Lever Action Recommendations?

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Hale

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I'm looking for a lever action rifle, here's my criteria:
  • No handgun calibers, strictly rifle
  • Side loading gate
  • Ability to use cast bullets in reduced loads for plinking
  • High quality and totally reliable
  • Ability to accept scope without looking ridiculous
  • High capacity a plus
  • $$$ not an issue (within reason)
I'm a cowboy at heart so a Winchester 94 in 30-30 seems a good choice, but I'm unfamiliar with its cast bullet capability and have no experience reloading bottleneck cartridges. I'm using a Lee turret.

A Winchester 1886 45-70 seems a possibility too, and I do like the ability to accept heavy loads. The problem is I don't want enormous recoil... Can it be loaded lightly enough to approach 30-30 levels?

Marlin 444 is also a contender, cast bullet availability is a plus - but there seems to be some serious reliability issues with Marlin.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Hale
 
Find one of the older JM marked 45/70 rifles that has the Ballard rifling. They shoot great with lead bullets. At least mine did. I reload so I loaded 300gr bullets over a light charge of powder for around 1600fps and it was more pleasant to shoot compared to full power reloads. Easy to scope too.

I have heard the newer made Marlins are GTG now. Get one of the CB versions of the 45-70 and have a ball.

The 30-30 case is excellent for cast bullets. The 1/12 rifling in the Winchester model 94 works well with cast bullets. But so does the Marlin if you use bullets sized to fit the bore. You may want to check out some of the articles by Glen Fryxell over at www.leverguns.com he writes about using cast in the 30-30. The whole site is a good place to spend some time.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/fryxell/microgrove-barrels.htm

Also here https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/forum.php
 
My Win '94 does great with cast bullets, they are probably 95% of what I shoot in that rifle. Primarily my own cast 170gr gas checked/tumble lubed, loaded just a shade on the light side but still enough to hunt deer with if I feel like it.
 
Marlin 1895 in .45/70.
Marlin 336 in .35 Remington.

Both of these are easy to scope and easy to load for. I enjoy shooting both, but of the two the .45/70 can be easily loaded from mild to wild with a large variety of bullet weights and designs.

Winchester 1894 AE in .30/30.

The AE will allow you to scope it if you prefer the Winchester look (I do, I have three 30-30 Win 1894’s, one in .44, and two Win 1892 Rossi clones... none of these are scoped), but new remakes are pricy so you’ll probably have to go used.

Stay safe.
 
Marlin 1895 in .45/70.
Marlin 336 in .35 Remington.

Both of these are easy to scope and easy to load for. I enjoy shooting both, but of the two the .45/70 can be easily loaded from mild to wild with a large variety of bullet weights and designs.

Winchester 1894 AE in .30/30.

The AE will allow you to scope it if you prefer the Winchester look (I do, I have three 30-30 Win 1894’s, one in .44, and two Win 1892 Rossi clones... none of these are scoped), but new remakes are pricy so you’ll probably have to go used.

Stay safe.
Excellent point, I wasn't considering the top eject of the standard Winchesters.
 
Marlin 45/70 in 1895, get the large bell like KS5shooter is showing in his pic, I am going to have to order the bell &
put it on. Wish all my lever rifles had them now.
45/70, like they are saying has variable load powers & bullets.
Get a Limb Saver recoil pad, can't remember the size, just call Limb Saver & tell them what you have & you want a
slip on recoil pad for it. I just use it for the heavy loads.
 
My wife is 5’3” and 120lbs, she shoots a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun in .45-70. “Enormous recoil” is largely internet lore, and not really the rifleman’s reality.
It’s pretty sharp at the higher end of its power range from a GG no matter how you slice it. It’s been my observation that a lot of smaller statured people seem to handle recoil better than big ones, I’ll guess it’s more of a “roll with it” mentality over a “fight it” one so they don’t get beat up as much trying to stand tough against it.

It’s cool your wife shoots larger centerfires with you! :thumbup:

Mine had a detached retina about ten years ago that still badly affects her vision in one eye. Since she seems to be predisposed to this injury we are trying to limit exposure to jarring forces like recoil.

Stay safe.
 
I've hunted deer in the Missouri Ozarks for many years. Earlier in my hunting career most of my fellow hunters used Marlin 336s with a Winchester 94 and some mil surps thrown in from time to time.
I've own 3 336s over a period of 60 or so years. Someone said "JM" which is important as the quality is more likely there compared to the Remington models.
I have other rifles suitable for hunting deer but I tend to grab the 336 most mornings when I head out to the timber across the road to take up my stand. I enjoy looking at its lines as the sun comes up on a chilly morning.

IMG-0592.jpg
 
Seek out one of the 1970's era Marlin Texans in 30-30. Best combination of features ever.

Or if you're inclined to buy new Marlin has brought it back. At least for a while. I still prefer the older ones without the safety and trimmer fore end

https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-336/model-336tdl-texan-deluxe

My Levers. All with straight stocks, mostly Marlin, with a couple of Winchesters

levers 002.JPG
 
My wife is 5’3” and 120lbs, she shoots a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun in .45-70. “Enormous recoil” is largely internet lore, and not really the rifleman’s reality.

