Lever Gun Advice by Owners for Owners

[Jimbow1965]

Not to stir up an old pot of stew.....But.....
Winchester chambered an 1886 model lever gun in 356 Winchester.
The 458 Winchester Mags CUP is supposed to be maxed at 53,000 CUP.......The 356 Winchesters CUP ( a lever gun cartridge) Max was 52,000 CUP....Not too low pressure to me.
And yes I am a lever gun fan...I admit it.
And the 357 mag lever gun is a great gun. I have a marlin...well 2...one in 45/70 and the 357....Oh and 2 Winchesters a 44 mag and a 22 lr.
I love 'em. Bang, slackslack, bang,slackslack,bang

[crashdive123]

Hey Jimbow, how about shooting on over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks.

[sgtdraino]

What sort of a sling would you guys recommend for a lever gun? It seems like many don't have traditional sling swivels. Mine just has that single ring on the side.

[Sourdough]

Not to stir up an old pot of stew.....But.....
Winchester chambered an 1886 model lever gun in 356 Winchester.
The 458 Winchester Mags CUP is supposed to be maxed at 53,000 CUP.......The 356 Winchesters CUP ( a lever gun cartridge) Max was 52,000 CUP....Not too low pressure to me.
And yes I am a lever gun fan...I admit it.
And the 357 mag lever gun is a great gun. I have a marlin...well 2...one in 45/70 and the 357....Oh and 2 Winchesters a 44 mag and a 22 lr.
I love 'em. Bang, slackslack, bang,slackslack,bang

They achieved those results they had to drastically thicken the wall thickness of the case for the 356 Winchester cartridge, so it would take the pressure.

[Sourdough]

What sort of a sling would you guys recommend for a lever gun? It seems like many don't have traditional sling swivels. Mine just has that single ring on the side.

Uncle Mike makes Quick Release system for the magazine tube, and just add a standard QR stud to the butt stock. The ring you refer to is the saddle'ring so if you loose your grip on the firearm while on horseback and shooting a bad guys, you don't loose your rifle. But somehow I am guessing you knew that.

[SARKY]

Hey sgtdraino
The 38/.357 can also be had in a pump action. Check out the Taurus forearms web site. It is based on the Colt lightning pump action rifle. If you are a pump shotgun kinda guy this rifle makes a lot of sense. As far as lever guns go i'm a Marlin guy, I like the solid reciever with side eject, just in case I want to scope it. Now to stir the pot a little....Lever guns can be strong enough to take most calibers! Look at the Savage model 99.

[RBB]

Hey sgtdraino
The 38/.357 can also be had in a pump action. Check out the Taurus forearms web site. It is based on the Colt lightning pump action rifle. If you are a pump shotgun kinda guy this rifle makes a lot of sense. As far as lever guns go i'm a Marlin guy, I like the solid reciever with side eject, just in case I want to scope it. Now to stir the pot a little....Lever guns can be strong enough to take most calibers! Look at the Savage model 99.

Or Winchester Model 95...

[Sourdough]

Hey sgtdraino
The 38/.357 can also be had in a pump action. Check out the Taurus forearms web site. It is based on the Colt lightning pump action rifle. If you are a pump shotgun kinda guy this rifle makes a lot of sense. As far as lever guns go i'm a Marlin guy, I like the solid reciever with side eject, just in case I want to scope it. Now to stir the pot a little....Lever guns can be strong enough to take most calibers! Look at the Savage model 99.

Or the BLR

[Jimbow1965]

Just tellin' ya what I know. Look it up.

Later.

[Jimbow1965]

Wheres the introduction section?
Well...Here it is I'm 43, male...feel 63....shooter, hunter, have done some of everything, not great at anything, Been everywhere (in the US) and no where special.
I like long guns, not much use for handguns, live in the northeast, drink bourbon, and love(d) my country untill Nov of 2008, Then they threw it away and I don't think it will be what I loved any more. So I would like to move to Canada so I don't have to watch my beloved country die. Thats it...Thats all there is. Kind of a boreing guy.....Jimbow1965

[Pal334]

What sort of a sling would you guys recommend for a lever gun? It seems like many don't have traditional sling swivels. Mine just has that single ring on the side.

Since you have the saddle ring already, perhaps you want to consider a "single point" sling. Here is a link with one type:

http://www.spectergear.com/hsts.htm

And here is a "do it your self" site for making one: http://www.saysuncle.com/archives/20...e_point_sling/

Single point has always been a favorite of mine, maybe would fit your mode of carry and or use.

[Pal334]

Found a site that has this applied to a lever action: http://www.castbullet.com/srsling.htm

[RichNH]

I CAN HELP! If you go back to the top level menu and scroll down, there's a whole topic dedicated to introductions.

