I have it in my head that I need a lever gun. However, I really don't have much use for a 30-30. I already have a couple of .308 and my son has a 30-06. So I feel pretty well covered in .30 caliber.

One of the local shops HAD a .357 Rossi. I was heading in to buy it at noon today and it had sold last evening. Maybe a good thing because I'm not really sure .357 is where I want to be either.

Now I'm thinking.... I don't have a large bore other than black powder. I plan to reload for whatever it is I get. I would like some versatility. Naturally, I started thinking that if .357 isn't enough, .44 would be. Then I made the mistake of doing more thinking and reading.

Now I'm leaning toward a Rossi M92 in 454 Casull. I didn't even really know much about the round before today. It appears I could shoot .45 Colt in the same rifle; so that could be an advantage also.

I appreciate the thoughts and experiences.

45-70

444

Man I love shooting my 44 mags, I have a Marlin and Winchester and both are fine shooting little rifles that don't tear your shoulder up.

^^This^^



^^Or this^^


And we're done here.

In that order too :-)

I've never shot a 45-70, so have a few questions... Is it reasonably priced to reload for? Are components readily available? Will it just kick the snot out of me and have me flinching every time I shoulder it?

444 Marlin or 450 Marlin

Recoil shyness is in the head more than the body. You can overcome it. There is plenty of scientific data for you to find your other answers. Look on hodgdon.com for load data, you will see how many grains of several powders that is used for the cartridge. There are 7000 grains in one pound, divide 7000 by how many grains it takes to load it, divide that by how much is costs per pound, you then know how many pennies a powder charge costs. Do the same for brass, bullets and primers. As most centerfires are concerned you are shooting sub one dollar ammo each shot after you shoot the new brass one time.

This
http://www.bighornarmory.com/catalog/big-horn-armory-products/model-90-rifle-460-sandw-5/

I've never shot a 444 so I can't comment on that cartridge.

You said you were going to reload, so I would recommend the 45-70. I have a Sharps replica and wanted a matching lever. You can load 45-70, mild to wild, cast to jacketed, and BP as well. Extremely versatile, and very fun to shoot the lighter loads. And, it's a 45-70, full of history!!!

I think I'll make a trip to the gun show tomorrow and see what feels good. It has been a almost 3 decades since I really handled a lever action.

If you reload, the 45-70 can be very mild, or exceedingly brutal. These are the beauties of reloading. I have a 94 Winchester in .44 mag that works very well on deer and hogs out to 150 or soyards with my 310grn FPGC bullets. There are only three calibers I would look at in a traditional lever gun. 30-30, .44 mag, and 45-70. Good luck, and show us what you end up with!

I have a Marlin 1895 in 45/70. Yes, it can be brutal...if you load it that way. Or, it can be a pussycat. I load mine on the high end, but I would have some room for more punch if I wanted it. Last time I calculated, I think it costs me about $6.50 a box to reload it.

I also have the rossi 357 mag. Don't sell yourself short on the 357 rifle. The 357 out of a 20" barrel is nothing like your 357 out of a 3 or 4" barrel. I did quite a bit of research on different forums, in reloading manuals, and at my bench and the range. I ended up with a load shooting 158gr flat points at around 2200fps. Recoil is next to nothing. I set up a redneck penetration test using 4 milk jugs full of water at about 25 yards. I also placed a 5th milk jug with a slurry of campfire ash and water hoping to capture the bullet. Results - the first jug basically disappeared. The second blew apart 10 feet in either direction, the third had a very large entrance hole and about a .4in exit hole. The 4th had about a .4in entrance and exit hole, and the thick slurry had both entrance and exit holes.

The 357 is enough for what I want in a lever action. After buying several I wound up with a Marlin Stainless with a 16 inch barrel. That is my go to truck gun and inside about 125 yards is just as effective on deer as anything else IMO. Also it is fun to shoot with light recoil and for even lighter plinking fun load it up with 38 specials.

Have 45-70 and 44Mags and they rarely leave the safe after getting that little 357.

Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70. I really like that rifle. Not a bad kick like a lot of folks say. Not as much as my 30.06 IMO. Try it, you'll like it.

I'd go 45-70. I have a Marlin Guide Gun 45-70 and find the over-the-counter loads mild on recoil and the hot ammo from Corbon and Buffalo Bore far from "brutal", and I'm not a big guy. Some punch? Yeah, but not what I'd call brutal. I reload as well and could make it brutal if I wanted to, but there's no need to. That said, unless you reload or don't plan on getting "premium" ammo designed "for modern rifles in good condition only" you'd find a .30-30 just as useful. Much of the OTC 45-70 is watered down in deference to all the old trapdoor Springfields out there still in use.

I tried to follow all of the good advise I've gotten here. Thanks a bunch!

I got there early and searched every table. I bought the only 16" stainless .357 Rossi at the show. There was another blued model, a 20" stainless and a 20" octagon case hardened model. That was every .357 I could find. Other calibers were more readily available; but there just really wasn't a lot of Rossi rifles on the tables.

