Lever Rifles, do you prefer long or short barrels?

I’ve always felt 20 inch had the best mix of mag capacity, pointability, handy-ness, and still a decent sight radius
 
SuperCub said:
The Winchester Model 64 in 30-30 with a Lyman receiver sight is about as close to perfect for a lever gun as it gets.

You guys can have all the short bbls you want. They handle like framing hammers anyways. :)
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Now, if you'd said the Marlin 30-30 (1970s era with the slim forestock), I'd be obliged to agree. Framing hammers notwithstanding. :)
 
SuperCub said:
Did they ever make them with longer bbls?
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If ye mean the 336 then yes. The 336A series wore 24" barrels & half length magazines. First round of the series ran from 1948-1962 and was reintroduced in 1973-1980. I had a 1980 made 336A in 30-30 that put a few critters in the larder for me back then. Nice handling & shooting rifle it was.
 
Falconflyer said:
I think the 20 inch has the nicest balance. The 16.5 inch barrels are great for close shots but I find they're not as stable as I'd like for longer distances. I also have a 357 in 24 inch and I really like it but it's not the best for carrying as it's muzzle heavy.
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I like 20" site radius is better little more FPS and carry about the same in my opinion
 
for a 357 the 16.5 is the way to go. any longer is pointless for that caliber imo. a marlin 1894 is really well balanced at 16.5"
 
I agree with others that the 20" has the best balance, but my sample size with lever guns is small (Marlin 336). I think I would be partial to 16.5" for a big pistol cartridge (.44/.45) since you don't gain much more velocity going longer than that, but the result is more handy than it is nice to shoot.

EDIT: I forgot about the BLR. I'll take pretty much any of those. The 24" Magnum versions were pretty front heavy though. Nice to swing but that's about it.
 
mikeyb said:
I agree with others that the 20" has the best balance, but my sample size with lever guns is small (Marlin 336). I think I would be partial to 16.5" for a big pistol cartridge (.44/.45) since you don't gain much more velocity going longer than that, but the result is more handy than it is nice to shoot.

EDIT: I forgot about the BLR. I'll take pretty much any of those. The 24" Magnum versions were pretty front heavy though. Nice to swing but that's about it.
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From what I have read, .357 peaks max velocity between 16-17" and starts to drop off after that. I don't believe the 20" would offer any ballistic advantage over the 16.5", just an added bonus in capacity.
 
Northern Shooter said:
From what I have read, .357 peaks max velocity between 16-17" and starts to drop off after that. I don't believe the 20" would offer any ballistic advantage over the 16.5", just an added bonus in capacity.
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I've found over the years of working with the .357 magnums I loaded for & crono'd that 22" barrels gave faster speeds than 18" tubes when using H110 powder loaded within SAAMI pressures. It all boils down to powder & bullet selection.
 
I only have experience of one lever action, my Marlin 1894 (.44Mag). Looks right and feels compact enough for me (I'm 5'14").
 
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