Looking for a Lever Gun -- Which one?

[bluealtered]

I have been out of lever guns since the late 1960's, the last one was a .35 Remington that was a good black bear rifle. Dusty fixed my not thinking of them with the Marlin/Ruger thread. Now I am lusting for one, no I don't need one I just want one. I have plenty of rifles for sale because i don't shoot them, but here I am looking again.

Since I haven't paid any attention to levers in a very long time and I am now in my mid 70's instead of my late 20's recoil is important, If i could reach out to say 125/150 yards with black bear power and not beat my shoulders up to much, (both are in bad shape), I would simply wait for Ruger to bring one out.

No .45/70's, for sure but something I can find brass or ammo for will work fine . So what do you guys think? I haven't looked at any ballistics yet but I am thinking something like the .44 mag simply because it's popular in this area and there should be brass around here.

Thanks dusty I had forgotten how much fun that old .35 Remington was.

 

[jackson1]

Have several lever guns, but rarely shoot them. My Model 86 Winchester simply has too much recoil for me to enjoy shooting. Still have my first rifle, a Marlin 39a, a gift from my favorite uncle. Today it is the rifle I start my grandkids on. Don't really know or understand the market for lever action 22's but think it would great to bring it back. If I ever find a Browning Model 92 in 44 magnum, I will be a buyer.

 

[lawman29]

Model 1894 - Merz Antique Firearms

We specialize in Winchester Antique Firearms made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. of New Haven, CT. We have the largest inventory of antique lever-action Winchester Rifles and Carbines in the world. Model 1894

www.merzantiques.com

Get an original 94 in 30/30 or 25/35.

 

[howl]

It's not unheard of to get an old Marlin 336 30/30 that prints under an inch at 100. The stocks on them make them seem like they kick much more than they do. I'd figure on a upgrade recoil pad or Shooter's Friend and handloading Speer 130gr or maybe Hammer 120gr.

When we hunt deer where black bear are possible my son uses the 130gr with mid-thirties grains powder as per Speer data. Prints 3/4" and produces incredible blood trails on whitetail. No bear yet!

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have had quite a few Marlins, like older Smiths I kind of have a thing for them. I only have one left, a 1894 in .44 mag. The 45-70 I had was brutal to shoot, stock design mostly. The 357 was fun so were the .22s but were plinkers in my opinion. The 44 has enough energy for hunting just about anything at close range and has enough recoil to feel like your shooting something but not even close to uncomfortable. My favorite thing is that the muzzle pressure is so low in the longer barrel with a pistol round that you dont need ear plugs to shoot it. I'll probably pick up up a 30-30 if I run across one just because. I have been able to get close to moa accuracy out of all of them. The 357 was a legit sub moa rifle with factory buckhorn iron sights. They are surprisingly accurate for what they are. At least when Marlin made them.

 

[Tommie]

I have been out of lever guns since the late 1960's, the last one was a .35 Remington that was a good black bear rifle. Dusty fixed my not thinking of them with the Marlin/Ruger thread. Now I am lusting for one, no I don't need one I just want one. I have plenty of rifles for sale because i don't shoot them, but here I am looking again.

Since I haven't paid any attention to levers in a very long time and I am now in my mid 70's instead of my late 20's recoil is important, If i could reach out to say 125/150 yards with black bear power and not beat my shoulders up to much, (both are in bad shape), I would simply wait for Ruger to bring one out.

No .45/70's, for sure but something I can find brass or ammo for will work fine . So what do you guys think? I haven't looked at any ballistics yet but I am thinking something like the .44 mag simply because it's popular in this area and there should be brass around here.

Thanks dusty I had forgotten how much fun that old .35 Remington was.

Sounds like you’re describing a handy lever carbine chambered in the ol’ 30-30. Nostalgia aside, that cartridge covers the 150 yard shots (where the vast majority of whitetails and black bear are taken) with relative ease while having manageable recoil.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

243 works here... I gave the shoulder breaker 45-70 to my son.. 74 here. Also love my Henry lever gun in 22 mag.

 

[Bill K]

Exactly why for years I have kept this old Win 94, in 30 WCF (30-30 now) bought in 1949.. Worth more now than when I got it. still going and has still taken a deer here and there. Fun to shoot with cast lead and small game/plinking. But now I must use lead free on game...

 

[CaptainMal]

Marlin 30-30. That's all you ned to know.

I have two using one thins year to take deer at 160 and 220 yards. As Alex says, they ARE MOA rifles with the "tuning" I did to each. Going the barrel bands loose, take out stock contacts, square and bed the butt and lighten the trigger. Find the right load with those 160 Hornady FTX bullets with LeverRevolution powder and in my 24" Marlin 336, you have a true 300 yard lever rifle. The 20" one I like to a solid 200 yards or slightly more.

