I want a 16" barrel lever gun!

[bernie]

I want a .44 mag lever gun with a 16" barrel. What would an average trajectory be for a rifle like this and using an 8 inch aiming circle, where would you zero it for maximum range keeping all shots within the circle? Thanks.

 

[Yanqui]

Check out these other sites on lever action information.

http://forums.sixgunner.com/default.asp
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/
http://www.perfectunion.com/forums/index.php
http://www.gunboards.com/forums/
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/index.php
http://gunandgame.com/forums/index.php
http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB47

 

[loudernhel]

You didn't specify a load so that makes answering your question a little hard. Just for the sake of illustration, I chose a 240gr JHP for you. Hogdon data has that going about (roughly) 1450fps from an 8" barrel and 1775fps from a 20" barrel. So it shoud go (roughly) 1700fps from your 16" carbine.

Soooo I plug that into my ballistics software with a 6" kill zone and it gives me a 165yd Point Blank Range so you can hold dead on out to 165 yards and be inside your six inch circle. Sight the rifle to point of aim at 141 yards.

The caveat is that you have to consider group size of your rifle but it would give you something to start with. Those velocity figures are ASSumptions that should be verified with a chrony too.

But all in all it would make a fine deer hammer.

The ballistics program I use is free from :
http://www.huntingnut.com/pointblank.html

OOPs I just reread your post and saw you specified a 8" circle. This still gives you a rough idea of what you are looking at.

 

[SodaPop]

I would zero it at 100yds and consider 200yds do-able but I wouldn't epect anything more than that.

I'm guessing you would have about a 8-10inch bullet drop at 200yds, but after that the bullet is about out of gas and nose diving.

 

[loudernhel]

Name: .429 Cal, Speer Mag-SP, 240 grn
Ballistic Coeff: 0.164
Bullet Weight: 240
Velocity: 1600
Target Distance: 141
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 70
Altitude: 500

Ballistic Data
Range Elevation Velocity Energy ETA Drop
0 yds -1.50 in 1600 fps 1364 fpe 0.000 sec 0.00 in
25 yds 1.35 in 1506 fps 1209 fpe 0.048 sec 0.43 in
50 yds 3.25 in 1419 fps 1073 fpe 0.099 sec 1.82 in
75 yds 4.05 in 1340 fps 956 fpe 0.154 sec 4.31 in
100 yds 3.66 in 1266 fps 854 fpe 0.211 sec 7.98 in
125 yds 1.91 in 1201 fps 768 fpe 0.272 sec 13.02 in
150 yds -1.35 in 1144 fps 697 fpe 0.336 sec 19.56 in
175 yds -6.27 in 1095 fps 639 fpe 0.403 sec 27.76 in
200 yds -12.99 in 1055 fps 593 fpe 0.473 sec 37.77 in
225 yds -21.62 in 1020 fps 554 fpe 0.545 sec 49.69 in
250 yds -32.27 in 989 fps 521 fpe 0.620 sec 63.62 in
275 yds -45.07 in 962 fps 493 fpe 0.697 sec 79.71 in

 

[loudernhel]

I'd call this a 150 to 175 yard combination, max. After that the bullet is running out of zoots and falling fast. As is always the case when you reach the ragged limit of cartridges range, if you misestimate range, you miss bad.

For example if you call your target at 175 and it's really at 200, you have an extra 6" of drop. The bullet still has plenty of energy, but you're going to hit way low if at all.

However, inside 150 you can pretty much hold dead on and press the trigger.

 

[Kestrel]

I have wanted a Marlin .44 mag 16" lever gun for years. I didn't want the models with the porting and Marlin won't make one without the porting.

So... one of these days, I guess I'll have to send a 20" model off to someone to have it converted to 16".

I'm trying to decide if I want a model with straight stock or pistol grip.

Steve

 

[jsalcedo]

My winchester 94 trapper is what you describe and it is a tack driver out to at least 100 yards with 240 LSWC with 16.6 grains of blue dot.

 

[bernie]

Thanks for the input. I left if kind of general because I wanted all the info I could get, and sometimes if you put details, you get very short answers. I use a 240 gr. Soft point. This sounds roughly similar to my Model 700 ML using a 230 gr .45 bullet with a .50 sabot and 120 gr. of Pyrodex.
I had the 30-30 in the 16" configuration for about a week. I made the mistake of loaning it to a guy who then killed his first deer with it. He begged me to sell it to him, and with him killing his first deer I gave in and sold it to him.
Ths upside is, I can get something else now, like in a .44 mag!