lever or semi-auto.

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PT1911

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So, in the future, I will definitely add a handgun cartidge carbine to my collection. So, I have pretty much decided that it is likely to be in .44 magnum, though that may change.


This came about because I originally wanted a .357 lever and shortly afterward added a ruger .44 carbine (old model) to my want list... these have recently melded together a bit and i am giving a some thought to the idea of a lever gun in .44 mag.

opinions or suggestions?
 
I would go with the lever because they hold more rounds. they seem easier to come by than the deerfield which i think you are refering to. there are more options such as stainless, barrel length, brand.
However the deerfield is pretty damn cool. I think you would be happy with either
 
I have a bit of a draw to the lever guns.... a short-barreled, stailness, lever .44 mag would be pretty hard to turn down.
 
Lever FTW...but it doesn't help that I currently have a lever rifle (Marlin 1895SBL) near the top of my list. :D
 
ha... well, I guess I need to start shopping for the perfect configuration.
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Found it...you know .45-70Govt. is a pistol cartridge...right? :D

On a more serious tangent .45LC may be a better fit for reloading a carbine...I have heard (but never tried and don't own one) that you can squeeze more out of one than a .44Mag, and it has the added benefit of more bullet selection and cheaper components. The Marlin 1894 Cowboy looks to fit the bill nicely...at least to me. :)
 
lever or semi-auto
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Both. :D

I want to add .44 mag/spl to the revolver toolkit,
to complement the .30-30, but also want an AR. (See sig line.)

Just out of curiosity,
what semi-auto are you considering?

Again, I think there's room for both.

Someone in another thread made the point recently that
the AR carbine has many similar features to a short-barreled lever carbine:
maneuverable, fast, diverse rnds, reliable.
 
Maverick223

Found it...you know .45-70Govt. is a pistol cartridge...right? :D
Click to expand...

If only there was a .45-70Govt. Ruger or other rugged and affordable wheel gun available...
 
Absolutely love shooting my Winchester 94 in .44 Mag. I couldn't imagine a gun that's more fun to shoot.
 
.44 magnum lever all the way. The Marlin 1894 is a great rifle (if you can find it) and well suited for medium range hunting/ranch gun. The price has crept up a bit, but it's worth it. Pair it with a Ruger Super Blackhawk and you will be a very happy camper. :) I am a big fan of the single cartridge for both rifle and pistol; it makes logistics a lot easier.
 
It depends on how you like to interact with your gun. For some it's the feel of being able to punch out a lot of shots in a burst. For others it's working the loading mechanism and taking the shot. I've tried semi auto and while it was great fun at first the novelty wore off quickly for me...... and maybe just a little was the thought that I was sending streams of dollar bills downrange at a time :D But there's something about having to operate a bolt, cycle a lever or break open a breech to lift out the empty and reload that really captured my own intrest.

I got the .357 lever for cowboy action. With .38Spl for the matches it's got barely more kick than a .22. With factory .357Mag it shows more signs of life. But it is still so soft a shooter that even the most recoil sensitive beginner would not be put off by it. I've also got a Winchester in .30-30. Those kick nicely but with the steel butt plate a long plinking day would leave the body a hair rattled. I can only imagine from this that a lever gun in .44Mag would be a really sweet rig to shoot with a kick that is in between the .357Mag and .30-30 rounds. Enough to stir the juices but not so much that it rattles the shooter even after a couple of hundred rounds.

Heck, for some close in deer hunting a .357 or .44 carbine would be a superb gun. I guess it just depends on what you'll be wanting to use it for.

Either way though you'll certainly be wanting to get into reloading. Neither of the magnum handgun rounds comes cheap. They are cheaper than .30-30 of course but it's not like a fella can afford to pop off 3 or 4 boxes per session on a regular basis if you're not loading your own.

