Which caliber for a new lever action.

I like 44 better. But if you already have a handgun, or plan to buy one, in any of the 3 you can make a good case for buying the rifle in the same caliber. I suppose at the end of the day they are all pretty similar.

I think all those calibers are good, but if your plans include shooting steel at those 100-200 yd ranges, the larger 44 or 45 caliber bullets will knock them over easier

I'd drop the .45 Colt from consideration. You might be unlucky enough to get a rifle with a generous chamber and be dealing with "blowby". The other two chamberings will work out better.

I happen to be a fan of .357 lever rifles but the .44 Magnum would probably be my second choice in a lever rifle (well, maybe third place behind the .44-40).

I have a Malin 18945 c (.38/.357) that I love dearly...but out at 100 yards accuracy is just not good enough to use it for target shooting. I did a lot of load testing with the rifle scoped, my best results were with the hot loads and Hornady 158gr. xtp bullets. My daughter loves the way a gallon water jug explodes at 50 yards, that's as far as we push it normally. And we've changed to Skinner peep sights, that seem to fit the rifle better. Maybe it's just me, but shooting targets I'd like a rifle to be capable of somewhere close to ! MOA. If you're shooting steel maybe 3-4 MOA is good enough?

P.S. before you decide on a caliber price compare the ammo.

I'd probably go with a .357, but that's because it's cheaper to shoot and I already stock .357 ammo for my revolvers. Shot a .357 lever gun belonging to a friend's father once and it was a hoot.

If you have a handgun in one of those calibers, match it up. Otherwise, 357- versatility and economics of running 38 special through it as an option.

Howdy

It somewhat depends on what model lever gun you buy.

If you buy one of the traditional toggle link rifles like a Winchester Model 1873 clone, the action is not terribly strong. Yes I know that the Model 1873 is available now chambered for 44 Mag, but I just would not be comfortable putting a whole lot of 44 Mag rounds through a toggle link rifle. This same model has been available in 357 Mag for quite a few years, but most shooters wind up mostly putting 38 Specials through them. Although 45 Colt is not a traditional chambering for any lever gun, the Uberti version of the 1873 is available chambered for 45 Colt. I would stick with SAAMI max loads in a 45 Colt 1873, I would not put any of the really hot stuff available through one. Of course my favorite chambering, 44-40, is available for the 1873, both the Uberti and Winchester versions. 44-40 is a terrific cartridge, but it will give you pretty much of a rainbow trajectory if you are trying to reach out to 200 yards.

The Winchester Model 1866 clones are only available chambered for 45 Colt, 44-40, and 38 Special. Because of the brass frame, they are not available chambered for any magnum cartridges.

Same with the brass framed, 1860 Henry rifles, only available chambered for 45 Colt and 44-40. Be careful if you go with a brass framed rifle either the Henry or the '66, too many hot cartridges and you WILL stretch the frame.

The clones of the Winchester Model 1892 are much stronger than the toggle link rifles. You can goose them right up in power. The replica 1892 rifles made by Rossi are available chambered for 357 Mag/38 Special, 45 Colt, and 44 Magnum. This model can take much more punishment than a toggle link rifle, if I were going to buy one, I would have no qualms about shooting the dickens out of it with full powered 44 Magnum ammo. And I also would not hesitate to fire some of the hot commercial 45 Colt loads through a Rossi 1892.

I would avoid like the plague a Winchester Model 1894 chambered for 45 Colt. That action was designed for much longer cartridges; the 32-40, 38-55, and of course the 30-30. When modified for a shorter cartridge like the 45 Colt, they often do not feed well. I remember seeing lots of jams with Model 94s chambered for 45 Colt at CAS matches. I don't know anybody who still owns one.

I don't know what's going on with Marlin these days. When they moved to the Remington plant in Ilion NY a few years ago, there were a lot of quality problems. I don't know if the problems have been cleared up yet or not. I have heard they have been, but I have not gotten my hands on one of their recent rifles to see for myself yet. The Marlin 1894 Model is almost as strong as the Winchester Model 1892 model. Different configurations are available in 45 Colt, 44 Magnum, and 357 Magnum. I have a little Marlin 357 Mag 1894CS and it is a real sweet shooter with 38 Specials, but it really lets me know if I put some 357 Mags through it.