45-70 loads are all over the place. Blackpowder equivalent loads are comparable to 30-30 or 20 ga shotguns. The hotter loads will exceed 50 ft lbs of recoil in a Marlin rifle. That is double 300 WSM recoil, beats 375 H&H mag by 10 ft lbs and is only 12-15 ft lbs less than 458 WM. And you have everything in between.
 
The 1895CB I just picked up has a 26” barrel and nine shot capacity of 45/70.

Ballard rifled octagon barrel with straight grip stock.

Drilled and tapped receiver for a scope.

Seems to fill all your criteria.....
 
I like most all my lever guns to be c&r or antique. So if the rifle you’re interested in can be had for a bit more money as an original, I suggest you do that. Especially for a cowboy at heart.

If you want a scope mounted unfortunately most every Winchester design is not the best. But I don’t think scopes really belong on lever guns. (Personal preference)

If you’d like to stay away from bottlenecks, but not pistol calibers, and not heavy recoil. It sounds like the 38-55 can be your match. You can load it heavyish in a modern gun, or to the original Ballard type loads.

As to the recoil of the 45-70, it’s not much in original loadings. Very comfortable in my original 1886. I load the 405gr to 1,300ish. The 1886 is a very heavy gun so this helps as well.

Good luck, post pics

P.s. - don’t be intimidated by reloading bottlenecks. A little practice and it’s as easy as reloading any other cartridge. I felt the same way before I made the jump to reloading belted magnums.
 
Some of your criteria seems to be conflicting. You say you want rifle calibers only, but you also want high capacity. Normally the higher capacity comes in the handgun calibers.

You didn't state anything about what ranges you will shoot at, or if you will be taking any big game.

Any reason why something like a .44 magnum wouldn't work here? This is no slouch for a handgun round when it's fired out of a rifle barrel. It's not like a 9mm AR carbine. The .44 and .357 mag really wake up in a lever gun. You can easily get a .44 mag that holds 10 or more rounds. I had my 24" Rossi cut to 17" and it still holds 10+1 of .44 mag. To get anything close to that in a rifle round you're going to have a really loooong rifle. Reduced loads for plinking, shoot .44 special.

If you need the potency of the rifle calibers, cool, just know that you ain't gonna get the high capacity that you'll get with the handgun rounds.
 
Henry is now making some of their rifles with both a side gate and magazine tube loading. Might be worth looking into. Don't have one, won't get one, have no need for one and am not banging the drum for Henry as I know no one that has one. Just pointing out that they are available. Henry seems to be a love it or hate type thing and I am in neither camp.

Mossberg made a ,and may still make, a 30 30 lever. Saw a guy shoot about 10 into 1.5 inches at a hundred with one. Factory except he had polished the action a bit.

If I was buying one it would be a Marlin. JM or very new production. My brothers 45 70 J M is very accurate and reliable. My wife's 1894 in 357 is also a great little gun. Buddy has a 44 mag and it functions flawlessly. Both the 357 and 44 are new production and function fine.

If your putting a scope on it Winchester is kind of out. The angle ejects can be scoped,but, the one I had had function issues ,with a scope mounted, if the lever was worked vigorously.
 
Mossberg makes a damn good lever with about everything you want. But my vote would be Pre-Remington Marlin.
 
If 45-70 is the direction you are headed, the 1886 Winchester style rifle is about 1.5lb heavier than a comparable Marlin. That helps tame recoil but it is also extra weight.

My 1895CB weighs right at 6lb 12oz unloaded and a comparable 1886 is around 8lbs 6oz according to the old Winchester site. That's a serious difference and would mean the 405gr Remington loads would be quite tame in the 1886.

I also happen to have a Marlin 336 Texan 30-30 with 20" barrel and Leupold 1.5-5x20 Vari-X 3 on it and it is right at 8lbs unloaded.

CB pic for fun.

75D13527-A96C-402E-A291-5832BCD21937.jpeg
 
My son and I have JM stamped Marlin 336s in 30-30 circa 1971. Both will put three shots inside an inch at 100 yards consistently. I have taken a lot of deer with mine.

I also have a BLR, also circa 1971, in .243 that is pretty accurate. My daughter has claimed that one as her own.
 
Agreed that the 45-70's recoil is pretty forgiving. The last time I went out to shoot a Guide Gun, I brought out some 300 gr ammo I had found a deal on. I'd set up 5 or 6 2L bottles and milk jugs at about 50 to 75 yards as kind of a hunting accuracy test - if I ever went hogging, could I make that shot if I needed to. I got them all with no misses. The kick wasn't that bad; we've all heard the spiel about the "big push" where the 45-70 feels more like a shotgun than a high-caliber rifle, but it's true. You can almost kind of roll with it.

A couple hours later I found bruises on my shoulder from the Guide Gun, so I'm guessing it has more kick than I realized. But it didn't feel like a shoulder bruiser, and it didn't prevent me from putting all my shots where they needed to go.
 
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