44 Magnum Winchester 92 clone to go along with my 6" 29-2.

I'm partial to the .38/.357 or .44Spl/.44Mag combos. More ammo out there and cheaper. I have the Marlin Cowboys in both and plenty of revolvers too.

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Term limits!

I currently have of have had most of the combos listed, at least caliber wise. What I've seemed to have kept is a Marlin 94 in 32-20 and M&P revolver. So that is the combo that gits my vote. Though I wish I still had one of the M57s for a M94 Marlin and M57 S&W combo.

I have a Winchester 1892, a Marlin 1894, and an M&P in .32-20, so I vote for this combo also.

Easy question. For me, it would be my Browning Model 92 in .44 magnum, and any quality .44 mag revolver. Quite versatile, as either can use .44 Special loads, also. I'd pick a nice single action to accompany the Model 92; that would give a more "era" flavor.

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

In answer to the OP's original question, I too am a preferred fan of the .38/.357 as a rifle/handgun combo for deer hunting and recreational shooting.

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- Change it back -

I've kind of given up on the idea. I find that a long-barreled revolver shoots about as well as a carbine out to where a pistol cartridge starts to drop excessively and generally run out of steam.

That said, I could suffer through owning and hunting with a 610 and a full-auto suppressed HK MP5, or a 4" 625 and a Delisle carbine.


Okie John

A combo of .357's is a favorite. The .44 magnum and 45 Colt is good too. S&W made some double action 44-40's, but I've never seen one in person. Here is another great pair, a S&W M24-3 & an EMF Hartford M92, both in .44 Special:

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July 4, 1776 not Jan 30, 1909

Model 57 and a Marlin 1894FG both 41 Magnums.

I have the Henry Big Boy and Ruger Vaquero 45-colt. I just got a 8 3/8" model 25-5 on Gunbroker that I should have by next week. That should do it for me.

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Corripe Cervisiam

Here's another vote for the .32-20 for the most fun one can have out of a rifle/revolver combination.

S&W 686 or Model 60 with a Rossi M92. Dropped a nice plump doe with the Rossi last year.



Still searching for a lever gun to pair up with the .45 Colt Mtn gun.

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"Give me Liberty..."

We bought a Rossi 92 in .357Mag/.38Spl to compliment our .357Mag/.38Spl revolvers. We don't hunt anything other than bullseyes these days, but being senior citizens and not able to carry what we used to be able to, we thought it would be a good idea to have a long gun that takes the same ammo as the short guns we keep in our SHTF bags.

I got a couple questions about the Rossi-92, but I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, so I'll start a new one titles "Rossi 92 Issue" to ask them and refer back to this one.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

My 6" 44 Magnum Virginian Dragoon makes a good companion to my Marlin M1894. My Ruger .357 Old Model Blackhawk goes nicely with my Marlin M1894C.