Another thing to think about, if you want to be reaching out there with a powerful cartridge like 44 Mag, is the configuration of the rifle. Most of my lever guns have 24" barrels. If I was going to be shooting a 44 Mag, I would want that extra weight of the 24" barrel and I would avoid a short rifle or carbine with a 20" barrel.

One last thing. Here is a photo of two original Winchester Model 1892 lever guns. The one on top is a rifle configuration, the one on the bottom is a carbine. Notice the shape of the butt stocks.





Here is a closeup of the two butt stocks. The rifle has what is known as a crescent shaped butt plate. Notice the sharp points at both the top and the bottom. Notice how much gentler the curve is on the carbine. These are two traditional shapes, and Uberti and Rossi use both, 24" rifles usually come with the Crescent, carbines usually come with the gentler curve. The Crescent shaped butt plate requires a bit different shouldering technique than most shooters are used to today. If you place those points against the meaty part of your shoulder and fire a heavy recoiling round, like 44 Mag, the recoil is going to hurt as the points dig into your shoulder. To properly mount a Crescent shaped butt plate, you need to hike it a bit further out on your arm, so the two points encircle the shoulder joint. Then the points will not touch you, in fact they will keep the rifle centered on your shoulder and will not allow it slip up or down. I have fired lever guns with Crescent shaped butt plates for many years, and I have found that I had to adapt my stance, standing at more of an angle to the target, rather than facing straight on. This allows me to sling the rifle across my chest a bit, and raise my elbow up so the rifle comes up to my face, rather than bringing my face down to the rifle.




Most of my lever guns are chambered for 44-40, and recoil is very mild. If I were looking for a 44 Mag rifle, I would not be looking at a Crescent shaped butt plate. Marlin has gentle curves at the rear of the butt, and some of their models have a recoil pad. Rossi seems to put the Crescent shaped butt plate on all of their rifle length lever guns, which is historically correct, but you might not like it if you buy one chambered for 44 Mag.

I talk to a lot of shooters in CAS all the time, and a lot of them wind up putting a butt pad over the Crescent butt plate of their rifles, because they just can't get the hang of mounting a Crescent shaped butt pad properly.

Pair it with a pistol of the same caliber you have.

I have a M92 in .357. I love it. I shoot steel regularly with it out to 200 yards. It hardly has any recoil with hot magnum loads.

If I wasn't trying to pair it up with a particular pistol caliber, I would probably opt for one in .357 Magnum.

I have several 45 caliber revolvers I use for long range shooting and plinking. If you like the 45 long Colt, it is easily up to the challenge.

Personally, I do not have much use for the magnum cartridges. Been there, done that, prefer the Specials and similar.

Kevin

I have several 38Spl and 357mag pistols so for me it was a no-brainer. 1892 Rossi in 357. Had it for several years and it has been flawless.

Driftwood, excellent information. Thank you for posting it. I have a Rossi 92 in .44 Magnum, and even the milder factory loads kick strongly in it. Until I discovered your mounting method, I was getting deep bruising every time I shot it. Ended up loading milder loads for it until I got the hang of mounting the gun further outboard.

meatballs, lots of good advice here. Good luck.

THR rocks.

44-40 is my new favorite cartridge. And a big thank you goes out to Driftwood Johnson for recommending the Mav Dutchman Big Lube bullets!

I went with 357 because I have plenty of guns in 38/357. Ammo, especially 38, is much cheaper so I can shoot more.
I don't know about 100-200 yards. I guess you could shoot a 357 at that range but my eyesight basically sucks so I can't shoot irons.

I had a Rossi model 92 in .44 magnum. I'm a boney, skinny guy and the .44 kicked the fool out of me. I started using 200 gr. bullets, but even that hurt and really bruised me. Finally, I sold the .44 and got one in .357. I like it much better. I only shoot targets, so mine is zeroed for 100 yards and It's no problem holding 5-6 " groups with factory ammo. It's better yet with reloads. But, it's basically a 50-75 yard gun.

meatballs said:

I am going to buy a lever rifle in a handgun caliber. Just need to know which caliber you recommend for open sight shooting out to 100 yards. It will be strictly used for target shooting to 100-200 yards. I'm debating between .357, .44mag, and .45 Colt. ...

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.38/.357 will be the easiest for most to handle while providing plenty of power.

