That one is a personal favorite of mine. Super accurate with any load and it points great
lever action pistol caliber rifles
- Thread starter guskody
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Sebago Son
Member
Brush Gun Favorites....
The afore mentioned .44 Trapper (shown on the bottom) in good company.... a Marlin Maruader in .35 Remington.
The afore mentioned .44 Trapper (shown on the bottom) in good company.... a Marlin Maruader in .35 Remington.
Desert Dog
Member
Really? I have a 44mag Marlin 1894P with a 16.25" ported barrel (think down-sized Guide Gun) that is so much fun to shoot, that I've never thought of it as being uncomfortable. Way easier to snap off a hundred rounds with the Marlin, than it is with my 5" 629. This is one light, fast and quick handling lever gun. If I had to pick a lever gun for HD, this would be the one. Great hunting companion too. The barrel length is more than sufficient for what I consider reasonable hunting distances, given the platform and caliber being used.
As it happens, one of my favorite ballistics experts, Dr. Gary Roberts, tested a bunch of 44Mag ammo a few years back with exactly this combination of firearms. He made a list of the rounds that were the best in the 629 and some that were better suited to the Marlin. He also found "the load with clearly superior performance in BOTH the handgun and carbine was the Hornady 300 gr XTP". Very convienent having one round that works exceedingly well in both firearms.
Stainz
Member
I loved .45 Colt - especially my 625MG in that caliber. In fact, it eventually replaced all of my same caliber Rugers - BH, Bisley, Vaquero, RH, and even my .454 SRH. I tried a range friend's Rossi/Puma M1892 ten years back - ultimately ordered a new Puma SS 24" octagon barrel M1892 - and a Marbles Tang Sight the same day. I installed it in seconds - and have never shot it without those sights - a real pleasure to plink with. Slow/short stroke the lever will yield problems, otherwise it has been 100% reliable - a real joy!
I had a Henry 'Big Boy' in .44 Magnum for a while - delightful, but heavy (That brass receiver!). You could mix .44 Russians, Specials, & Magnums - they'd all feed easily. I regret selling that one... but not my Marlins - they were delivered rough in the lockwork smoothness department. The Puma and Henry were smooth as glass right out of the box. I do know of one problem with one Puma - a 20" blued .357/.38. It was smooth as glass, too - just wouldn't pop a primer - and for good reason - it was assembled without the firing pin! He returned it to the mail order closeout dealer for exchange - but they had no more. A local dealer had one on the wall - but the cheapskate didn't want to spend the C-note plus in difference. That's the only Rossi/Puma M1892 problem I know of.
Some years back, I thinned my long gun herd - down to .22's and one CF - the M1892 in the picture. It's 'enough' for me!
Stainz
I had a Henry 'Big Boy' in .44 Magnum for a while - delightful, but heavy (That brass receiver!). You could mix .44 Russians, Specials, & Magnums - they'd all feed easily. I regret selling that one... but not my Marlins - they were delivered rough in the lockwork smoothness department. The Puma and Henry were smooth as glass right out of the box. I do know of one problem with one Puma - a 20" blued .357/.38. It was smooth as glass, too - just wouldn't pop a primer - and for good reason - it was assembled without the firing pin! He returned it to the mail order closeout dealer for exchange - but they had no more. A local dealer had one on the wall - but the cheapskate didn't want to spend the C-note plus in difference. That's the only Rossi/Puma M1892 problem I know of.
Some years back, I thinned my long gun herd - down to .22's and one CF - the M1892 in the picture. It's 'enough' for me!
Stainz
flightsimmer
Member
.357 Magnum, you'll be glad you did. It's also cheaper to shoot.
Oh! And the Rossi '92, 20" is a good choice and very cost effective.
Oh! And the Rossi '92, 20" is a good choice and very cost effective.
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Engine49guy
Member
If you like the Ruger 10-22 they made a carbon copy in .44 magnum.
I love mine.
I love mine.
Poohgyrr
Member
FWIW, in 357 Magnum a tuned Rossi made M92 is about perfect. I'd add a plug for Steve's Gunz out of Port Arthur TX. Steve can fix the few minor problems, or sell you a DVD showing how to do it yourself. These Rossi made Levers run great in any of the pistol calibers, with the exception of some older Rossi's in 44 Magnum - that were bored at the upper end of spec's and run best with cast bullets of the appropriate diameter.
The 16" M92, in 357 Magnum, with a good 180gr load, will give you an honest 1800+ FPS. Compare this to the original, and current, 30-30 factory loadings out of a much longer barrel. The guys who run cast boolits do amazing things with this round in the short Lever.
IMO, the 357 Magnum in a Lever does not have any recoil until we use the heavy 180 gr loads. In 38 Special, the "recoil" is even less. This means anyone in my family can shoot this Lever all day long. I cannot say that about many of the 44/45 pistol loads.
The M94's in 44 Magnum/ 45 Colt aren't bad either.
Winchester never did fix the double feed problem with the 357 Magnum M94's. The Winchester M92's in 357 Magnum do not have that problem and are my favorite.
Marlin also makes a good 357 Magnum; I wish I had bought one instead of the M94/357 Magnum.
The pistol caliber Levers, especially the 357's, can be real cheap to shoot, are powerful enough for everything my family will do, and are just all around great.
The 16" M92, in 357 Magnum, with a good 180gr load, will give you an honest 1800+ FPS. Compare this to the original, and current, 30-30 factory loadings out of a much longer barrel. The guys who run cast boolits do amazing things with this round in the short Lever.
IMO, the 357 Magnum in a Lever does not have any recoil until we use the heavy 180 gr loads. In 38 Special, the "recoil" is even less. This means anyone in my family can shoot this Lever all day long. I cannot say that about many of the 44/45 pistol loads.
The M94's in 44 Magnum/ 45 Colt aren't bad either.
Winchester never did fix the double feed problem with the 357 Magnum M94's. The Winchester M92's in 357 Magnum do not have that problem and are my favorite.
Marlin also makes a good 357 Magnum; I wish I had bought one instead of the M94/357 Magnum.
The pistol caliber Levers, especially the 357's, can be real cheap to shoot, are powerful enough for everything my family will do, and are just all around great.
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Had a Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag. Fine rifle. Put a Lyman aperture rear sight on it. With Rem. 240 gr. JHP's it would produce five shot groups the size of a silver dollar at 50 yds. At 100 yds., it would keep a full magazine under 4 inches. Foolishly when I no longer was doing a lot of swamp/heavy woods hunting, I let it go. Now... I'm back to heavy woods. My M-1 Garand works well, but I do have a longing for another one of those .44 Mag. Marlins!
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
I have a bunch of levers. I like a light sweetheart rifle and the winchester model 92 or one of its many clones is it. I have them in 30-30, 308, 30-40, 357 and 44 mag. The 357 probley is the most usefull, a pleasure to shoot and ammo the cheapest and easy to get. I have 92s in both 357 and 44 mag. The 44 mag in that light rifle will smack you the worst.
Short story for many reasons I recomend a 92 in .357.
Short story for many reasons I recomend a 92 in .357.
Desert Dog
Member
With all the recommendations for a .357Mag lever guns, seems like most everyone here missed the part about giving you an excuse to buy a 629.
Come one guys, help the man out...
Read this thread: Paired Revolver with your 1984?
44wheelman
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I won't be getting rid of my Winch. M92 in 44mag anytime soon. Since the action is soooo smoooth, I can overlook the fact that it's a Miroku made Winchester. It pops out 44 specials like a semi-auto gun.
I also have a mad in 1893 Winchester M92 in 38-40...just as much fun, allthough I am a little more delicate with the antique.
I also have a mad in 1893 Winchester M92 in 38-40...just as much fun, allthough I am a little more delicate with the antique.
bronco45
Member
Another feature that I enjoy about the Marlin is Skinner Sights. Or a scope mount. Great precision sights easy to install on the Marlin. I have a Browning 92 in 44 and I enjoy the gun but the sights are rudimentary when compared to many of the receiver sights available for Marlins.
Don't get me wrong I love the Browning 92, but the Marlin with XS or Skinner sights really dials in the accuracy potential of the weapon.
Enjoy whatever carbine you purchase.
Don't get me wrong I love the Browning 92, but the Marlin with XS or Skinner sights really dials in the accuracy potential of the weapon.
Enjoy whatever carbine you purchase.
buck460XVR
Member
I have a Stainless 20'' Rossi '92 in .357 mag and love it. Very accurate and a hoot to shoot. With cheap jacketed 158JHPs and 7.5 grains of Unique it's like shooting a .22 Mag. Shoots very well with the same loads the 686s like too. For a companion to the 629s, I have a Ruger 77/44 and a Marlin lever. The Ruger is not as classic as the lever, but carries a scope much better. With the rotary mag, it's much easier to load and unload when hunting as compared to jacking the shells outta the lever at the end of the day. Accuracy is about the same with either, with the scoped 77/44 easier on these old eyes at longer distances and smaller targets.
Badkarma 1
US Veteran
So let me ask you guys something, how does a .357 lever gun compare with an M1 Carbine? Dale
papajohn428
Member
.30 M-1 Carbine: Factory ballistics call for a 110-FMJ bullet at 1990 fps from an 18" barrel. Few loads actually achieve that velocity.
.357 Marlin 1894C, 18.5" barrel: I typically run 125-grain bullets at around 2050 fps, but my favorite load is a 158-JSP at about 1800. Most Marlins prefer the heavier bullets. My pet load is 16.2/Lil Gun/158 JSP, though the max load is listed at 18.0 grains. I get far better brass life and awesome accuracy (2 MOA) with my pet load.
.357 Marlin 1894C, 18.5" barrel: I typically run 125-grain bullets at around 2050 fps, but my favorite load is a 158-JSP at about 1800. Most Marlins prefer the heavier bullets. My pet load is 16.2/Lil Gun/158 JSP, though the max load is listed at 18.0 grains. I get far better brass life and awesome accuracy (2 MOA) with my pet load.
Cooter Brown
Member
I had a Model 92 in 45 Colt--I had it smoothed up and a Marble's tang sight added by a great smith (since retired) and it was a wonderful shooter.
I was going to shoot CASS but my revolvers got stolen (long story) and I ended up selling the rifle to get my first K22.
I was going to shoot CASS but my revolvers got stolen (long story) and I ended up selling the rifle to get my first K22.
1973Glenfield25
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I don't hunt and I have other guns for self defense.
But probably my favorite two guns for fun shootin' are my Henry Frontier Model lever action .22 and my blued Ruger Single Six. Both great super high quality American made cowboy/western style guns. There's lots of threads about them at rimfirecentral.com.
Both are more than reasonably priced new, and cost next to nothing to shoot all day. Don't need a lot if any hearing protection and won't scare the wildlife or neighbors.
Nothing else comes close. (Although I don't have a K22 S&W)
But probably my favorite two guns for fun shootin' are my Henry Frontier Model lever action .22 and my blued Ruger Single Six. Both great super high quality American made cowboy/western style guns. There's lots of threads about them at rimfirecentral.com.
Both are more than reasonably priced new, and cost next to nothing to shoot all day. Don't need a lot if any hearing protection and won't scare the wildlife or neighbors.
Nothing else comes close. (Although I don't have a K22 S&W)
Model19man
Member
I've shot one of these Marlin 44 Mag lever guns and did not find the recoil to be any more noticeable than say a .410 shotgun, which is to say barely noticeable for an adult male.
On the other hand I owned a 45-70 Marlin lever gun with the scallop shaped old style butt. That gun has noticeable recoil, enough so that I hardly ever shot it because it was too painful. I don't miss that one.
On the other hand I owned a 45-70 Marlin lever gun with the scallop shaped old style butt. That gun has noticeable recoil, enough so that I hardly ever shot it because it was too painful. I don't miss that one.
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