Thread: School me on lever action rifles ?

Some background
Local gunshop ( Wills Hunting, Huapai way ) had a Lever action ( Rossi ? ) in 45LC, a while ago
I ummed and ahhed, and someone else bought it
Had an octagonal barrel, and I think the action was case hardened. Could be wrong.
So, it’s an itch that needs scratching.
Keen on a pistol calibre, 44/40, 45LC, 357/38 Sp, etc.
Are they any good ?
Plinking, bush hunting, and obviously the reloading itch would need to be scratched, too.
Input please.

just do it.....expect little and limit yourself to 50ish yards on fallow or smaller and be happy,lots of fun,fast to aim,fast to reload...not 150-250 yard prospects....cheap to reload for...ok for small folks and girlfriends as wont boot them into next week.

If you are going to do it go for a .357 in my opinion ( i know we all have one).

.357 round will see an increase of around 500 fps using a rifle over a 4 inch pistol barrel - sometimes a little more. The increase in ft lbs energy about the same so will hit hard up to sensible ranges mentioned above.

You can also have hours of fun shooting 38spl out of it a whole lot cheaper.

They are heaps of fun. The .357 is probably the one to start with as mentioned above, cheap to load for, easy plinker, and the .38 is actually very quiet out of it. You'll end up with a 44 at some stage afterwards

There is only one lever action on my bucket list. Winchester '94 30-30. There doesn't seem to be many nice examples on the market these days though.

Lever actions are fun. I'm looking for others as well.
A 38/357 would probably be a good start, and then you will end up getting a 44 or 44/40 or even a 3030.

I want to get a 45 colt or a 32/20 or something like that.

I got a browning 44mag bl 92 had it close to 40 yrs man can it boot with that steel buttplate but nice to shoot if you load to 44 special specs or less with cast 200 grners but nice to carry .But I think I will get a marlin 30/30 dark as easy to scope and the pistol grip absorbs heaps of boot no to mention the rubber butt .

will had a few there for a while pretty sure one was a 32-20 and i think the other one was a 25-20 cool old school guns i ummed and arred for a while luckily someone else bought them

Only bit of schooling I can offer is to NOT pull a lever action apart.
Unless you know what your doing.
Pulled apart my old Winchester 88, right down to every last screw. Took 2 of us a whole day of head scratchings and cussing to work out how to put it all back again.

i have the browning blr in 22
rossi in 44 mag
marlin in 30/30
i still want to replace my long lost BLR but in 7mmRM this time round

Originally Posted by muzza

Marlin lever guns are better than Winchesters - always were , just didnt get the same publicity.

But not as good since Remington took over

I picked up a .357 last year it's a cool little gun the missus loves shooting .38 through it. .357 is harder to find than you would think but that's irrelevant if your reloading. I think .44 would have been a better choice for hunting with.

Interesting video .357 & .44, spoiler alert .44 is more powerful
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6k3ES1mKE

Originally Posted by ghosts

Only bit of schooling I can offer is to NOT pull a lever action apart.
Unless you know what your doing.
Pulled apart my old Winchester 88, right down to every last screw. Took 2 of us a whole day of head scratchings and cussing to work out how to put it all back again.

Exactly why I’ve never pulled my Finnwolf apart!

Marlin M1894's have the ability to remove the bolt easily and clean from the chamber!
Nice handy little rifles but a scope spoiles the balance of them so I found out

Ive got a late 80's model rossi 357 carbine-great little bush gun. But if I had the choice again I'd get a 44 mag.
a short barrel 3030 would be quite good. Havent had a play with one so cant say if id have a Winchester of marlin.
Also wouldn't mind a savage 99 in a 308 or something like that.