I just began my search and have set my budget between $800 and $1200 dollars but I've been known to stretch things a bit!!!!

I have an Uberti 1873 Cattleman in .45C that I enjoy and want to get a lever action in the same caliber.

I've looked at the Uberti 1860 and 1873 lines and they appeal to me!
1860 Henry Rifle | Uberti
1873 Rifle and Carbine | Uberti

Looks like the Original Henry's are only chambered in .44-40 and a bit out of budget but, ...
The Henry Original | Henry Repeating Arms

Anyway, this is all NEW territory for me and looking for some input on brands and other things to look for.

Thanks in advance!

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

Don't forget the '66...

1866 Yellowboy Rifle | Uberti

I have one that I shoot quite a bit.

Ya, meant to link that in as well It's the one my wife likes!

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

A close friend has a Rossi Trapper with the big ring lever and 16" barrel and I was very impressed with it. Very light with almost no recoil but quite accurate even with the short barrel and it is a heck of a lot of fun!

Also... don't forget the actual Winchester (made by Miroku in Japan)... if you don't mind stretchin' yore budget just a tad. Model 1873 -- Winchester Repeating Arms -- Product Family

I've got a buddy that is into Mounted Cowboy Shooting, he claims you get more Oomph out of the 44-40, he also warns about running round nose bullets in the Henry rifles, since the bullets are basically dropped down the tube. There have been a few magazine explosions from 45LC because round nose bullets are the norm and dropping a bullet onto a round nosed bullet can set off the primer...this is only on the Henry.
He claims the new Winchester rifles are very good and that you pay for what you get. The Uberti rifles I have seen in other calibers have all proved themselves very well.

You can probably find a Winchester 94AE in .45 Colt within your budget. I have one from the mid 90s and I'm well pleased with it. I can also recommend the Rossi 92. Mine is stainless and continues to get smoother the more rounds I put through. Both mine are the Trapper length barrel, and they are as much fun to shoot as any guns I own.

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Georgia On My Mind

I love lever actions, don't know exactly why, but I love em! I had a Uberti 1873 in 45c a while back. It was a beautiful rifle. It was a beautiful rifle, and I thought it was really cool to see the block move up and down as you cycle the lever. Only issue I had was the block would move up accidentally and wouldn't want to open smoothly. Not sure I'd grab at it first if something really needed shootin...but they are cool guns. I am pretty infatuated with the 86' models, but the 92' are nice as well! Good luck!

Nuts...I should not have read this thread. Now I want one of those new Winchester 1873's in .45 Colt. MSRP is $1,579.99

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No good deed goes unpunished.

A friend has the 1860 Henry with the case-hardened receiver instead of the brass. I much prefer that look even though I suspect it's not historically accurate? Anyway, it's a joy to shoot and looks just beautiful. Felt recoil seems quite low to me. I have an itch to get one myself, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

I have two Ubertis; an 1860 Henry and an 1873 "Texas Brush Popper", both in .45 Colt.
Both are fun and reliable. SASS level loads in the '73 are negligible and virtually unfelt in the Henry.
The Henry's weight is a bit much but the cool factor at a SASS match is worth it. The shorter, lighter '73 is just plain fun and pretty cool too.
Get either. Load and shoot. Have fun. Stick with the .45 Colt.

Do not even think about getting one in a Marlin unless you are willing to pay $900+. I want one in a Marlin but I'm not going to pay those prices. Heck, a 357 stainless Marlin goes for over $1300!

James

have a Cimarron 1873 deluxe rifle in 44-40 for several years. have fired a couple of thousand reloads through it with zero issues. these are made by uberti.

If you can find an older JM stamped 1894 Marlin, you'll be OK.

I have a marlin j.m.stamped in .44 and a old rossi Puma in .357 they both shoot great I am really happy with both and can't wait to take the marlin in the woods for whitetail hunting this year.

As posted above you will break the bank on a marlin now.

