[Kentucky Rifle]

Last week I noticed a fellow trying to sell his new .44 mag Marlin lever action carbine in the "For Sale" section. He stated his reason for the sale as a herniated disc. Is the recoil of this rifle THAT bad? (I've got herniated discs out the wazoo.) My "taste's are changing. I've found myself going back to wheel guns and I'm thinking I need a new lever action rifle.
Changes~~We get older and for some of us, things change. I might decide I "need" a flint lock pretty soon. :)
----------------------------------------
There's a little club in Louisville. A requirement for admission to this club is that you make your OWN flint lock and sew up your OWN buckskins. (NO help from the wife!) I like the people however, the last time I tried to sew on a button, I proudly showed it to my wife.
She laughed at me as she pointed out that I had also sewed my sleeve to the arm cover of my recliner. (Sewing is DIFFICULT!!! And frustrating.)

KR

[FPrice]

"Is the recoil of this rifle THAT bad?"

I don't think so. I have one and I like it. It shoots well with the .44 Spl cartridge. The .44 Magnum is of course a bit stouter but certainly well within manageable limits.

I can't speak for his particular example but I am glad that I have mine.

[RobW]

If you use the .44 Mag factory ammo, it has nothing to do with fun (try to shoot 100 or 150 rounds!).

.44 Special is fine, and there are factory "Cowboy-Loads" out there, but expensive friends, expensive...

The best way is to handload "tamed" rounds in .44 Mag brass. Hodgdon has good data for .44 Mag Cowboy loads.

[mrstang01]

KR,

I have a Winchester trapper in .44 Mag, and I love it. Recoil is very soft with .44 Specials, but the Magnum loads aren't bad. For my area, the little carbine is the one I grab when I need to take a shot at a varmint, or the neighbor's Rottweiler gets out again and comes towards me!.

Michael

[larryw]

Recoil is purely subjective, but its easy to put some numbers on it. My Marlin 1894 shooting hot (1750fps) 240gr Magnum loads generates 11.5ft-lbs of recoil energy at 10.7fps. Same gun with lightly loaded "special" cartridges generates 2.5 ft-lbs at 4.9fps. For comparison, my 30-06 deer gun (165gr @ 2800fps) is 25.3 ft-lbs at 15.6fps. Both the 1894 and 30-06 weigh about the same: 6.5 lbs.

Now, that said, the recoil of the 1894 shooting stout 44 Magnum loads is a pretty good shove, almost like a shotgun (opposed to the punch of the 30-06). I'm a big guy and I get moved back a bit when shooting offhand, so I can see how someone with lower back problems could have difficulty shooting a bunch of hot loads out of this gun. However, its not unpleasant in any sense, provided its shouldered properly. Well, with one exception, this gun is no fun shooting from a bench (load development is hard work!).

I sure love the way the 1894 feels in the hand, shoots so nice, points so well.

[Kentucky Rifle]

1894
Yep, that's the one. It's been on my mind since I saw it at the last big gun show. NIIiiiicccceeee!

KR

[cratz2]

I've never shot a rifle in 44 Magnum but have shot plenty of mild and not so mild 45 Colt and 44 Magnum rounds through revolvers. I would not have guessed the recoil would be in the 12 gauge range unless were talking super ultra light 0.5 Oz of shot or something like that.

On the herniated disc subject, it is probably difficult to hold a rifle at all with a herniated disc. Not so much a recoil thing as a holding the rifle thing.

[jacks308]

They are not hard to shoot at all , not as far as back pain goes anyway . Mine is a 336 model not the 1894 , it's "power "load is a caseful of 296 and a 240 gr slug . It's mild load is is 200 gr cowboy bullet with Unique .

Jack

[Kentucky Rifle]

Yeah. The "holdng the rifle" thing finally came to me last night. Twice my back has "gone out" in the shower. And also, it's gone out twice as I was just sitting in my recliner reading. It's gone out countless times when I sneezed or picked something up~~like the dog food. Don't ever take a risk with your back, guys. You'll pay for that risk----
FOREVER.

KR

[Marshall]

I would strongly imagine the dudes back problems are keeping him from doing the things he normally does when shooting that rifle?

As far as recoil goes, like has been said, it is all subjective. I don't find it objectional at all. My .06 BBR kicks like a mule in comparison but, it kicks almost as much as my .300wsm