Thread: Lever action

Ive owned a couple of levers too. My 76 pre angle eject Winny 94 in 30/30 was a great gun, loved the open sights and finish of the gun. Ive now got a well used Rossi 92 in 44/40, it has such wear & patina that it looks like it was made in the early 1900's and as CH mentioned, has a superb trigger. Love the Winnies & Rossi but never warmed to a Marlin. Probably something to do with nostalgia.

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Originally Posted by mudgripz

Have owned numerous lever actions of various makes after buying first Winchester 94 40 years ago. Am a fan of both the Marlin 336 and the Winny 94 - would be happy with either. Both very similar on range with handloads - round 1" at 100m. Personally prefer the John Browning designed Winchester 94 as it is a great classic design, has that beautiful slim feel and carry balance, is lighter, and has been for me a proven performer out to 200m in 30-30. Has great character.

94 is biggest selling sporting centrefire in history, with Marlin 336 second on that list. This does not happen with dud rifles. I do also question the survey mentioned above re 94s/336s - where it was made and with whom. Just does not ring true. 94s were not so good production quality in last 3-4 years from Winchester factory but otherwise one fine little rifle. As noted Marlin 336 heavier, but have heard of no issues with screws coming loose. 336 also a lever I'd be happy to have in closet - esp as it is often $500 cheaper than 94 with tidy 94s now sought after. Was looking at gunrack at Shooters Supplies today - nice 336 at $800, and bunch of Winny 94s at $1200-1500.

Rossi Rio Grande lever a close copy of Marlin 336. Read somewhere they ripped it into production the moment the 336 patents expired. Ok but Marlin 336 original better. Brazilian rifles (Rossi, CBC etc) can be quite good, but have also found they can be somewhat rough in construction. A matter of keeping the good ones.

My lever centrefire pick - buy either the 336 or 94 in 30-30. Use Leverevolution ammo. Keep the Winchester.

If you had to wipe any drool off that 336 it was probably mine. I have a desire to put a lever in the safe, and have a bit of a plan.

I have a 1970's Mossberg 472 in 30-30. All original and in nice condition for its age. Front sight has a brass bead and the rear is a fold down v groove and some type of gold plating to the trigger. The trigger travels with the lever the same as the later Brownings came out with. Side ejection port so no issues mounting a scope.
Shoots both Corelokts and Leverevolution ammo well. 14yr old son can hit a 8x12" plate @ 100m with iron sights. He likes the Corelokts over the Hornady due to the Hornadys increased recoil.

I have owned 2 levers both in 44magnum, the first a brand new Rossi straight out of the box....wouldn't function properly jamming every second or 3rd shot with any ammo the shop had and was taken back with the impression I got being most they had sold wouldnt function.
Second lever was the same but another brand new replacement...it functioned mostly but would generally jam at least once per mag.
When not jammed it shot around 6 inch groups at 75 yards with its favorite ammo, the sights were not precision and I am no olympic champion shooter but I am not 6" at 75 yard bad either...and that was "good" grouping
I liked the look and I liked the handling and I like the "idea" of a lever but those two put me off for a long time.

That and a single shot Rossi my Dad brought has put me off of the brand for life.....but I do want another lever.

The first one I owned was a Rossi 44 mag stainless with 16" barrel, never jammed and could shoot a 2" group at 50m but I sold it as I really wanted a proper '94. Now have a pre '64 win 30-30 and it's very nice, I just prefer the Winchester over the marlin as it's a bit slimmer more my taste I guess

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I have owned 2 levers both in 44magnum, the first a brand new Rossi straight out of the box....wouldn't function properly jamming every second or 3rd shot with any ammo the shop had and was taken back with the impression I got being most they had sold wouldnt function.
Second lever was the same but another brand new replacement...it functioned mostly but would generally jam at least once per mag.
When not jammed it shot around 6 inch groups at 75 yards with its favorite ammo, the sights were not precision and I am no olympic champion shooter but I am not 6" at 75 yard bad either...and that was "good" grouping
I liked the look and I liked the handling and I like the "idea" of a lever but those two put me off for a long time.

That and a single shot Rossi my Dad brought has put me off of the brand for life.....but I do want another lever.

I think a big issue with some Levers is that they will not cycle a round if your cycle speed is quite slow. A good fast committed flick both ways seems to help.

