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intro to lever guns


atmosphere0284

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I've been tossing around the idea of picking up a lever gun in 2018 and the Marlin 1895sbl has caught my eye. Having never shot a lever gun before I'm wondering if a 45-70 is the right choice. Have any of you guys fired one of these things? Is there something in the same price range that is a better option? At the moment I've decided on this one because I just think its a beauty...so, if there is a similar looking one out there I am not opposed to taking a look at those as well.

 

70478_1895SBL_Right.png?itok=4GKhYkPC

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It really depends on what you're looking to do with it.

 

From a reloading perspective, 45/70 is one of those loads that you can hotrod and make do pretty much whatever you want depending on bullet weight. Factory ammo is rather expensive though. But, you can pretty much hunt any game on this continent with it. I have friends that carry a 45/70 when in areas where Grizzly are common.

 

I picked up a 30/30 about 3 or so years ago. Great gun, doesn't recoil much, but the ballistics are terrible outside of 150 yards. The round seems to run out of gas at that distance.

 

35 remington has better ballistics than the 30/30, however factory ammo is ridiculously expensive, and from a reloaders perspective, the brass is hard to come by.

 

If you have a revolver chambered in 357 or 44, then a lever action chambered in the same caliber makes a lot of sense.

 

When all is said and done, just ask yourself what you want out of the rifle, and then make your decision based on that.

 

45/70 is a great round, but if you don't reload, it'll get very expensive. Even 30/30 is up there in price....$20 or so per 20 rounds for factory. I load them for considerably less.

 

From a shooting perspective, lever guns are a lot of fun. Unless of course you're shooting a 450 marlin lol. Then they're not as fun.

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I've been tossing around the idea of picking up a lever gun in 2018 and the Marlin 1895sbl has caught my eye. Having never shot a lever gun before I'm wondering if a 45-70 is the right choice. Have any of you guys fired one of these things? Is there something in the same price range that is a better option? At the moment I've decided on this one because I just think its a beauty...so, if there is a similar looking one out there I am not opposed to taking a look at those as well.

 

70478_1895SBL_Right.png?itok=4GKhYkPC

 

You might want to research the Henry lever guns also. I'm not so fond of the newer Marlin firearms but I do have a 1970 model 336 in 30-30 , thanks to another forum member , that has a butter smooth action and trigger.

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I'll agree that it's not worth it unless you reload. Just wanted to add if you go that route it gives you an excuse to build and shoot 458 SOCOM out of an AR platform.

 

And that really is the beauty of reloading, you pick your calibers for multiple guns based on bullet, not cartridge.

 

Otherwise as others have said get a pistol caliber or go with the most common lever load, the 30-30.

 

Another consideration is to get the Browning BLR http://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/blr.html

 

The BLR has standard stacked rifle magazines instead of a tubular magazine so you can get it in common calibers like 223, 308, or 300 WinMag if you want something with a lot of punch.

 

300 WinMag is nice if you reload because it's a standard 30cal rifle bullet, just like 308, 300blk, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r etc. It also falls in the category of common ammo found everywhere if you don't reload.

 

Even if you reload you pay a lot more for 45-70 bullets due to the massive amount of lead.

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Wow, thanks for all the great info guys! Realistically this will be a fun gun I dont see myself shooting it all the time. I have been wanting to go on a hog hunt and i thought this might fit. It seems like you guys are a leary of newer marlin rifles....something i should know? I'll look into all of your suggestions except for the henrys... i like the loading gate on the marlin and from what ive seen the henrys all have the tubular mag that feeds from the front. I guess the load gate feels more cowboy to me.

 

Good point on matching rifle and revolver... i have been wanting to pick up a revolver as well... thought of a ruger alaskan in .454... also able to shoot 45acp and 45 LC.

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Marlin is owned by Remington outdoor company (another name change, formerly the freedom group). They've totally shuttered anything that was left of Marlin or Remingtons lever action factory and merged it all with Remington. They exist as Marlin in name only.

 

Remington outdoor group is owned by Cerberus capital, a distressed asset private equity firm. They're goal is to sell the cheapest products for the most money possible. So all of Remingtons quality has been awful lately. And Cerberus has publicly announced they want to get rid of them because several of their investors (California teachers union specifically) are antigun.

 

There's a funny/sad story. They shuttered the old lever action factory not realizing that all the manufacturing techniques weren't documented, they were passed down through generations of all the workers they laid off. So when they set up the lever gun line again it was from scratch, and the quality was a joke. It's gotten a little better, but it's debatable by how much.

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Wow, thanks for all the great info guys! Realistically this will be a fun gun I dont see myself shooting it all the time. I have been wanting to go on a hog hunt and i thought this might fit. It seems like you guys are a leary of newer marlin rifles....something i should know? I'll look into all of your suggestions except for the henrys... i like the loading gate on the marlin and from what ive seen the henrys all have the tubular mag that feeds from the front. I guess the load gate feels more cowboy to me.

 

Good point on matching rifle and revolver... i have been wanting to pick up a revolver as well... thought of a ruger alaskan in .454... also able to shoot 45acp and 45 LC.