Having participated in cowboy action for a while and seen many such guns and owned a few of them, my favorite is the Uberti 73. I like the rifle with the 24" Octagonal bbl, but the shorter 20" is perhaps a little more competitive.

The Marlin and most of the Model 92 clones are all good. They are both much stronger than the 73 and are less popular in CAS as they are just a tad less reliable and slower to operate (when all examples are slicked up).

If you intend to shoot it with mild loads and enjoy it, or compete, then the 73/66/ Henry are all good choices. If you want to hunt or use it for more practical matters I would advise you to track down a good older Marlin or Model 92. Also, condider the excellent 44 magnum versions if you go this route...will give you more power among other things. Stay away from the horrid Winchester 94AE by all means.

I have had a Henry Big Boy in .45 Colt for over a decade and have been very happy with it. It is beautifully finished and made of top quality American materials by Americans in America. The action is very smooth and its accurate and has never failed to function perfectly. I used to compete in cowboy competition shooting with it and it handled hundreds of my handloads using 250gr cast lead flat point bullets. It has been a companion to my Colt and Ruger single actions and my S&W 625 Mountain Gun. I also have a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Competition Carbine in .45 Colt. It has also been an excellent performer. It doesn't have the fit and finish of the Henry but it functions just as well...The Henry and the Marlin have the same action that is very strong, smooth and easy to strip for cleaning.

I have a box stock Uberti 1873 in .45 Colt that I have shot the snot out of in seven years of SASS competition with zero problems. It's deadly accurate with cast or jacketed bullets at fifty yards and not so bad at one hundred either. Hard to go wrong with one of the Marlin 1894's as well.

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Stay safe people!

Good point 'bout them mag explosions. If you watch some of the old movies... The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.... Silverado... several others, etc... those movies used modified Model '66's. They removed the wooden forearms, made 'em look like '60's. If you look closely... they had loadin' gates on the receiver's right side.

Had this one for awhile and like it.

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No life story has happy end.

The movie guns are usually Winchester 92's that they removed the handguards to look like Henry's not 66 Yellowboy's....

OP... you simply cannot go wrong with a good Uberti 1866/1873....or the older Marlin's not the new Remlins as they are called in SASS.

Randy

Maybe... but I have never seen a Winchester 92 with a brass receiver... such as this one Clint Eastwood used in GB&U...


Or this one... used by Danny Glover in Silverado...


However, you may be able to explain it.

To the OP... a lot of folks who get a Uberti '73... have that orange-looking finish removed and replaced with a different finish (tongue-oil, etc.)...

Easy to explain. Older westerns - up to maybe the 60s, used Hollywood Henrys. 92 Winchesters (which were everywhere, and nobody really wanted them since there were much newer, more powerful guns around, and they were in obsolete calibers), with the forearm removed and the receiver painted yellow or brass plated.

Using a real Henry was difficult, as the rimfire ammo was not made, and there were no blanks available. Using a real Winchester 66 was no better, since it, also, was 44 Rimfire. Same ammo problem.

Then along comes Uberti and Val whats-his-name (Navy Arms). Now replicas of the old guns, in modern calibers, were around, and movie folk started using them. While Danny Glover uses a 66 with the forearm removed, in Silverado, and CALLS it a Henry, his father's gun is actually a Henry.

So movies made in the last 40 or 50 years USUALLY don't have Hollywood Henrys.

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I always take precautions

I have several (10-12) levers and one of my favorites is the Uberti 73 short rifle deluxe.

I understand the reason Winchester, Marlin, Henry, etc., didn't make a lever rifle in 45 Colt was that the rim of the 45 Colt was small and weak. Instead, they opted for the 32-20, 25-20, 44-40, etc., to fill the pistol cartridge chambered rifle niche. What's changed?

Thanks... that sounds reasonable. However... both rifles that I referred to above and posted pics of were '66 Yellowboys. In GB&U... here is the link in the IMFDB...
Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

Didn't focus on it much... just watched the movie. Also fascinating... he also had a scoped rifle with an off-set mount on it in one of the early scenes.

