Now, more than ever, my 1894C is my best friend.

[Boats]

Right now, the ammo to feed any of my other long arms is getting out of hand on price.

The price and availability on 5.56, 7.5 Swiss, and .308 has gotten so hit or miss that I look at going Commie, but then the availaibility and price on x39 is pretty screwy and it's gonna take a lot more pain for me to voluntarily own and use a Mosin and still cheap x54r.

I have a press, and I mainly use it for handgun rounds, and I am seriously looking at reloading for the Swiss and .308, but reloading for .223 seems more trouble than it is worth at the moment.

So my best friend at the moment is a lever gun. One bullet mold. One pot. Lots of lead based reloads on .357 Magnum brass, which I have by the wagon load. Cheap and easy plinking for both revolver and carbine.

It got me to thinking about that ol' SHTF premise of a TEOTWAWKI long arm.

That the 1894c is the only one that I have that can use lead rounds, as they would of course merely plate a high velocity rifle, it just moved up a couple of notches in the imaginary end of the world arsenal.

On a more reality grounded note, with ammo bans kicked about by various anti-constitutionalist politicians, no one can realistically stop me from reloading for a wheelgun/carbine duo at this late date. I have about 10k CCI 550s. Even if reduced to using black powder and molten wheel weights or other scavanged lead, I can probably keep this combo in action for a lot longer than the others not marked .22lr.

Any other centerfire "rifles" out there that shoot lead?

 

[sansone]

yeah, love my 1894c also. 100yds or less the FIRST gun I choose

 

[ZeSpectre]

I've long said that my first reaction in a declared emergency would be to check my .357 revolver and my Rossi 92 SRC

 

[Sistema1927]

Yep, the 1894C is a great little carbine. The 1892's (Winchester or clones) are also great for this role, I like .45 Colt.

You asked about other centerfire calibers loaded with lead? I routinely load a 165 gr lead flat point for both my 336 in .30-30 and my Ishapore 2A1 in .308 (7.62x51). Yes, you don't shoot them to velocities rivaling jacketed bullets, but they are surprisingly accurate, and would fit into your SHTF scenario.

 

[boxcab]

Yep,

Rossi 92 in 45 Long Colt... The Real Mans Caliber!

-Boxcab

I will bow to a 44-40 shooter though.

 

[wcwhitey]

I could not agree more. I have the Rossi SRC in .357. It and my S&W model 15 have gotten most of the exercise lately. Another gun that I have shot alot more is my Ruger SBH using .44 specials. This has been for the same reason, I can reload those calibers all day long and get cheap and accurate practice. MY AR and M1A have been sitting in the closet alot more lately.

 

[Brian Williams]

While I really enjoy my 1894C and 357 revolvers. You can get cast bullets for any round you have mentioned. Good hard cast 308s with gas checks can be even more accurate than some copper bullets.

 

[grimjaw]

it's gonna take a lot more pain for me to voluntarily own and use a Mosin and still cheap x54r

More for the rest of us . . .

I have heard from one reloader (just one) that his Mosin doesn't shoot lead particularly well. I have not tried it myself.

jm

 

[Nhsport]

I agree and see your point that cast pistol caliber loads are a simple and cheep solution to the ammo problem. Another point that you likely realise but don't mention for long term end of the world type situations is that cast pistol caliber loads are very powder thrifty and in a pinch nearly any powder can be used and most all of the common shotgun bulk powders are nearly perfect. (red dot,green dot,clays ect)
I need a 357 lever gun but I make do with my 44 mag Marlin cowboy. I don't hunt (yet) but feel very confident in the ability of the 44 mag and my marlin if the need ever came about. I have long felt that there isn't much use to use jacketed loads in the 44 mag.
Cast bullets in my 30/06 are not as simple as the pistol calibers but a 200 gr cast bullet at 1800 to 2000 fps that is dead accurate can be a very usefull tool.
My standard load in my 30/30 is a 190 gr cast bullet doing about 1900 fps which isn't a whole lot less than the factory 170 jacketed loads that go 2300? fps.
What I realy need is a Marlin lever in 45/70 to match my trapdoor.
Something else I should have is a heavy like a 350 rem mag to also do cast loads with

 

[jrswanson1]

Win 94AE, .45 Colt
Ruger Vaquero, .45 Colt

Both use lead bullets to good affect.

Jim

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Two 94 winchesters in 357 and, um, several 357 wheelies here.

I've been preaching the 357 revolver/levergun combo as a good option for a long time. Think " rounds per pound" and defense, not offense. Shots past 200 yards(regardless of caliber) would be a rare exception if I KNEW I had to conserve ammo.