 

I will say that I have shot the 45-70 several different times and loved it each time. I have often wondered why I never bought one years ago but for some reason just never did. If it is just going to be a fun toy for every once in a while I say go for it.

 

I also understand your thoughts on the Henry rifles loading style. You could always look around and find a good used Marlin in 45-70.

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I think that a lot of the hate towards new Marlins is unwarranted. I own a new 336 and know of a few others who own new ones and they haven't experienced any issues with them.

 

As with most guns these days, they can all stand to be tuned up by an expert gunsmith. I haven't had mine done yet, but will at some point. I just don't shoot mine enough, so it's pretty low on the tuning priority list.

 

If you don't reload, pick a caliber you don't mind spending money on to shoot, throw on some cowboy accessories (leather buttstock covers, wraps for the lever, etc.) and have fun with it. They're fun to shoot, and great to have around. I love my hillbilly assault rifle :rofl:

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My second rifle was a USRAC Winchester 94AE in .44 Mag, it also shoots .44 Special.

 

It's a great gun. it also became the favorite gun of my sister to shoot when we went to the range, so I gifted it one year for her birthday.

 

I since acquired one in .357 Mag with a short reach stock for youth/ladies, as it fits in a mission of having newbies along on range trips.

I found that it does not like .38 special with a truncated nose (ie. below a certain overall length), they do not feed correctly./
Still a great gun.

 

My tastes have since changed. The USRAC models have the hammer-block safety that would set itself when laying the gun down on its side.
I found I liked the original 1894 design better, and its first smokeless round, the 30/30. I now have a couple of 1894s in 30/30.
I like the clean lines, the half-**** safety and the iron sights.

I appreciate the Marlin design, it's smoother and stronger, but aesthetically, I prefer the Winchester.

To each his own.

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I picked up a 30/30 about 3 or so years ago. Great gun, doesn't recoil much, but the ballistics are terrible outside of 150 yards. The round seems to run out of gas at that distance.

 

The 30/30 and the pistol rounds may lead the re-introduction of centerfire rifle for taking deer in Illinois.

Legislation has been introduced several times in this regards, the short flight is taken into consideration.

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I picked up a 30/30 about 3 or so years ago. Great gun, doesn't recoil much, but the ballistics are terrible outside of 150 yards. The round seems to run out of gas at that distance.

The 30/30 and the pistol rounds may lead the re-introduction of centerfire rifle for taking deer in Illinois.

Legislation has been introduced several times in this regards, the short flight is taken into consideration.

 

That would be so Awesome
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I picked up a 30/30 about 3 or so years ago. Great gun, doesn't recoil much, but the ballistics are terrible outside of 150 yards. The round seems to run out of gas at that distance.

 

The 30/30 and the pistol rounds may lead the re-introduction of centerfire rifle for taking deer in Illinois.

Legislation has been introduced several times in this regards, the short flight is taken into consideration.

 

I'd get into hunting if that were the case.

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I love lever guns, looking at them, shooting them. Call it an addiction.

 

Any Marlin .45-70 is a good choice. I'm not much for large loops, but they're great for hunting with gloves (I'm not a hunter). I prefer a straight grip for tradition's sake, but the trigger guard tends to whack your middle finger when you send that 405 grain slug down range. It's not a plink rifle, more something you can say you tolerate. It's easy to reload, and relatively cheap that way. The latest Marlins have cut rifling, which works better with cast bullets than the early microgroove versions.

 

.45-70 should feed very smoothly in a Marlin, almost controlled-feed smooth. If it is even a little rough, or scrapes the chamber on entry, it needs a little work. I found it helps to bevel the bottom edge of the extractor slightly, using a stone. This done, it was not necessary to bend the extractor. The original ejector is on the weak side, and the OEM trigger is gross. I replace both with https://www.wildwestguns.com/product/trigger-happy-kit/. Instead of a rough, 6.5# pull, you get a crisp 2.5#-3.5#.without the floppy trigger effect of Marlin.

 

It's cheaper and more fun to shoot pistol-chambered lever guns. Marlin and Winchester (Japanese) are excellent choices for fit and finish. Rossi1872 copies look good on the outside, but are really rough inside, and that slide safety looks bad and is hard to operate. You get a 300 fps boost for .357 Mag or .44 Mag compared to a revolver. .357 Mag recoil is very soft, and .44 Mag is comparable to .30-30 at both ends up to about 125 yards (.30-30 caries further, but with less energy at 100 yards).

 

After sighting in two .45-70 rifles at the range, I had a bruise the size of an orange on my shoulder. Ten rounds is about as much fun as you need in one afternoon ;)

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Lever guns in .44 mag are a blast to shoot, whether target/plinking, or hunting deer/hogs at reasonable distances. If you want your Marlin lever gun to shoot and operate, get familiar with Wild West Guns in Anchorage AK. I have a few Marlin bottom-shuckers and I have bought all of them from Wild West Guns with their triggers, and action modifications. The .45-70 with Buffalo Bore 500 grain rounds will pretty much kill anything you will find on 4 legs.

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