The original 45 Colt cartridges have a very small rim. The case was extracted by a rod from the front. Later 45 Colt cases have a larger rim. Sometime in the 70ties (about) the rim was enlarged and the case made stronger. There was a 1909 45 military cartridge that was made for the 1909 military revolver. It had a very large rim to take the extractor of the swing out cylinder. The smaller rims would not always be extracted properly so the military specified a different design. The larger rims of the 45 Colt ammo today seem to work in the lever guns.

The 44-40, 38-40, 32-20 were made for the Winchester 1873 model rifle. They have a very nice rim that the extractor will work on. The cases are also tapered to help them work in the action. Winchester did design some pistol cartridges back then but never made any production pistols.

Sometimes pictures help.

Original 45 Colt. Hardly any rim at all. Benet-primed. Primer underneath the head of case. Case made of soft copper. Quick inspection and folks think it's rimfire.



Then when they went to brass, there was a little rim, but still not much. The right-hand case is the old style, called "balloon head". The left-hand case is the modern "solid-head" case, and because the head area is solid brass, they can machine a fairly large "extractor groove" in it.



The rim is still small, compared to other rounds, but now with that groove there is something for the extractor to latch hold of.

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I always take precautions

marlin 1894 .44 and rossi 92 .357
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There were some 1860s re-designed with King's modification. The barrels were swapped out, the magazine tubes were dove tailed to the barrels and the right side was modified to have a loading gate. The carrier would have been modified too for loading through the side instead of the muzzle end of the mag tube.



Jay

As far as worthy .45lc rifles go, I am really happy with my Uberti 1873. Mine is straight stocked and has a 24 inch barrel. I have a Pioneer Gun Works short stroke kit, lightened brass carrier, tuned springs and my own modified sights. I use it for cowboy action matches and it is just a blast to shoot. I run a 200 grain bullet, 4.5 grains of tite group powder, a magnum pistol primer and I crimp my load with a Lee factory crimp die. With all that barrel it is a lot like shooting a .22.

I agree with him on that. Even though I don't shoot black, I've got one 45 rifle - a 16" Rossi with the John Wayne big loop. But I've got three 44/40s. Just a better rifle caliber all around. Only thing wrong with it is that little bottleneck means you can't use carbide dies.

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I always take precautions

Rossi 92 is a great little rifle that can be used with any factory load ,,, and loaded safely up to the hottest loads that would split a Ruger .

If I were a black powder shooter I would be a big .44-40 fan. I would have to believe that the shoulder in the .44-40 case would make a better seal. I can tell you from experience that sub sonic .45 lc loads do soot up pretty good and you definately wouldn't want to discharge rounds without safety eye wear.

Jay

I have a Beretta 1873 like those in your picture but with a blued reciever, checkered wood and a shotgun style butt plate. It is all SASS'ed up and has been shot in 50 or so matches. Mine runs like a top but others have had head space problems with the factory installed short stroke kit.

Jay

I like the Winchester 94 in .45 Colt , works great and is a nice companion for the 25-5

In the 19th Century they didn't go for the 45 Colt in rifles. The small rim, combined with the effect of black powder fouling, made for chancy extraction. And back then, these weren't toys, but rifles on which your life may have depended. Better safe than sorry, so they didn't make them in 45 Colt.

Colt Mfg. tried the .45LC by developing the Burgess... the allure of using the same cartridge in both rifle and handgun was great. However... you are correct... that small rim stopped Colt... and they stuck with the .44WCF for the limited-run Burgess. Hear-tell shortly after the Burgess... Winchester paid Colt a visit with a couple of prototype handguns... and they ended up with a handshake. Colt stuck to handguns... Winchester stuck to rifles.

Item of note: Colt developed the Frontier Six-Shooter in '79 to accompany the Winchesters.

There is a lot more to it than that... but that's as concise as I can make it.

