Lever Action rifles?
- Thread starter The Croc
- Start date
Lever action £495 both .308
Winchester 88's are a bit of a collectors gun but a Bowning BLR (detachable magazine fed) is a popular hunting rifle here in Montana. I have not owned a Browning. Savage Model 99's are fine rifles as well; in fact, they have a M/S style rotary magazine in some models. Detachable in others. ~Muir
retrieverman
Member
I started deer hunting over 25 years ago with a Marlin 336 30-30 lever action, and though I have a safe full of guns in other calibers and actions, I still believe that a lever action 30-30 is truly all I really need.
Brian, there is now a new round developed specially for lever actions with tube mag's, where the bullets are fitted with a soft tip so the bullet of one round can't ignite the primer of the one in front of it. I think they call it .308 Marlin Express????
If you do a seach on the above mentioned rifles you'll see a lot of positive comments!
Good luck, Rene.
If you do a seach on the above mentioned rifles you'll see a lot of positive comments!
Good luck, Rene.
theshootist
Well-Known Member
retrieverman
Those are some fine looking deer. Out of interest, what scope is it that you have on your rifles? On one it looks like a Leupold and on the other a Zeiss?
willie_gunn
Those are some fine looking deer. Out of interest, what scope is it that you have on your rifles? On one it looks like a Leupold and on the other a Zeiss?
willie_gunn
reiver
Well-Known Member
Hi croc
I to am one of Gods chosen people and i shoot A .308 81 bLR Browning and also a .444 Marlin which i intend to try and shoot wild Boar with next month .The blr handles and points very well this is a very fast reloading rifle and the bolt runs on a rack and pinion action which is 100% reliable but has the down side off having to be sent to a gunsmith to have the action striped and reassembled to get the timing right and that you have to clean the barrel from the muzzle but i still love the gun.The new Blrs are now made as a take down model and can be had in most deer rifle cals Eg. .223 .243. .270 , 7mm rem,308, 30-06,and many more up to .450 Marlin
which is a belted .45-70 government on steroids and all are Box mag.The 81Blr is good out to about 200 yards but has a light barrel and dose heat up after 3 rounds but not a problem for me in the field . the .444 is a great woodland deer gun out to 100-150 yards with bullet weights from 180 grs to 300 gr flat points over mid 40's grains of reloader 7 or Imr 4198 with out knocking hell out of you .
All good fun and the .444 can be down loaded to .44 special for shooting on indoor ranges for more practice with your rifle.
Hope this helps
Bob 8)
I to am one of Gods chosen people and i shoot A .308 81 bLR Browning and also a .444 Marlin which i intend to try and shoot wild Boar with next month .The blr handles and points very well this is a very fast reloading rifle and the bolt runs on a rack and pinion action which is 100% reliable but has the down side off having to be sent to a gunsmith to have the action striped and reassembled to get the timing right and that you have to clean the barrel from the muzzle but i still love the gun.The new Blrs are now made as a take down model and can be had in most deer rifle cals Eg. .223 .243. .270 , 7mm rem,308, 30-06,and many more up to .450 Marlin
which is a belted .45-70 government on steroids and all are Box mag.The 81Blr is good out to about 200 yards but has a light barrel and dose heat up after 3 rounds but not a problem for me in the field . the .444 is a great woodland deer gun out to 100-150 yards with bullet weights from 180 grs to 300 gr flat points over mid 40's grains of reloader 7 or Imr 4198 with out knocking hell out of you .
All good fun and the .444 can be down loaded to .44 special for shooting on indoor ranges for more practice with your rifle.
Hope this helps
Bob 8)
retrieverman
Member
willie_gunn said:
On the 336T, I have a Leupold Vari X II 3-9, on my son's 336SS, I have a Leupold VX II 2-7, and on my 336SS, I have a Zeiss Conquest 3-9.
Someone mentioned LeverEvolution ammo, and I highly recommend it. I have killed several deer and hogs with them, and the terminal performance is much better than other "conventional" ammo that I have used.
The Croc
Well-Known Member
Right, so is there a range difference between a bolt action and a lever action rifle? Or is it the same for both.
This LEVERevolution ammo, as Retreiverman said he's had better results than normal ammo, anybody know why this is? or is it just his barrel prefers this ammo
I really like the look of these Lever rifles. (The BLRs,) if their not "frowned upon" by Guides and the like I may just go down that route.
What about fitting a Moderator to them?
