Talk to me about lever carbines

[Armymutt]

I've recently inherited a stash of .44 Magnum and .45 LC. The only firearm I have for one of these is a Taurus Judge - also inherited. I also inherited a Marlin 1895 in .45-70 Govt and a 336 in .30-30. Many years ago, I inherited a Win 94 in .30-30. Thinking about getting a lever action carbine just for fun - maybe for deer. Are they all made in Japan now? When did they stop being made here?

 

[Sam1911]

The Winchester-brand carbines are all made in Japan -- have been since the '90s -- and they're very high quality, though quality costs a lot.
(http://www.winchesterguns.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=287)

Marlins are made in the US, but since they were bought by the group that owns Remington, there have been serious quality questions that it has taken some time to resolve.

Some very good copies of the older Winchesters ('73s and '92s mostly) are made in Italy and the Rossi copies are quite good for the very low price.

 

[Stargazer65]

Henry's are made in the U.S.

 

[CraigC]

The model 94 was produced at the New Haven plant up until it closed in 2006. Everything else was produced in Japan by Miroku such as the 1886, 1885, 1892, 1895, etc.. Now the 1894 and 1873.

 

[osteodoc08]

My lever carbines are among my favorites, especially in pistol calibers. I've got 38/357, 41, 45LC. Looking for one in 44, but I just don't shoot that caliber as much as others so that's probably kept me from buying one.

They are handy, fun and accurate. Best of all, cheap to shoot, especially with cast boolits.

 

[Deog]

I have a lever addiction. My favorite is a Marlin in a 35 remington.
The quality control of the marlins went down the tubes, but i feel that in the last short while they are slowly turning it around. I just got a new remlin GBL, and the fit and finish as well as the action are on par with my older Marlins. there were hiccups in the transition, but it seems to be coming back.
Have been on the hunt for a 1894ss 44 mag, and dam if they are hard to find.
hunt for used JM stamped Marlins, you find what you want and they will be trouble free firearms that will last lifetimes.

 

[TheGoldenSaber]

I think a lever action carbine would be a lot of fun, I've wanted one for a while.

Personally though I'm starting to steer away from fun guns and more towards shtf guns. The price of ammo isn't going down anytime soon so the fun is pretty much gone for me. Shooting is quickly becoming a rich mans sport, and not by accident.

 

[200Apples]

Many years ago, I inherited a Win 94 in .30-30.

Do you still have it?

I just found one; haven't shot it yet. Can't pick it up til just after Christmas...

 

[Nighteyes]

Some very good copies of the older Winchesters ('73s and '92s mostly) are made in Italy...

... and 1860 Henrys and 1866 Winchesters.

My 1860 Henry, in .45 Colt:



My 1866 Winchester carbine, also in .45 Colt:

 

[BCRider]

Weight wise for carrying around during a hunting day I'd suggest that there is precious little advantage of a pistol caliber over the .30-30. And if you get into reloading you can load up lighter and cheaper plinking loads or good hunting loads for the .30-30. And likely you could sell off your cache of ammo at this point for enough to buy some nice reloading gear.

OR..... you can buy a lever rifle for your ammo and either suck up the cost or sell one or two of the other guns to fund the new purchase.

As for which gun to buy? I see mentions of the Winchester/Miroku option as well as for Henry rifles. I'd also suggest that a Rossi with a trip to a gunsmith for some cowboy action slicking work should be a consideration. Cost wise I suspect the Rossi will be the cheapest option even after paying for some slicking up work. And the slicking up is WELL worth the cost.

 

[Sam1911]

Weight wise for carrying around during a hunting day I'd suggest that there is precious little advantage of a pistol caliber over the .30-30.

Not to argue the point, but if you grab a carbine-length 92 in .45 Colt, it weighs 4.8 lbs!. http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=181&category=8&toggle=&breadcrumbseries=

That's pretty incredible. At that weight you could THROW it far enough to kill a deer! And carry it pretty much forever without even noticing the weight.

 

[Armymutt]

Of course I still have the Win 94. My gun collection is a black hole - nothing leaves once I've shot it, especially anything that belongs to the family. I've already got a good reloading set up - adding a caliber is just a matter of dies and shell plate. Just got in the .30-30 and .45-70 dies today.

 

[CraigC]

Not to argue the point, but if you grab a carbine-length 92 in .45 Colt, it weighs 4.8 lbs!

I had one of the 16" Miroku 92's in .45Colt and I can't imagine a lighter, quicker handling carbine.