Running a Win94 action with the straight up ejection is also one of the best reasons I know to get a cowboy hat. They work really well at protecting your noggin from the rain of brass... :D
 
BCRider -- you should give a .44 lever rifle a try. They are an absolute blast and the recoil is not punishing in any way (it's an enjoyable way of getting feedback from the rifle). And I agree that working the action via a lever instead of autoloading slows things down a bit in a good way and helps save some money to boot. .44 magnums are getting quite expensive to shoot nowadays... :(
 
Taurus needs to start making a .44 lightning... I would love to have a pump .44!
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum and love it. I put a Williams peep sight and a blade front sight and it will shoot 2 MOA or better with me pulling the trigger. This is using 240 grain XTP reloads. Have not hunted with it yet but would be fine with taking deer sized game out to 100 yards or a bit more with it. It also holds 10 rounds of hard hitting self defense ammo in a very handy package. For short to medium range work it's close to perfect for me.
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum and love it. I put a Williams peep sight and a blade front sight and it will shoot 2 MOA or better with me pulling the trigger. This is using 240 grain XTP reloads. Have not hunted with it yet but would be fine with taking deer sized game out to 100 yards or a bit more with it. It also holds 10 rounds of hard hitting self defense ammo in a very handy package. For short to medium range work it's close to perfect for me.
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Couldn't agree more! The 1894 is a fine, fine shooter... :)
 
I actually got rid of an old Deerfield and replaced it with an 1894.

The deerfield wasn't 100% reliable, and you're limited as to what types of cartridges (in terms of OAL) that you can run in it.

The only downer on the Marlin, is like any production-line gun, the actions are rough out of the box.

My 1894 after a little action work, Skinner peep sight and Marble's white bead front is an outstanding little carbine. Great compliment to my Redhawk.
 
9mm+, I totally agree 110%. But with already having the .30-30 and the .357 I just can't really justify yet another gun for the cabinet that fits in the middle.

I chose the .357 lever gun because I'm already buying (and likely soon to be reloading for) my S&W revolvers and wanted to limit the diversity of calibers in my collection just to limit the ammo supply options. At some point I may well jump on the .44Mag bandwagon but not until I commit to getting into the S&W .44 revolver and definetly not before I'm set up to reload the stuff. I'm already reloading for the .30-30, which I use more as a plinker than a hunting gun, so the cost of reloads isn't all that bad. It's cheaper than factory .44Mag at this point.

There's just not enough time, money or space to do it all. I'm new to shooting and I'm still casting around for which aspects I want to concentrate on and what calibers to use for it.
 
Oh, yeah, BC...I hear ya! I'm in the same boat...just not enough money or space at the moment to get all that I want...
 
I hear ya! I'm in the same boat...just not enough money or space at the moment to get all that I want...
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Umm, I am pretty sure that everyone here is in the same boat...if not we wouldn't have the time to talk about firearms because we were out buying em'. :)
 
Umm, I am pretty sure that everyone here is in the same boat...if not we wouldn't have the time to talk about firearms because we were out buying em'
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That is true, but I am pretty sure that I am behind the buying curve based on what other THR'ers own... :)
 
Wow.. I am surprised at the overwhelming support for the lever... I love them, but honestly didnt expect such a runaway with that opinion.... guess it is gonna have to g e the lever... now to see what I can find at the next show or get my friend (the shop owner) to do for me.... the list just keeps getting longer... I feel like I am in debt to the gun shop with the list I have going...
 
Keep in mind that the Marlin 1894 .44 has a rifling twist too slow to stabilize heavier bullets--supposedly.
Tim Sundles from Buffalo Bore says the following:
What do we mean above by "modified" Marlin? Marlin (for an unknown, not well thought out reason) is using a very slow rate of twist (1/38 inches) on their 1894 chambered in 44 mag. Because of this slow rate of twist, the heaviest bullet that the factory Marlin will stabilize is about 270grs. Other firearm makers that chamber for the 44 mag all use a much faster rate of twist so that their guns will stabilize and therefore accurately shoot bullets over 300grs. Many folks today want their 44 magnums to be able to utilize the heavy 300gr. and heavier bullets - Marlin has not figured this out. If you want decent accuracy out of our new +p+ load in a Marlin, it will need to be re-barreled with a twist rate of roughly 1/20 inch. I have Dave Clay re-barrel all my Marlin 1894's with a faster twist barrel.
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Interestingly enough, Marlin uses a 1:16 rate on both the .357 and .45 Colt 1894s.
That said, I'd still go with the lever myself. The #1 gun on my to-buy list right now is a Marlin 1894C in .357.
 
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