All of my lever guns are Marlins from .22 to .45-70 oh, and uh .410 lever gun.Never been sorry with any one of them . Nick

Marlin makes some great guns. Got a friend who has a Marlin lever .444... and along with the 45-70... it is one of the greatest deep-brush rounds I have ever seen. Up close and personal... if I was in grizzly territory and wanted a lever... either of those would be my choice.

I had a Taraus "Lightning" in 45 Colt. The powder blasting around the bolt (light cowboy loads) would "sand blast" your eyes, the first time you shot without safety glasses! I have had several 92's (over the years I've had 14 or 15 in various calibers) and Marlins (over the years I've had 18 in various calibers),2 being Cowboy Specials (one in 44-40 the other in 45 Colt). Marlins are much easier to detail clean! The problem I see most with the operation of any 92 is that people are too gentle with them. They run best when you slap that lever with authority. I have worked on the actions of several and made them smooth as glass, but they will jamb or catch without positive lever use. Marlin went to a two piece firing pin a long time ago. When the bolt is full of powder fouling they jam more frequently. I have guns with after market one piece firing pins and some with factory two piece; when clean there isn't a noticeable difference. If you want to lighten the trigger spring on a Marlin, it is better to buy a replacement spring. I had cut springs catch on things.

The only problem I have found with the Henry/66/73/76 action design is Cartridge Overall Length! In must never be too long, and if too short you lock up with a second round stuck halfway in the tube. My Italian 73 (44 Special) is a smooth dream if the ammo is right.Ivan

One of the top 10 firearms of mine is a Marlin 45 Colt "Cowboy Competition" model. It's a great rifle with a factory action job. Liked it so much I ended up with two for bargain prices. If your impatient and gotta have it now you would be hard pressed to do better than an Uberti in your flavor.

I understand Borchardt designed one of the Winchester revolvers, and the Winchester designers designed a few other models. I wonder if any are on display in the Winchester factory collection at the Buffalo Bill Cody museum in Cody?

The agreement didn't last too long on Colt's part: they had the Colt Lightning pump rifles in three frame sizes in the 19th century and the Colt Sauer, among others, in the mid 20th.

I've heard of the "Gentleman's Agreement" between Winchester and a pistol maker, but I heard it was Smith, not Colt. And while Smith did market Husqvarna rifles in the latter half of the 20th Century, aside from those early revolving rifles, I don't Smith ever made rifles.

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I always take precautions

WOW! ALl kinds of good info here. I'm really enjoying this.

I'm going to be taking my time on this purchase and have some fun "window shopping".

I'm still leaning towards this
1866 Yellowboy Rifle | Uberti
or this (more this for me, wife likes above more)
1873 Rifle and Carbine | Uberti

but still open! Looking at short barrel in each.

Questions on reloading. Because of some of the comments herein, I'm wondering if you guys use the same loads for the rifle that you'd make for your revolver??? As mentioned, I've got an Uberti 1873 Cattleman in 45C.

1873 Cattleman El Patrón Revolver | Uberti

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

I shoot 8.0 of Unique under a cast 255 RNFP bullet. Use it in all my pistols and in my rifle. It's a full-power load (not a "Ruger only" load, but not some wussy cowboy load) and have had no problem with "blowby" in my rifle.

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I always take precautions

US Made Henry Big Boy in .45 Colt for $800/$850

The best Lever Gun you will ever own!

Rossi M92 .45 Colt 20" Barrel in SS for about $600

The best ever for the price!

The agreement... First and Fourth Paragraphs down...
Burgess Rifle: Greatness Shortlived - American Rifleman

Winchester showed up with some Winchester prototype pistolas... and Colt lost their nerve...

Here is mine.

Marlin 45 colt cowboy.

20" octagonal barrel.

Paid $700

I bought it used and it's one of the older JM versions:

Attached Images

1894CB 45 colt.jpg (161.5 KB, 409 views)

How did you mount the tomahawk on the rifle?

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No good deed goes unpunished.

If you hit it REALLY hard, in just the right spot, it will split that cheap Marlin action right down the middle.

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I always take precautions