Brian
This LEVERevolution ammo, as Retreiverman said he's had better results than normal ammo, anybody know why this is? or is it just his barrel prefers this ammo
I really like the look of these Lever rifles. (The BLRs,) if their not "frowned upon" by Guides and the like I may just go down that route.
What about fitting a Moderator to them?
Brian
The Croc
Well-Known Member
Right, so is there a range difference between a bolt action and a lever action rifle? Or is it the same for both.
This LEVERevolution ammo, as Retreiverman said he's had better results than normal ammo, anybody know why this is? or is it just his barrel prefers this ammo
I really like the look of these Lever rifles. (The BLRs,) if their not "frowned upon" by Guides and the like I may just go down that route.
What about fitting a Moderator to them?
Brian
This LEVERevolution ammo, as Retreiverman said he's had better results than normal ammo, anybody know why this is? or is it just his barrel prefers this ammo
I really like the look of these Lever rifles. (The BLRs,) if their not "frowned upon" by Guides and the like I may just go down that route.
What about fitting a Moderator to them?
Brian
retrieverman
Member
Croc
My comments about LeverEv ammo were concerning terminal performance on game.
As far as accuracy, I have one 336SS that will shoot it under an inch at 100 yards, my other 336SS that will do 1"-1.5" at 100 yards, and my 336T will do 1.5-2" at 100 yards. I am working on a gun for a friend that won't do 3"-4" at 50 yards, but my handloads will shoot pretty well in the gun.
My comments about LeverEv ammo were concerning terminal performance on game.
As far as accuracy, I have one 336SS that will shoot it under an inch at 100 yards, my other 336SS that will do 1"-1.5" at 100 yards, and my 336T will do 1.5-2" at 100 yards. I am working on a gun for a friend that won't do 3"-4" at 50 yards, but my handloads will shoot pretty well in the gun.
theshootist
Well-Known Member
The Croc said:
Brian,
Just talking off the top of my head here as I have little experince with lever guns beyond armhair reading...
You would obviously be restricted with a tube fed gun to moderators that sit entirely in front of the muzzle. Depending on the size of the mod this could well destroy the fast handling you were looking for in the first place.
The only lever gun I have seen with a reflex style mod was a one of the Ruger lever guns with its rotary magazine (this was a pepped up .44 mag and deer legal in England). Presumably the BLRs would also be able to take a reflex mod.
I don't think the leverevolution ammunition would offer any advantage in a BLR since it's box mag would not have any problem with pointed projectiles in any case.
I too love the idea of a lever gun. I have a winchester .410 lever action shotgun and love it to bits. I've shot marlin and rossi '94 clone gallery rifles too.
However, I've been very taken with the idea of a Marlin guide gun in .45-70. I've read about these being converted by Wild West Guns in Anchorage so that they can take, factory 45-70, .410 shotgun and the company's own ".457 wild west magnum" stepped up loads. As far as I can see this is just a hot loaded .45-70 with a slightly longer case length to prevent in being fired from an older .45-70 and blowing it up (its pushing 350 grains at 2200fps!).
http://www.wildwestguns.com/copilot.html
Do any of you more knowledgeable chaps have an opinion on these guns? Do they offer any real advantage over a homeloaded .45-70 or a .444 Marlin?
Cheers,
H
bambislayer
Well-Known Member
At a practical level , it depends on the type of stalking , for hill stalking where you are taking mostly prone shots then they are not ideal as the reloading process is awquard however for woodland stalking it shouldn't be a problem as you are mostly standing of sticks or knealing.
I've used them in nz and in france shooting boar and found them to be good handling rifles.
I've used them in nz and in france shooting boar and found them to be good handling rifles.
. However said:
I shoot a number of 45-70's and have built several custom rifles in .444 Marlin (Including one in a No1 Mk3 action) and I'd say that in a Marlin lever gun there is little advantage over the obvious: If you lengthen the case you might get a proportional increase in velocity before the pressures peaked. I have a Marlin Cowboy 45-70 model that will almost kiss 2200 fps with a 350 grain JSP. It isn't fun to shoot, however. I have a Siamese Mauser Model 98 custom in 45-70 that will toss them even faster but that is in yet another strength level of firearm. In many load books the Siamese and the Ruger are loaded to a different standard than the Marlins. It depends what data you have.
The .444 is a good round but I like the 45-70 better over distance. That Enfield custom had a 1-18" twist and I shot 365 grain bullets from it with good results. The standard .444 twist is great for 240 grain bullets but I like the heavier issues. ~Muir
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