[palm stalker]

i had a marlin 336c in .30.30,bushnell 4x9, open sites below..swing swivel, quik remove wide sling. shot 150,170 & 55 grain excellerators in sabot.. best rifle for fla brush..

[outbac1]

I use my grandfathers Win 94 (32Win Spl). Old but still drops deer. It has never been apart. Get a can of Birchwoods Casey's "Gun Scrubber" Clean it the best you can, then spray the crap out of it. Give it a light lube and it should be good to go.

I mounted a Leupold long eye relief 2x scope on the barrel of mine and it works good. I had bought the mount from "Brownells" a few years ago. Drilling and tapping were required. Slig swivels should be available from "Uncle Mikes".

[klkak]

As I mentioned the other day, I just purchased a Puma M92 in .357 Magnum/.38 Special with a 16" barrel and an enlarged lever loop (a la The Rifleman). I got it because I wanted a rifle that shot the same rounds as my revolver, a Ruger GP100.

This is my first lever gun, so I am anxious to learn all I can about care, use, modification, and reliability. The "manual" that came with the rifle was little more than a pamphlet. It does not show how to break down the rifle, and one guy I talked to suggested that I don't ever try to break down the rifle. Apparently lever guns are a real pain in the *** to take apart and put back together.

So, any lever gun owners out there? What do you have to say about this class of rifle? Any cool after-market stuff for 'em? I'm thinking about getting the stock shortened a little.

I have a stainless M92 in .44 magnum. Its a pretty good gun. I will second the advice you have received. Don't take it apart unless absolutely necessary. Blow the action out with an air hose and use a bore snake for the barrel. If you have some specific questions about the Puma I would be happy to help you out all I can. I have experienced just about everything that can go bad or break on one.

[Beans]

I have used Marlin Lever guns in Cowboy action shooting for over 20 years and they come apart and go back together without any problem. I have disassemble, repaired and reassemble them between match stages. I am not a gunsmith.

FWIW A local PD in southern Nevada was testing some "Bullet proof" material to install in the walls of their radio room that could be viewed by the public. The material was rated to stop a .357 Magnum rd. Plus.

I walked onto the police range the day they were testing the material and I was carrying a Marlin model 1894 in .357 Mag.

Short Cut the story. The several .357 rds used for testing, when fired from the Marlin, zipped through the "Bullet Proof" material like it was made of Levis.

OOPS! Back to the drawing board and they changed the specs.

DO NOT try to make your lever gun into a "Black Gun" however you can put out some amazing fire power with a little practice. Ten rds in less then 8 seconds, using either full power 44 Mag or .357rds, with ever round hitting a 12 inch steel plate at 25 yards. If you use cowboy loads instead of full power loads the time is less somewhere around 4-5 seconds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOsQ9...eature=related

Note that he started the string of fire with the rifle at his shoulder you can add a second or two if he would have started with the rifle lying on the table, which is the normal starting position for CAS ( Cowboy Action shooting)

As far as the rifleman "screw" with practice everytime you lever a round, your finger can pull the trigger when the lever closes and the rifle is at your shoulder so you have aimed fire not the fire from the hip spray and pray method not withstanding the TV series.

For field work the only mods i would make would be an ammo carrier that slips over the butt stock.

The sling is optional, while hunting with the lever gun I find the sling a PITA as the lever gun, for me, carries easy.

When hiking, not hunting, with the lever gun I find a sling useful or I just strap it to my pack. I do/have carried a light rope for a hasty sling and other uses when I felt a sling would be helpful, climbing trees, traversing steep/difficult terrain.

A sling with quick detachable sling swivels can be used, but it limits the sling to being mostly a sling where as the light rope can easily be used for many other uses.

For those that use a bolt gun I always use a sling on mine. I just have a different mind set about lever guns.

[klkak]

For Home defense I have my Winchester and Puma .44 magnums loaded with CCI Blazer 200gr. .44 specials. These rounds have the Speer 200 gr. Gold Dot jacketed hollow point. They are not real expensive so I can afford to practice with them also.

My bush rounds are the Buffalo Bore 255gr. Keith style, hard cast lead flat point.

[SARKY]

I have a pair of Marlin 1895s in .41 mag, it makes a great companion gun for my .41 mag pistols. You can't go wrong with the hard cast heavy Keith style bullets.

[klkak]

I've been hearing lately that Marlin is coming out with a new Express round for their XLR rifle. Well I recently read in Rifle Shooter magazine that the new round is called the .338 Marlin Express.

With its 200gr. flex tip bullet it mirrors the 30.06 180gr. load in energy and trajectory out to 400 yards. At 300 yards it still has nearly 2000 ft lbs of energy.

I'm thinking that I may not be able to live without one of these.