A lever action for CAS and deer hunting?

Big_Bear

Big_Bear

Member
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
Location
Southern QC
I'm looking to buy my first rifle. My main interests are CAS (once I get my restricted license) and for now, some hunting for food.
Can anyone recommend a lever action rifle in the $600 and under range, as well as a calibre that would allow me to do both? I was considering a larger round, maybe .44 or 45LC.
Ideally I'd buy one for CAS in .357 and one in 45/70 gvt for hunting but my pockets aren't deep enough for that these days.
Thanks very much.
 
Big_Bear said:
I'm looking to buy my first rifle. My main interests are CAS (once I get my restricted license) and for now, some hunting for food.
Can anyone recommend a lever action rifle in the $600 and under range, as well as a calibre that would allow me to do both? I was considering a larger round, maybe .44 or 45LC.
Ideally I'd buy one for CAS in .357 and one in 45/70 gvt for hunting but my pockets aren't deep enough for that these days.
Thanks very much.
Click to expand...

I haven't shot CAS, but I shoot a lot of .45-70 in various rifles. A 330gr cast bullet with Trail Boss powder might satisfy the CAS portion, and a standard 405gr load would do the trick for hunting. My .45-70 levers with a 330gr bullet & Trail Boss have about the same felt recoil as shooting standard .45 Colt bullets out of my Marlin 1894.

Chris.
 
if you can pick up a 1892 style action over the 94 action
(the 94 is good but 82 smoother) my 2cents
there are some very good clones out there by lots of different companies

SASS has rules for ammo and some of the older calibers could do the job
38/40 & 44/40 (for SASS & Hunting)

you can down load the 44mag for the cowboy fun stuff
and with full power loads use it for deer but no long shots 100 yds max some might say 75 some might say 150yds

with the price of ammo unless it is lower where you are than the last time i looked you will have to reload your own 44mag a buck a round with taxes some lower some higher

but consider this in the USA they use 357/ 44 mag for handgun hunting for deer/ pigs etc so 357 mag could be used for deer etc but you would have to be very selective with you shots and be very close, and a lot of people would say you are underpowered

Henry has some thing on there web site and one of there customers shooting a 44mag and getting a Buffalo but at what range?? 4 shots??

Good luck
 
I shoot .44 mag in both my Ruger Vaquero's and my Marlin M1894S for Cowboy Action. Good, versatile choice. Don't waste your money on post 64 Winchester garbage!
 
The Puma 1892 in 45 Colt would fit the bill perfectly. Some cowboy loads in 45 Colt for Cowboy and some factory Jacketed Hollow Points for hunting.
 
If you can get a modern used rifle chambered in 44-40, you'll be set for both. I took my Whitetail deer this past fall with a 44-40. 44-40 is perfect for CAS and it has also taken a train load of deer over the past 140 years.
 
Get a Puma or Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag or 45 Colt. 44 Special or 45 Schofield can be used for the lighter CAS stuff and you can get 1600fps or a bit more with full house 300gr hardcast loads out of the rifle. That's a clean hunting load to about 125yds.
JMO.
 
Marlin 94 in 44 Mag.
Without question the BEST bang for the buck levergun for CAS.

Leads and irons for Cowboy.
Jacketed Factories for Hunting....I was amazed that Factory remmie 44 mags were bettering 1800 fps from mine ! :cool:

And the Bonus it comes drilled and tapped for a scope !
A nice fixed 4 power or 1-5x20 etc. for hunting....then take it off for CAS shoots !
Try that with a 92........ ;)
 
Lots of great advise and so promptly. Thanks very much to all. I`m going to see if I can find something in 44mag or even 454 Casull maybe. Being a novice, I can`t imagine being able to properly place a shot from much beyond 100 metres anyway!
Thanks again.
 
The .44 Mag., 44/40, .45 Colt's, will fill the bill for a short range (100yds.) deer cal. and are standards for CAS. Heavy cast bullets can be used in the .44 mag. and .45 Colt's for hunting, cast med. hard, bullets over 300grs. with large flat points, will reliably take deer and even bigger game. POI will be very different but you should be okay with factory sights.
 
Big_Bear said:
I`m going to see if I can find something in 44mag or even 454 Casull maybe.
Click to expand...

If you are going to look for something in .454 why not look for something in .460 SW? I thought I read about a lever gun in that calibur recently but I can't put my finger on where it was.
 
Big_Bear said:
I'm looking to buy my first rifle. My main interests are CAS (once I get my restricted license) and for now, some hunting for food.
Can anyone recommend a lever action rifle in the $600 and under range, as well as a calibre that would allow me to do both? I was considering a larger round, maybe .44 or 45LC.
Ideally I'd buy one for CAS in .357 and one in 45/70 gvt for hunting but my pockets aren't deep enough for that these days.
Thanks very much.
Click to expand...

here is a problem i just thought of , i'm assuming you might be getting a handgun in the same round as the rifle your looking for ?

if you choose a 45 colt , and you handload , and you load high pressure loads for the rifle , you need to be careful those rounds don't find their way into the handgun , ot you may be picking bits of the handgun out of yourself .

just a thought anyway .
 
My 2 cents worth.
Handled a co-workers Puma 92 ( if I recall correctly ) in 454 Casull. Nice gun and he said it can shoot 45 Long Colt as well. Kinda like shooting 38 specials in a 357 mag.
That makes it pretty versatile in my book.
 
Like many here I have a Puma in 45 L colt
It shoots well & can be loades heavy. That being said, I would still get something larger for game. Game deserves a quick kill. There are lots of military stuff cheap, ie; 303 british100-150 for a sporter,7.62x54,8mm etc.
 
Before buying a long gun to do double duty for CAS and deer rifle, you may want to check your local hunting regs. I've never hunted in your province, but I know some jurisdictions have minimum cartridge case length as well as muzzle velocity/energy requirements... 2" in Alberta.

That lets out all the lever guns chambered for revolver rounds like the .44-40, .357, .44mag, .45 Colt etc. Not that those caliber's haven't taken a fair number of deer, but I'm of the "use-the-biggest-gun-you-can-hit-anything-with" school.


IF it's legal for big game in your province, I would think the .454 Casull would be a good choice. As someone already noted you can fire .45 Colt in it for the competitions (same as your sidearm) and use the full power rounds when in the bush. Just my two cents worth....

DJ
 
Some more great advice. The argument that the deer deserves a quick death is a good one. I've been looking into other options for hunting rifles. Thanks again to everyone who helped me out,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom