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So many lever actions to choose from

3K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  DocHolliday 
#1 ·
Everyone knows that Cadillac builds a nicer car than a Chevy or a Ford and many would say that Lexus is even better than a Cadillac. The theme being........... you generally get what you pay for.... but not always!

That said, when I bought my last pistol a few months ago I noticed a really nice looking lever action rifle which turned out to be a .22 Henry and had a brass mid section or receiver. Since then I have been looking around whenever I go down to Phoenix. My problem is that since finding the Henry and heeding some advice given on this forum, I have started looking at other brands and there are so many rifles to choose from!

The other day I sat down for a few hours surfing the web and came with a list of likes that included such guns as......

Rossi 92 - http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=205&category=8&breadcrumbseries=&search=r92

Marlin 1894 - http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/1894centerfire/1894.asp

Win 1892 - http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/detail.asp?family=022C&mid=534190

Marlin 1894 - http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/1894centerfire/1894deluxe.asp

Browning 92 -
http://www.*********.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=458972500

I don't hunt so the only firm requirement is for it to be a 44 magnum that I can enjoy shooting at the range. I know there are differences between the above guns and I have one question.......... I'm sure there must be a "pecking order" amongst these brands as to which have the smoother actions and have a reputation as being well built. I envision myself spending a nice afternoon of shooting so a smooth lever action would be high on the list regardless if it were top or side ejecting.

Any thoughts you wish to share or advice as to which to have a closer look at if I walked into a well stocked gun shop that dozens to choose from? I absolutely hate taking advice from a salesman!
 
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#2 ·
I chose the Marlin, just because I don't like hot brass down the back of shirt collar! I like the action, but if it had been rough, then it would have spent a few days at the gun smith's shop. A good gun smith can work wonders with a lever gun!
 
#4 ·
My thoughts.

Browning '92. Best of 'em. Expensive. Made by Miroku in Japan. Gonna have to find a used one, 'cause they don't make 'em no more.

Rossi '92. The older ones are great. But since Taurus took over, I would not trust 'em. So I would not buy a new one. Stuff older than, maybe, ten years, are fine.

Winchester '92. Like the Browning, made by Miroku. Come with a rebounding hammer and a tang safety. If you don't like that "unnecessary, lawyer-mandated" crap (I don't), it would be third on the list of what I'd get.

Marlin '94. Used to be a great rifle. If you liked the two-piece firing pin. For those that don't, there are aftermarket one-piece ones available. The older ones have Marlin's Micro-groove rifling, which is great for jacketed bullets, but not so great for cast lead. Newer ones come with "Ballard-style" cut rifling. Problem is, Marlin was sold, and the new "Remlin" has picked up a lousy rep for reliability.
 
#5 ·
I had a Winchester back in the day. It was stolen from my in 1981. Very good lever gun. Mine was in 30 30. You can't go wrong with a Winchester.

I have a Marlin in 44 mag. Can't go wrong here either. Mine is very accurate. I also don't like hot brass down my back as carver stated.

I never shot a Browning lever gun but they do make very high quality guns. I do own their shotguns.
 
#6 ·
Show Low:

Winchester through the years for pistol caliber lever guns was the king. In 1964 the Model 94 was downgraded in an effort to reduce the cost of manufacture. So any used Winchester made prior to 1964 is a collector gun and expensive. Later Model 94's in 44 mag are OK but not the fit and finish of the earlier guns. Winchester closed its plant some 5 or so years ago (US Repeating Arms Co). At that point they moved lever production to Japan into their partner Miroku's plant. Miroku made all the Browning lever clones that have superior fit and finish and today make the Model 92 which is a pistol caliber gun (357Mag and 44Mag).

For a few years in the 80's and 90's Miroku Brownings were made and are totally excellent guns. Finding them used is tough and probably expensive.

Today the Winchester Model 92 made by Miroku is an excellent gun with a more utilitarian finish but the fit is up to Miroku standards. The Winchester brand is on them and they are expensive. I think them well worth the price.

Used Pre-1964 Winchesters are collector guns and expensive. Post-1964 version don't measure up for fit and finish compared to Browning/Miroku versions and the current Winchester/Miroku offerings.

I have owned or worked on several Marlins and I have not found one yet that was accurate enough for me compared to Brownings and Winchesters.

Rossi is a Brazilian clone of Winchester lever guns. When they were not part of Taurus their guns had problems. After Taurus bought them I have not seen any meaningful improvements.

Henry's are USA made lever guns. I once inspected their 22 and it seemed to be a zinc alloy (pot metal) frame covered by a brass skin and of poor fit and finish. I know nothing about their pistol caliber lever guns.

So.....My first choice is to find a Browning Model 92 in 44 Mag (I have one and it is an excellent gun). If I just had to have 44 Mag then my next choice would be new Winchester Model 92. My last choice would be a later Winchester Model 94 in 44 Mag. There are lots of these guns out there and finding a used one might be easy and the pricing might be good as well.

