Lever action recommendations

Bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action, self loading rifles and other miscellaneous longarms.

Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by thebear » 08 Sep 2017, 2:05 pm

[quote="duncan61"]The Marlin must belt in 450 Marlin.What is it you hunt with that Monster??[/quote

Not much at the moment, it was bought for pigs. The recoil is fairly savage as it is an 18" barrel and a fairly light gun. My 375 H&H is not as bad.
In regard to Henrys, I have two. One in 44mag and one in 357mag, these are used for Western Action. The 44mag has been faultless, but the dramas with the 357mag were unbelievable.
I collected the 357mag from the gunship, took it home and teat loaded it with my dummy rounds. As soon as I put the feed tube in all the rounds were pushed under the bolt. Could not find the problem and took it back. It went in for warranty, but OSA the importers do not do their own warranty work but use a third party. It took three months to come back and when I went to collect it, I found the receiver had been scratched in several places and the butt had dings in it. I was not impressed, one returning home guess what, it still had the same problem.
Back to the gun shop and I told them I do not what this firearm back as it has been devalued with all the scratches and is still faulty. They got onto OSA but they were not much help. I ended up writing to Henry in the US as they state their firearms have a lifetime warranty. I received a reply very quickly and was told they would send a UPS label for me to send it back. I had to tell them that I live in Australia not the US and we would have to find another way. I then wrote to the owner of Henry and they offered to repair or replace. As the gun had been damaged by OSA's repairer I told them to replace it. Three months later I received a new Henry that has been faultless. The interesting thing about this particular firearm is the calibre loading. My Western Action Marlin is 38/357mag,however the Henry is 357mag/38. It does not like 38spl.
As for lever actions I have four Marlins, three Henrys, two Uberti's and a 1887 lever shotgun. I do like lever actions
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by burek » 08 Sep 2017, 2:44 pm

I'm also pondering a lever action rifle but the more I read they all sound like a big pain in the ass, gamble :(
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by bladeracer » 08 Sep 2017, 3:08 pm

burek wrote:I'm also pondering a lever action rifle but the more I read they all sound like a big pain in the ass, gamble :(


I am not fond of levers. I don't hate them, but I don't like them either.
But as my brother likes them (in theory) I am considering getting a few just for kicks :-)
Thinking of a .22LR for sure (I quite like the Henry Youth - 16" barrel, under 2kg), and a couple of pistol calibers (.357 mag, .44/40 and .44 Mag), and a 45/70 should be sufficient I think.
Haven't started looking too hard just yet, but I will be.
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by Supaduke » 08 Sep 2017, 4:36 pm

I like my Henry's.

45-70 is a ton of fun

.22 has done several thousand rounds with no issues. Eats anything you feed it.

20170829_121649.jpg
Colour case 45/70 and Frontier .22
20170829_121649.jpg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 4902 times
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by bladeracer » 08 Sep 2017, 5:30 pm

Supaduke wrote:I like my Henry's.

45-70 is a ton of fun

.22 has done several thousand rounds with no issues. Eats anything you feed it.

20170829_121649.jpg


I know there's some variety available in the rimfire and pistol calibers, but is there much choice in the .45/70 levers?
I know Marlin and Henry.
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by Supaduke » 08 Sep 2017, 6:21 pm

Off the top of my head

Chiappa
Rossi
Winchester
Pedersoli
Henry
Marlin
Uberti

All make a 45-70 Lever

And if you have money to burn , Big Horn Armoury make some pretty sexy stuff
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by bladeracer » 08 Sep 2017, 6:38 pm

Supaduke wrote:Off the top of my head

Chiappa
Rossi
Winchester
Pedersoli
Henry
Marlin
Uberti

All make a 45-70 Lever

And if you have money to burn , Big Horn Armoury make some pretty sexy stuff


Nope, no money to burn and no serious usage for them, they're just for giggles :-)
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by Supaduke » 08 Sep 2017, 6:47 pm

Plenty of giggles to be had with a 45-70, load Trailboss for gentle loads a 12 year old could shoot properly, load up some hot loads that will rattle your teeth. Everything in between , so versatile.
Everytime I hold a round it puts a smile on my face, massive. The drainpipe barrel, gold. Watching people shoot a hot load for the first time, priceless.
It's sort of reminds me of a souped up hotrod. Not particularly practical, many things do the job better, but God damn they are cool and fun to play with.
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by Wm.Traynor » 08 Sep 2017, 7:27 pm

burek wrote:I'm also pondering a lever action rifle but the more I read they all sound like a big pain in the ass, gamble :(