 

[Steve51]

I prefer lever actions over all others.
I have 3 Henry's, .22lr, .22lr golden boy, .22 mag (made in USA). Some do not like their tubular feed but I have no problem with it. Their actions are extremely smooth and they are accurate. I changed the rear sight on the golden boy to a Williams ghost ring sight. My old eyes prefer the ghost ring over the buckhorn sight.
I have 1 Rossi/Braztech in .357 magnum (made in Brazil). Great rifle for the price. I did a little more finish work on the wood stock, shortened magazine spring, changed ejector spring, and modified loading gate spring (all according to Steve Gunz video instructions). I changed the rear sight to a Williams ghost ring sight and had to get a slightly taller front sight. It is a great rifle and at the price getting it banged up a little isn't as painful

 

[T.R.]

Sometimes a Marlin 336 will have a heavy trigger pull. But Wild West Guns of Alaska sells a replacement trigger that is fairly easy to install. Its named the Happy Trigger.

TR

 

[eastbank]

of all the winchester and marlins i own old and new(27),two i like the most are this winchester 53 in 44-40 made in 1926 that i shoot a 200gr lead bullet with 10grs unique and its a mild load for the 53 and shoots 3 inch groups at 100yds using the peep sight. it has been used but taken care of with a mint bore. the second winchester is a special order model 1876 made in 1883 in 45-60 and i shoot 27grs imr 4198 with a 350gr lead bullet,it also is in very good condition with a very good bore. i love the small framed winchester 92 and marlin 94,s in the so called revolver cartiges. eastbank.

 

[Nighteyes]

I had one of the 16" Miroku 92's in .45Colt and I can't imagine a lighter, quicker handling carbine.

I can say the same for my .45 Colt Uberti '66 Winchester carbine. I've shot it in about 8 dozen cowboy matches, each of which was composed of 8 stages or scenarios.

In each stage, along with about 10 pistol and 4 to 8 shotgun rounds, the rifle is used to fire about 10 rounds at multiple targets. At the end of the day that's about 80 rounds fired from the rifle as fast as you can without missing. I generally get the 10 rifle rounds downrange and onto the targets in about 8 seconds.

 

[87hurricane]

Weight wise for carrying around during a hunting day I'd suggest that there is precious little advantage of a pistol caliber over the .30-30. And if you get into reloading you can load up lighter and cheaper plinking loads or good hunting loads for the .30-30. And likely you could sell off your cache of ammo at this point for enough to buy some nice reloading gear.

OR..... you can buy a lever rifle for your ammo and either suck up the cost or sell one or two of the other guns to fund the new purchase.

As for which gun to buy? I see mentions of the Winchester/Miroku option as well as for Henry rifles. I'd also suggest that a Rossi with a trip to a gunsmith for some cowboy action slicking work should be a consideration. Cost wise I suspect the Rossi will be the cheapest option even after paying for some slicking up work. And the slicking up is WELL worth the cost.

If you are mechanically inclined, you can handle the action work yourself, there are several good write ups online. When I got my Rossi 92 (.357) I tore it down, cleaned the action, and knocked off any obvious burrs. That's all mine really needed, the action is slick and it functions perfectly. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the Rossi, I think it's a really good rifle for the price.

 

[Armymutt]

Just traded in 2 Taurus 617 revolvers and 2 S&W Sigmas for 2 Rossi M92s. Brought home the 44 Magnum todau - they have to order the 45 LC. Once I sell off a couple other guns, I'll probably get one in .357.

 

[87hurricane]

Good deal. I'd like to pick up a 92 in .44 Mag sometime. Probably would have got one first except I didn't have a .44 pistol at the time and I wanted to be able to share rounds. If you handload, you can do an awful lot with 45colt as well, should be fun.

 

[Cee Zee]

I prefer lever actions over all others.

I'm just about the opposite. I do like the 1985's though when they have the large loop on the lever. My hands just don't fit inside the regular levers which is my main complaint with them. I know there are large loops made for about any lever action but I like buying guns ready to go. Some of the new 1895's are flat beautiful though and I'd love to have one if I could find one without the problems associated with Marlin lever guns in recent years. I came very close to buying an 1895GBL a couple of years ago but I ended up with something else. I still sorta wish I had bought that rifle. I no longer live in bear country though so I guess I made the right choice except I still own my house back where the bears are and I may move back there some day.

 

[788Ham]

I've got an Win. '94 Big Bore in .375 Win. now that dude is a shooter! Doesn't shoot the heavy bullets like eastbanks does, but the 220 gr. bullets do a good job. Don't see many of these around anymore.

 

[eastbank]

788ham, i have a 38-55 marlin cowboy that i use the same 220gr hornady bullet with 31 grs RL7 in and your right it is a very good bullet. i,m only shooting it at 1500-1600fps,while you can get 2200fps with the same bullet and is a good killer at modest ranges. eastbank.

 

[788Ham]

I use 34.5 grs of RL 7, about 2000 fps, good enough for my needs, enjoy !

 

[WVRJ]

One of the older JM stamped Marlins is a treasure if you can afford one.