I would add, in these guns the rifles are more accurate than the carbines because of the barrel band at the front of the hand guard that limits the harmonic vibrations during shooting of the carbine. The barrel of the carbine is not free to move naturally and hand holds and other outside force that are not duplicated with every shot impact accuracy. The rifle barrels are more free to move and less sensitive to hand positions on the hand guards.

Hope this helps.

LDBennett
 
#7 ·
The .44 magnum lever rifle is not a long distance gun, nor is it a target gun. It's a pistol round in a short barreled rifle. If you want to shoot long distance, get a rifle designed for that purpose. If you want a target gun, again, get a gun designed for that purpose. If you know your gun, and are able to make the shot, expect 3" groups at 100 yards. If you can do better than that, let's hear about it.
 
#8 ·
in the "What it's worth" forum I see all the time where someone will list a serial number or a few numbers from an older gun and a member will come back with.... "it's a brand x built in 1931"

Are there databases where one might look to learn the build date of a modern rifle to determine if it's one of the older good ones or a newer inferior one?
 
#10 ·
Show Low, I am no expert by far with levers but I do have a few. I have a old pre '64 Winchester 94 chambered in 30-30 that has had a ton of rounds through it and is a 1 moa rifle @ 100 yards if you do your part. I previously owned a newer Marlin 336W also chambered in 30-30 that wasn't very accurate at-least in my opinion. It was maybe a 3 moa rifle @ 100 yards and that wasn't good enough for me so I sold it to build my AR-15. I have also heard alot of folks that say Henry is a "junk" rifle. I have a older Henry chambered in 22lr that I wouldn't trade for the world. Not only was it my 1st rifle close to 20 years ago but it is very accurate. We usually lay down on a sheet at my property in my field and shoot out a string of old Christmas lights since the cheap lights I get only seem to last 1 year after Christmas is over we go down to our local Wal-Mart and pick up a few strands of new lights that have been marked down to $0.97 a strand and use the old lights for target practice. We go out to 75 yards for the bigger bulb lights and come in to 50 yards for the small ones. We take 3 different 22's with us, my lever Henry, wife's semi-auto Mossberg 702 plinkster, and my brothers Marlin Papoose and the Henry has overrun them 3 years in a row!!
 
#11 ·
Depends on how NEW your "newer" guns are, and who made your gun, and how important the manufacture considered it. There are some guns that have really good records. Others, made by the same company, that no one has any idea when they were made.

Ruger - they keep it pretty up-to-date, on their website.

Colt - they have good records around up to, maybe, the late 70s.

Browning - after 1958 there is a system, so you can figger it - for commercial, anyway. Before that - well, FN would number it any way your wanted. If you placed an order, as (let's say), the Monaco Army, for 2000 P35 Hi-Powers, and you wanted 'em serialed 10012 through 12011, they'd do it.

S&W - they got pretty good records. 'Course, they numbered 'em to the series. So they might make a Model A, 35 magnum. They made 10,000 of 'em and they are SN 1-10000. They also made a Model Q, 35 magnum. Made 6000 of them, an they are numbered 1-6000. The Model A and the Model Q were made 40 years apart. You have a 35 magnum, SN 1468. Hmmmm. Is that an A, that was made in 1910, or a Q that was made in 1954? Hmmmm. After GCA68, that went away. Each gun has to have an individual SN, with no other gun having that number. You can buy the book to look up these.

Remington - serial numbers were for their records, to keep track of what THEY were doing. Some repeated. The iconic Remington double-barreled derringer, for example. They numbered them from 001 to 999, then started over.

Foreign guns - heaven only knows.
 
#12 ·
I bought a Marlin .44 '94 many years ago in a pawn shop (pristine condition) and it remains one of my favorite rifles to this day.

Carver, don't ask me how I got your avatar, I replied to a thread you posted on and there it was.
Maybe one of the mods could give me my P3 back
 
#13 ·
For my 2.5 cents worth, I'd go with the Marlins, I have two a 30-30 and a .375. Neither are what I'd call tack drivers, but accurate enough for their intended purpose. The only other lever gun I had any experience with was a post '64 Winchester M94. That gun was a piece of junk, it had a steel plated cast iron receiver, this was a product of the restructuring movement Winchester went through after 1964. My brother and a friend of mine both had Savage M99s, not made anymore but were/are great guns and can still be found occasionally. The Browning BLR is still available, it locks up like a bolt action and is capable of handling high pressure rounds.
 
#14 ·
You looking for "pistol caliber" or "rifle caliber" lever gun?

The ones listed in the original post are all pistol. Several of the suggested guns - Savage 99, BLR - are rifle caliber.
 
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#15 ·
I'm leaning towards the rifles or carbines chambered in .44 magnum. I'm also looking at a 44 magnum revolver. Along with my little Bulldog 44 special I would then have three guns that would shoot 44 specials and two that would shoot the 44 magnums. I'm going shopping saturday in hopes of finding a gun that suits me.
 
#16 ·
Remington - serial numbers were for their records, to keep track of what THEY were doing. Some repeated. The iconic Remington double-barreled derringer, for example. They numbered them from 001 to 999, then started over.
Remington also used date codes stamped on to the barrel for a good chunk of time.

But I don't think that Remington ever made a lever action .44 Mag. (I don't have the book handy to confirm.)
 