Does that go for the Brownings and Japanese Winchesters too? FWIW, I agree about them being a gamble. To get around it, I think you would have to speak to the gunshop owner about your concerns. If he/she listens, tell them you will pay for a function test before paying the full price.
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by burek » 11 Sep 2017, 3:08 pm

Wm.Traynor wrote:
burek wrote:I'm also pondering a lever action rifle but the more I read they all sound like a big pain in the ass, gamble :(


Does that go for the Brownings and Japanese Winchesters too? FWIW, I agree about them being a gamble. To get around it, I think you would have to speak to the gunshop owner about your concerns. If he/she listens, tell them you will pay for a function test before paying the full price.


Not fan of the high gloss on the BLR. Am curious about the Henry Long Ranger though. No where to see one in flesh in SE QLD, as far as I know. Not even that place in Margate ;) . Main interest is in Marlin 1894C in 357 which brings me to my gamble comment :D
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by in2anity » 11 Sep 2017, 6:39 pm

burek wrote:Not fan of the high gloss on the BLR. Am curious about the Henry Long Ranger though. No where to see one in flesh in SE QLD, as far as I know. Not even that place in Margate ;) . Main interest is in Marlin 1894C in 357 which brings me to my gamble comment :D


What part do you think is the gamble? Functionality or accuracy? (Or something else?)
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by burek » 11 Sep 2017, 9:02 pm

in2anity wrote:
burek wrote:Not fan of the high gloss on the BLR. Am curious about the Henry Long Ranger though. No where to see one in flesh in SE QLD, as far as I know. Not even that place in Margate ;) . Main interest is in Marlin 1894C in 357 which brings me to my gamble comment :D


What part do you think is the gamble? Functionality or accuracy? (Or something else?)


From what I gather, they shoot well, and this I guess is most important.

I just hate the idea of rough as guts finishes (external and internal) and nasty triggers I hear about and having to sink more $$$ and effort into something that was supposed to be complete. And they ship this "complete" product with a serious face on, that's all :D
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by in2anity » 12 Sep 2017, 8:02 am

burek wrote:From what I gather, they shoot well, and this I guess is most important.

I just hate the idea of rough as guts finishes (external and internal) and nasty triggers I hear about and having to sink more $$$ and effort into something that was supposed to be complete. And they ship this "complete" product with a serious face on, that's all :D


You get what you pay for; agreed the comparatively cheaper "remlins" are a little rough when it comes to finish and machining, but nothing a bit of wet-and-dry and some elbow grease won't fix up. I think it's important to be comfortable completely stripping down your rifle anyway, so it's good practice. The more expensive ones are silky smooth our of the box.

I actually believe the gamble is in the accuracy department; all that junk hanging off the barrel means the barrel harmonics can be a bit of a lucky-dip. Some happen to group shockingly tightly, a lot will only give you a minute of deer (which is good enough for many people's needs).

The triggers are usually on the heavier side by-design; the lever gun was designed as a fast-handling tool meant for a saddle scabbard, so a hair trigger would be dangerous. This obviously also doesn't lend itself to pinpoint accuracy, so indeed you likely will need to spend some time and dollars addressing this (if you plan on punching a lot of paper with it).

In summary, horses for courses; just don't be unrealistic with your expectations.
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by Supaduke » 12 Sep 2017, 8:31 am

Or you could buy a Henry...... :D
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Re: Lever action recommendations

Post by PoorShot300 » 30 Sep 2017, 1:04 pm

in2anity wrote:
The triggers are usually on the heavier side by-design; the lever gun was designed as a fast-handling tool meant for a saddle scabbard, so a hair trigger would be dangerous. This obviously also doesn't lend itself to pinpoint accuracy, so indeed you likely will need to spend some time and dollars addressing this (if you plan on punching a lot of paper with it).

In summary, horses for courses; just don't be unrealistic with your expectations.


So true about the Marlin triggers...both my 336 XLR and the 39A (.22) have heavy pulls....and not just because of the little action they have seen i might add.

Regarding punching paper, the other thing i found irritating on the range was how high i had to set the rest to have a clear sweep/ejection for reloading, which then made my posture 'uncomfortable' for accuracy. The only option was to sweep the rig sideways and eject, and that breaks your sightline somewhat... :evil:

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