For about 30 years I have had a .44mag combination (S&W629 & Marlin 1894S) that I have always enjoyed ... but the recoil is not for everyone.

I bought the '83-mfd, used, Marlin 1894S at a gunshow and added a Williams 5D aperture sight. Last time I checked the sights it was producing ~2" groups at ~110yds with generic "whitebox" and American Eagle 240gr jacketed.

Soon I plan on testing the Marlin with .44spc loads that I have found that my 629 "likes".

I have a Ruger SBH in .44 Magnum so I would go with a good lever gun in that caliber. When I was growing up a good friend had a Marlin 1894 in .44 with a carbine length, 16" barrel, non-ported. I have looked all over for that model gun. I think it may have been a special run for Grices Gun Shop in Clearfield PA. It was short and sweet, handled great and was a treat to carry up and down the valleys here in North-Central PA.

meatballs said:

I am going to buy a lever rifle in a handgun caliber. Just need to know which caliber you recommend for open sight shooting out to 100 yards. It will be strictly used for target shooting to 100-200 yards. I'm debating between .357, .44mag, and .45 Colt. Somehow I think the .44 and .357 might come in close at 100 yards. These are the questions. What say you? Thank you for your time.

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Any of those three will shoot to 200 yards.
You do need to know that the full power 44 magnum and +P 45 colt loads are not particularly comfortable to shoot from a "carbine". Those big bullets generate a good bit of recoil from a 6 lb. rifle. Hand loading the 44 to something between 44 spec, and full 44 mag loads will be your best bet. The 45 colt using 255-260 gr bullets and bludot powder at the saami spec levels provides plenty of velocity and accuracy to reach the 200 yd line.
For shooting past 100 yards, you'll be looking at 180 gr or heavier bullets in the 357.

If you already have a pistol of the same caliber, I would go for commonality.

If you reload, you'll save on not having to buy a new set of dies and you'll have the ability to play around with powder and bullet choices to either create separate optimal pistol and rifle loadings or you can create a "grand compromise" that works well in both and then you only have to load one cartridge for multiple guns.

I think .357 or .44mag in a model 1892 clone would be a good choice. 125gr .357 and 240gr. .44mag have very close to the same trajectory loaded to max pressure, and both will be pretty loopy at 200y - you'd need to zero 5" high at 100y to be "only" 5" low at 200y.

The .44 carries a LOT more energy at distance though if you ever want to hunt with it. The downside is basically twice the recoil. So for targets I'd get the .357. For deer I'd get the .44.

.45 Colt in a model 92 you would have to "magnumize" yourself. There's certainly information on how to do it. But it's more of a PITA than I personally would want to deal with. That's why I got a Browning B92 in .44mag.

Meatballs;

Here's another option that follows your use factors; .454 Casull. The caliber is available in both rifle and pistol configurations, can chamber & shoot .45 Colt, and allows you the vesatility to do anything you wish. Punch paper - hunt elk, and anything in between.

900F

The .44 carries a LOT more energy at distance though if you ever want to hunt with it. The downside is basically twice the recoil. So for targets I'd get the .357. For deer I'd get the .44.

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There you go neatly summed up where you don't have to torture yourself anymore.

44 mag ammo is expensive. Mostly because everyone that loads for it thinks it's hunting ammo. Not a lot of people shooting 44 mag adds to the expense. Other than that and recoil I think they perform about the same on targets. I shoot a 357 carbine (6.5 lbs) maybe 3-400 rds a month. I'm not sure I would want to shoot that much if it were a 44. I was initially torn between the two when I bought my carbine but I'm glad I went with 357. I have several 357 revolvers so it was a good choice. I've had a 357 revolver of some type since 1973. Just can't seem to break away from that magic. Load it mild to wild.

I have had rifles in 357 and 44, never has a 45 in the stable. Both 357 and 44 are totally different animals out of longer tubes. 44 holds its momentum really well, and hot 357 loads produce the distinct high powered rifle crack type recoil rather than the dull thud you would expect from handgun rounds. From my understanding, 45 colt can run nearly as hot as 44 so make your case and grab one. If it's strictly a plinker, go with the 44 or 45 as you can carry more lead and really move gongs and swingers around. If you might consider hunting with it, I would go 357 simply because of bullet choices for reloaders and ammo choices for folks who don't reload. Plus 44 and 45 ammo is too pricey for my cheapskate self.