Originally Posted by Fireflite

I think a big issue with some Levers is that they will not cycle a round if your cycle speed is quite slow. A good fast committed flick both ways seems to help.

Definitely not the issue.

What's a 357 mag like for noise in say 16 or 20 inch?
Compared to a 223 that is suppressed?

It's mostly for close range goats - and some range fun

Anyone running ghost sights on a Rossi (over the safety)?

Would love a version like CH photos - but not sure the wife would agree!

There is a difference in the design of the Win versus the Marlin in the way it feeds the round into the chamber. From memory the Win lifts the round to align with the chamber at the end of the down stroke where as the Marlin lifts the round on the first part of the upstroke. When I bought my Marlin 44 mag I tried a couple of guns and found the Marlin to be more reliable in feeding if you have a habit oh short stroking the lever.

My Marlin never had a screw come loose. I used to shoot 200gr projectiles with a max payload of Bluedot powder and it would almost (but not quite) clover leaf 3 rounds at 100m. Had to fit a bigger softer recoil had because the recoil was pretty savage.

Brother bought a Rossi 44-40 at the same time. It would case seperate 8 out of 10 founds with new factory ammo. Turned out its chamber was out of spec.

Rossi's are a bit hit and miss in the quality control, I had a mate with a 16 inch stainless 44 mag, feeding was faultless and the action very solid, accuracy . an elephant would have been safe at 100mtrs, returned to ports shop who returned it to wholesaler who gave it to their gunsmith...... turns out even a 45 would have bounced down the barrel let alone the 44 it was chambered for !!!

Saying that my whinney had the barrel screwed in well off centre and angled off to the right, and not by precise gunsmithing tools and lasers. You looked down the receiver and the end of the barrel was miles out even by eye.
How many million did they make and Winchester couldn't get the basic tooling right, gutted, I loved the gun and caliber.

Marlin / loose screws...........not on my one, solid gun, shit safety set up, didn't like 30/30.

They say the 30/30 is similar to a 44 mag, not in my experience. 30/30 got the legs and range. Inside 100mtrs ( maybe a bit more ) 44 eats it . I've seen a deer shot badly in the fore leg with a 44 and broken it's shoulder with the shock . (no I wasn't the shooter )

The Winchester down stroke tilts the cartridge upwards on the feeding ramp, and pushes in in on the upstroke. It should feed faultlessly no matter how slow or fast you work it. It wont go upside down though...

I have never seen a Winchester 94 that wouldn't feed properly. But I have seen one with a crooked barrel. Whether it was made that way or a horse rolled on it I don't know. I have also seen one with that wasn't quite screwed in right, the extractor wasn't quite round enough, and the sights were off kilter. I suspect it came that way. I have looked at a lot of them though.
What is more common in rifles made in the 1960's, or ones that have been used hard, is to have a loose lever, caused by the lugs not locking up tight enough. This is no big deal except I don't like rattly things and I don't like the lever dropping down when you step off a log or something. Marlins can be loose as well. It annoys me so much that I wont buy one over the internet anymore, I need to look at it.
Older ones will often show mildly pertruding primers in the cases. This is a sign of excessive headspace in this cartridge and rifle, but it is really no big deal and can be happily ignored.
The Best Winchester 94's are the pre-64 made rifles. The next best are the rifles made in the 1970's right up until they made the Angle Eject model in about 1982 or so. I have no opinion on the AE models as I have not had one.

I have never met a Winchester 92 in the traditional chamberings that wouldn't feed either.

But if the Rossi 92's in .357 or .44 mag (both cartridges the Winchester 92 was not specifically designed around) wont feed then look at your ammo - the Winchester design is not sharp angle friendly on a bullet, a Keith style bullet with a wide meplat, or a wad cutter design may not feed. And is sensitive to overall length. If it is jamming as it coming up, it often is to do with the distance between guide rails, and they can be carefully shimmed.

MSL - The holy grail... a pre'64 in fine condition. Superb.

My current one is a mint 1970's. It will shoot an honest five- shot 1.5 inch group at 100 metres with its standard factory sights with both 150 grain and 170 grains handloads.

This ones a '59, fire the first shots tomorrow. Imported from Canada.

All the feeding problems I have seen with Rossi,s have been due to ammo, had a marlin 336 in 3030, (made 1974)never missed a beat