#17 ·
Sometimes magnums will work with specials, sometimes not.

I've heard that Marlins can be picky about length.

Be nice if they worked like tube 22s. Shoot magnums, specials and Russians through the sa,e gun.

It would be really cool to have Russians work in mr Rossi. Give me a fifteen round mag.
 
#19 ·
My Marlin shoots .38 or .357 mag. What we have found is that if you are shooting both, you should shoot the longer .357 first, then the .38 because of a residue build-up. Shooting the .38 first builds up a residue that keeps the .357 from chambering.

I have opted to use a .357 mag case with a non-mag powder load--3.9 gr. Titegroup. It works fine forr me and just about everyone else in the club.
 
#18 ·
Happy shopping.
We do a lot of what we call Gallery Rifle shooting in my club. Gallery Rifle is pistol caliber rifle.
When I was first nosing around the main options were Marlin, Rossi, and Winchester.
Wincester is more complex to take apart for cleaning, and has a top ejection port. That means if you add a scope it would have to be offset.

I'm a little hazy on Rossi, but not many people in the club have them--maybe availability. Same with Henry.

Almost all of the gallery rifles in my club and in the other clubs around are Marlin. .38/.357 or .44. Cleaning is fairly easy. I've shot a couple thousand rounds through mine and had no trouble with the two piece firing pin. Several people have installed one piece fiing pins and done some polishing on the trigger etc. to make it smoother to shoot. I've mounted a scope on mine...it already has the holes pre drilled and tapped for the scope mount and the side eject doesn't interfere with a top mounted scope. They can be quite accurate. One of our members set a new country-wide record of 30X, but he does a lot of shooting. This guy also has a revolver in the same caliber, and could shoot his .44's in either gun. However, since he is target shooting, he has developed separate loads for each gun. The guys at the club were complaining that the newer ones are not as good as the used ones, so you might look for a used one, made before the factory change.

Just for what it's worth.
 
#20 ·
Happy shopping.
We do a lot of what we call Gallery Rifle shooting in my club. Gallery Rifle is pistol caliber rifle.
When I was first nosing around the main options were Marlin, Rossi, and Winchester.
Wincester is more complex to take apart for cleaning, and has a top ejection port. That means if you add a scope it would have to be offset.

I'm a little hazy on Rossi, but not many people in the club have them--maybe availability. Same with Henry.

Almost all of the gallery rifles in my club and in the other clubs around are Marlin. .38/.357 or .44. Cleaning is fairly easy. I've shot a couple thousand rounds through mine and had no trouble with the two piece firing pin. Several people have installed one piece fiing pins and done some polishing on the trigger etc. to make it smoother to shoot. I've mounted a scope on mine...it already has the holes pre drilled and tapped for the scope mount and the side eject doesn't interfere with a top mounted scope. They can be quite accurate. One of our members set a new country-wide record of 30X, but he does a lot of shooting. This guy also has a revolver in the same caliber, and could shoot his .44's in either gun. However, since he is target shooting, he has developed separate loads for each gun. The guys at the club were complaining that the newer ones are not as good as the used ones, so you might look for a used one, made before the factory change.

Just for what it's worth.
Worth a lot, thanks for the informative reply, a few questions please......

1. I'm a leftie so brass coming back in my face is a concern with the side eject, does your Marlin eject them straight out or slightly towards the rear or really towards the rear(where my face would be)? My AR-15 ejects to the right and I was concerned with it until I actually fired it and after 1,000 rounds, none have ever hit me anywhere on the body. One landed on the bench and I layed my arm down on it and that really got my attention but that's a different story! :)
2. Do any of the members who are chambered in .44mag, shoot 44 specials without problems? I'm guessing the same residue buildup would occur as the 38/357.
3. If I go looking for a used one, any idea of the factory change time period? Or more to the point, any way of telling the date if I happen to see a used gun in a shop or gun show, perhaps a code as part of the serial number?

One thing I need to call about tomorrow is the possibility of shooting the "pistol cartridge" rifle in our indoor range. They allow the .223 rifles so they might allow the 44 magnum as well.
 
#21 ·
Been doing some looking into the Marlin 1894 44 mag and a few indicators have surfaced as a possible way of determining the manufacture date of the gun....
  • If the trigger is gold plated, it's likely between 1969 and 1979, after then, the triggers are blued steel.
  • Saddle rings were included between 1969 and 1971 then discontinued
  • Fixed front blade sites were used until 1973 then a new hooded site was used
  • The newer guns have a checkered design on the stocks, the older ones don't
Anyone have one of these guns that can verify any of the above?
 
#23 ·
I own many lever guns and love them all... the myth of not shooting lead out of a microgroove barrel is just that.. a myth. My 1894 is microgroove and shoots 1" to 1.5" groups at 100 yards all day shooting cast boolits I make myself.

Slug the bore and go .002 over or better yet.... slug the chamber and cast for it.

Why not get a 1895 in 45-70? you can load way down so even a small kid can shoot or load up to almost 458 Win mag level (not advised but I have on occasion) The 45-70 is my favorite carbine
 
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