At the same time; I turned away from a good deal on a used 45 Colt 20" stainless Rossi. It was hard to pass up, but thought my next lever action will be 45-70.

I really like the way the little carbine handles. The wood to metal fit is very decent and the action is as smooth as gravel. I'm going to spend some time slicking it up and it should be good to go. I have a feeling I'm going to like it. I need to order a set of dies, but I did grab some factory ammo and a few components.

Have a Marlin 1894c in 357 circa 1980... It is a great little carbine & a very fun round!

444

Lot of suggestions. Thought I would get back to your question on the R92 chambered in 454 Casull... it is quite a carbine. I have the 20" blued rifle and it is really a nice rifle. It is a bit different than the 357 Mag, 44 Mag, and 45 Colt in that the magazine tube is threaded into the receiver vs. the tube being held in place under barrel band press like the other models. The threaded tube allows the cartridges to be loaded or unloaded directly from the tube.





The R92 chambered in 480 Ruger shares these features as well. They are a little harder to find as a special run of 100 was all that were manufactured. I own all five of the chamberings. This magazine tube arrangement and the squared butt stock and recoil pad does about a pound of weight to that of the base rifle.

I shoot a heavy cast bullet of my design at max pressure and the rifle does have a punch to it. My 330-grain bullet leaves the barrel at 1925 FPS/2715 FPE. I have the rifle down right now prepping it for the upcoming hunting season, going to use it on a nilgai hunt instead of my 444 or 45-70, as I've already taken nilgai with both of those. To make it a little more comfortable to shoot, I'm replacing the recoil pad with a grind to fit Decelerator 750 and I just got the lever back from Mule Man Gun Works. I had it made slightly larger into a "Hunter" style lever as the loop is a bit small for big hands and with the recoil, it felt like it was going to break the leading finger.

What I can say about the Rossi product is that it is surprisingly good. I'm a diehard Marlin nut, I have them all, but got interested in the Rossi's as I still wanted to buy guns when Remington decided to cut back on the product line. The one thing a Rossi needs is cleaning once received. It is shipped over here full of grease and if not completely removed, will create all kinds of problems. The metal work is good and the bluing deep. The stocks is a hard "jungle wood" with little grain. There is only a water based stain applied but both it and the wood respond very well to a simple Tru-Oil finish. The Rossi-Rifleman forum has a lot of info on these rifles.

My rifle is configured as a "-002" which is the scout rifle and has the Weaver K4 Classic Scout Scope on it.



Bullets... My 45 Colt bullet is on the left and my 454 Casull bullet on the right.



I've taken about two dozen hogs with the rifle, haven't had one run away from the hit. They just go straight down. The large meplat (flat point) is like a cookie cutter passing through the animal. This hog was shot at 165 yards and never took another step. The picture has the entry side of the wound.

Man I want a .357 Marlin but they aren't easy to find. I'd like to have a .357 to match the revolver I've got.

I owned a 45-70 and it did kick a little bit lol

I have Marlin 1895's in 45-70 and 450 Marlin, to me the recoil is more of a push than a kick if that makes any sense. You definitely feel it but its not bad, Id rather shoot them over my 30-06 any day. There isnt much difference in the 45-70 and 450 Marlin other than 45-70 is easier to find on the shelf and there is more variety, but if you reload either will work great.

The main question I'd ask would be what do you want to do with it? You can get levers that will crush buffalo, or neatly take squirrels. Need a scope? Some guns don't lend themselves to scope mounting. Want to be able to take longer shots? They exist, too. Want a pistol caliber lever gun, to share ammo with your revolver? They also exist.

That is very true! This topic caused me to think about the last dozen or so years, and in that time I have taken about 35 deer (mule and whitetails) plus pronghorns and a huge pile of hogs with a number of levergun cartridges and they have all worked equally well.

30-30 Win
30-30 Ackley Improved
308 Mar Exp
32 Win Spl
338 Mar Exp
35 Rem
356 Win
357 Mag
375 Win
38-55 Win
41 Mag
44 Mag
444 Marlin
45 Colt
454 Casull
45-70 Govt
450 Marlin
480 Ruger

They all were effective killers and the critters would have not been able to explain the differences. I haven't shot a jacketed bullet in two decades so, basically, the bullets were of the same construction. It kind of boils down to what tickles your fancy. Of course, now a days, it boils down to what you can get.

My life's obsession with leverguns boils down to my dad shooting one levergun his entire life, a 30-30 Win. When I was a kid growing up in the sixties, he took quite a ribbing about his old open sighted M94 on our deer lease in Zapata County but it did not bother him a bit and I admired that about him. The thing was he killed just as many deer as anybody else. My dad has always had a hard time trying to figure out just why I needed so many of them! He did get to the point where he had to scope the rifle because of his eyes.



Looking at the list and given our times and the ability to feed the rifle, I think the only one I would buy now is the 30-30 Win. My dad might have been right!