Also have a Marlin 336 lever in 44 mag. While I have made kills with it and recently used it, the power and range is not remotely close to a good 30-30 load. It is a "pooper" in my opinion. Now do one in 45-70 or 444 Marlin and you get good power and a bit more range. Only thing is they come with way more kick than my 30-30's.

I also have a Savage 99 in 308. After lots of tuning, testing and trigger work, it shoots like crap. Read where they all are basically 2 MOA rifles. No experience with others so do not know for sure. I use mine for shorter ranges.

Tried two Henry rifles recently. Forget that bull of having to hold the lever up while you shoot to get the thing to go off. Couple that with the hideous triggers ( at least on the two I tried) to figure they are not as good as they look.

 

[BlueWater]

I have been out of lever guns since the late 1960's, the last one was a .35 Remington that was a good black bear rifle. Dusty fixed my not thinking of them with the Marlin/Ruger thread. Now I am lusting for one ...

You could go the route of a Browning BLR lever-action rifle, if greater distance and power is what you're requiring. That'd give you the choice of some decent rifle calibers. Perhaps in .243 Win, .35 Whelen, 6.5 Creedmoor, or .270 Win, for example.

 

[moondog]

Just sold my 35 Remington to a fellow member here last month. It was a pleasure to shoot and for what it was, accurate. I still have a 444 that I haven't shot in probably 10 years. Don't even know why I'm keeping it other that it is a very capable big bore. Load the FTX bullets and you'll be amazed at the accuracy and range. Sold my 45-70 long ago, way to brutal.

 

[MQ1]

I have been out of lever guns since the late 1960's, the last one was a .35 Remington that was a good black bear rifle. Dusty fixed my not thinking of them with the Marlin/Ruger thread. Now I am lusting for one, no I don't need one I just want one. I have plenty of rifles for sale because i don't shoot them, but here I am looking again.

Since I haven't paid any attention to levers in a very long time and I am now in my mid 70's instead of my late 20's recoil is important, If i could reach out to say 125/150 yards with black bear power and not beat my shoulders up to much, (both are in bad shape), I would simply wait for Ruger to bring one out.

No .45/70's, for sure but something I can find brass or ammo for will work fine . So what do you guys think? I haven't looked at any ballistics yet but I am thinking something like the .44 mag simply because it's popular in this area and there should be brass around here.

Thanks dusty I had forgotten how much fun that old .35 Remington was.

If you are a willing reloader, I think a good .44 Magnum is tough to beat.

I had a good smith slick up a .444 Marlin for me, and afterwards he talked me into a new recoil pad that seriously made the rifle hurt half as much...rhat is something to consider.

I’m sure a .30-30 would do just as well, and I have one of them too, but if I had to have only 1 it would be in .44 Magnum.

MQ1

 

[FNSafari]

I bought moondog's 335 35 Rem and am very happy with it. It will suit me just fine in our rather dense forested state. I hunt in some fields with perhaps 125-135 yard possible shots and will tune the load and see how she groups at those distances.

If I were looking for a hard-hitting, reach out a bit chambering in a lever gun it would be a .308 or 358 winchester in a Browning BLR. Great rifles.

 

[Ray123]

I have been out of lever guns since the late 1960's, the last one was a .35 Remington that was a good black bear rifle. Dusty fixed my not thinking of them with the Marlin/Ruger thread. Now I am lusting for one, no I don't need one I just want one. I have plenty of rifles for sale because i don't shoot them, but here I am looking again.

Since I haven't paid any attention to levers in a very long time and I am now in my mid 70's instead of my late 20's recoil is important, If i could reach out to say 125/150 yards with black bear power and not beat my shoulders up to much, (both are in bad shape), I would simply wait for Ruger to bring one out.

No .45/70's, for sure but something I can find brass or ammo for will work fine . So what do you guys think? I haven't looked at any ballistics yet but I am thinking something like the .44 mag simply because it's popular in this area and there should be brass around here.

Thanks dusty I had forgotten how much fun that old .35 Remington was.

I have a Winchester 30-30 trapper with a 16" barrel...used to shoot the heads off of grouse with it many years ago, it never seen a factory load...used speer 170 gr and win 748...put a recoil pad on it and we would plink with it all the way to 400 yds with open sights. The winchester 45 colt loaded hot or 454 casual has close range brute power (the 45 colt brass has thicker brass in the head area than 44 mag brass.. I milled a cross section of Winchester brass and measured.. the 454 had the thickest head followed by the 45 colt, and the 44 mag brass was .010 thinner than the 45 colt. it's the weak guns not the brass in 45 colt so I can run 400 jacketed bullets at high pressures in the 454 with 45 colt brass so the round can fit mag length )...300 grain bullet in 454 will run over 2000 fps close to 45/70 in a 16" barrel is a brute to shoot a lot...but shoot 255 or 300 gr cast at 1200 fps you can shoot all day in comfort...I never shoot factory loads. And I rarely understand those who do, as reading can make any caliber comfortable to shoot, and a dragon slayer with hand loads...Even the 50 BMG 650 gr subs...loaded with trail boss or red dot can be shot all day in tbe heavy rifle in total comfort. If ya don't want to reload much and are occasionally running through the brush after bear, the 16" 30-30 makes sense.

 

[varmintshooter]

I keep thinking I will sell 1 of mine as I don't shoot them much but can't bring myself to do it. 99C Savage and M88 Win both in 308. They were the first 2 centerfire rifles I bought back in the late 60's. Being a lefty they worked pretty good.

 

[357Mag]

Bluealtered -

Howdy !

IMHO.... buy another M-336 .35 Remington! But this time, hold out for one of the CT-made XLRs from the last couple years that Marlin made them.

I had a mid -60's 336C .35 calibre, but the 24" XLR stainless takes the .35 Rem to another level.
The fit & finish on my stainless + laminate XLR is really great. I get compliments on the gun's appearance every trip to the range.

I tried a M1894SC .357Mag for closer range use on our family NE Indiana farm.. I also used a H & R SB2
.357Max laminated, and a custom bolt rifle chambered in .357AutoMag that I had necked-up to full .358" calibre. After all was said and done, I went back to M-336 .35 Rem, purchasing my XLR new & unfired....upon hearing that Marlin was being bought-out by Remington. Have enjoyed the decision ever since. I use mine purely for load experiments, and target/accuracy work @ the range.

You can load the .35Rem down, using a load of 14.5gr Trailboss; and have near zip for recoil.

For whatever reason.... my XLR came new from the factory with a 2oz ( yes ounce ) trigger !!
Can't say why that was the case, but I was thrilled to find it; as I am used to shooting w/ 2oz triggers on acuracy bolt rifles. I also don't use the rifle on live game. My XLR has a 24" stainless 12 groove Ballard-rifled barrel. Patches are tight the final 1" of the bore, which strikes me as though the ( factory ) barrel was lapped ? My barrel has never seen a bore brush, and the barrel has showed no blue on the patch, after the first shot residue was cleaned from the bore.

I made a cast-in-place barrel block / bi-pod mount using casting resin, and have fitted a bi-pod.
I have shot reduced loads of SR4759 and surplus 150 PSPs that put 5 shots into a 5/8" group @ 100yd; using a 2X-boosted T-36. My braggin' group is 5 shots @ 100 yd that went into 7/16", containing a 3 shot sub-grouping of .250" center-to-center [ two shots went wide when I misread my windflag ].

My point -
Don't sell those final Marlin-made .35Remingtons short. I'm sure the prices have gone up on them, but
they should rightly be considered the zenith of the lever gun format ( in IMHO )


With regards,
357Mag

 

[ronsatspokane]

Everyone needs a pre 64 model 94 in 30-30 or 32 special. Prices are starting to climb these days though.

I picked up a model 94 Winchester Legacy in 45 colt and added a rear tang sight to it. Loaded up, it seems it would be nearly as capable as the 30-30. Just don't mix the rifle loads with the single action pistol loads should you follow that path.

P.S. I was surprised at how that 45 Colt shot. I was getting about 1.5 MOA when testing loads at 100 yards. I was delighted. It'll work fine within 200 yards or so and that is all one can ask for that kind of a gun in that caliber.

 

[CharlieNC]

I have Marlins in 30-30 and 45-70, nice shooters. But I am lusting for a Savage 99 in 243 or 308!

 

[swimster]

I have a couple Henry's both in 45 colt. 1 Big Boy Carbine and a Big Boy steel. I use 300g Hornadys Xtp with 2 crimp groves to seat them short enough to run in the action. Mix in some H110 and they preform really well to 100yds. Accuracy is excellent. I put a peep sight on mine. The stock buck horn sight dosent fit my 65 year old eyes so well. Recoil is mild. Velocity is on the 300g is 1200fps. On my loads.

 

[rockhound78]

The 35 Rem would be #1 on my list for a lighter recoiling caliber. You can load it with lighter loads and pistol bullets, to heavier loads if you want. 165 FTX at 2200fps would work great. Close second would be the 30-30 since you want to go to 150 yds. If you only were going to 125 yds, then the 44 magnum. To me, the 30-30 surpasses the 44 at about 125 yds, but they are really close up to that point.
The XLR is a great gun. I have one in 30-30 and one I had re-bored and rechambered to 356Win. Both are 1"@100yds guns and wouldn't hesitate to run them out to 200yds or a bit beyond