Lever action caliber for fun time

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Amen.

Was mentioned after my post that the 45-70 is expensive to reload. Compared to a 357 or 44, it is. But I can load premium quality, high performance ammo for less than $0.90 a round. And if I’m loading cast bullets with Unique, take that to about $0.50. Not cheap. But you’re also not shooting a small round. And you’re tailoring a load to your specific gun. A round that can be shot by a 10 year old child without any pain, to a round that can be a pretty potent thumper and let everyone at the range know that a big bore just showed up.

But all that being said, I love shooting my 357 and 44’s. And when I want to break out something a little bigger, I’ll break out the 444. Can go mild to wild with that one too. But if I’m just punching paper and price per is a real concern, I’d opt for a 357 or 44.
 
edwardware said:
Here's a plug for 35 Remington. Handload to 158gr@1100fps all the way up to 200gr@2000fps. Great carbine caliber for cast bullets.
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Where do you find a 35 rem carbine? I thought that cartridge was dead. A few years ago I sold a guy a box of ammo for $30/1.50 rnd. I only did it because he couldn't find any.

Never mind. I see Marlin made a bunch recently. I may have to look into that.:D
 
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bassjam said:
For pure range/fun time, a .22 is hard to beat. If you want a little more kick, I think .357/.38 is the next best option.

Edit: I'm pretty sure the Browning .22 lever is even a side loader through the stock.
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Unless things have changed, the BL22 loads just like any other tube-fed .22.

edit: Poorly phrased. The BL-22 loads from the FRONT, like MOST tube-fed .22's. Some .22's load from the rear, such as Browning SA-22 and Remington Nylon 66.

None that I'm aware of have a loading gate.
 
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For pure fun in a lever action I would go with either a .357, or my personal favorite, a .45 Colt. My little Rossi goes great with the single action revolvers I have chambered for that round.

Z6MOZPT.jpg
 
Think it was almost 20 years ago, but I had the bug to get a lever .22. I "settled" for a Winchester 9422 trapper model, but kept hearing that the Marlin 39A was the best, so I traded my 9422 off and eventually got the 39A. I should have kept the 9422.
 
I know several people with .41 lever action rifle and revolver combos. Not a bad idea. I think, myself, I would favor the more ubiquitous .44 mag. There is not a lot of difference between the calibers except for the lower price and greater availability of the .44 so why not?
 
cp1969 said:
Unless things have changed, the BL22 loads just like any other tube-fed .22.

edit: Poorly phrased. The BL-22 loads from the FRONT, like MOST tube-fed .22's. Some .22's load from the rear, such as Browning SA-22 and Remington Nylon 66.

None that I'm aware of have a loading gate.
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+1
All current production BL-22's are tube load, not side or stock load.
 
Why would 45-70 be so expensive to load? Once the brass has been acquired, its about the same as many others. With a big case it takes some powder like AA5744, but I don't see it as more expensive than other loading's. My 1895G is a hoot to shoot.
 
wild willy said:
I have levers in 30/30, 32/20,357,35,44,45,and 45/70 The one I shoot the most is the .357 .Just enjoy shooting it.
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Tiro Finale said:
Consider a .357/.38. With proper loads, .357 from a rifle can get close to .30-30 in terms of ballistic performance. Also, .38s are great fun in a rifle. They are fairly quiet and have basically no recoil. And, if you choose to suppress it at some point down the road, .38 is an excellent round for it.
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If you have a .357 revolver, the ,357 lever gun is a no-brainer.
If you don't have a. 357, I still feel the high velocity round works very well in a carbine. 20160824_183459.jpg
 
Another vote in favour of the old 45 Colt, but I'm a wackadoodle that likes old rounds (6.5x55, 9.3x62, 45 colt) and newfangled goldilocks cartridges (327 Federal, 6.5 Grendel, 10mm, & even the 41 Mag rustles my jimmies...but I have 45 and 327, so...)

If you like a round and it makes sense to you, don't worry about how popular it is. Get it, use it, talk about how awesome it is, and recruit new fans. Grow the market, so to speak.

The Henry actions are smooooth out of the box compared to Remlins and Rossis. Try one. Bet you won't even notice the lack of a loading gate. If you hate it, resell it.
 
cp1969 said:
Unless things have changed, the BL22 loads just like any other tube-fed .22.

edit: Poorly phrased. The BL-22 loads from the FRONT, like MOST tube-fed .22's. Some .22's load from the rear, such as Browning SA-22 and Remington Nylon 66.

None that I'm aware of have a loading gate.
Click to expand...
Don't forget the old Marlin 88! Also a rear loading tube feeder;)
 
Armored farmer said:
I CALL FOUL!
You may not post pictures of that levergun without some description attached.
Wow. That' a nice rifle.
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It looks like a reproduction1866 yellowboy that Uberti used to make in .22 caliber--thus no loading gate. These were imported by Navy Arms at some point, but they were eventually discontinued and probably a bit hard to come by.

Here's one for sale presently on GB.com

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/735836340

Cheers
 
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