Best cowboy lever gun for the money

0

004beb

New member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok this has Likely been talked about before however I am new to action shooting
And would like to know what you guys and gals think about center fire levers. I have a 22 Henry and love it. Are the larger calibers the same quality? I held a marlin today and did not think much of it. I was told it would be better with age. Any thoughts ? I think I want a 357 mag to match my vaquero. Thanks.
 
I have an 1894 Marlin in .44 mag and its awesome. From what I understand if you can find an older model you will be better off. Rumor is the quality has gone down in the last few years.

Some of the older CAS members here may be able to shed a little better light on this though
 
I have an older Rossi 92 in .44mag.
You cant rack it fast enough to get it to jam.
For several years i was the only guy with a "92",
now over half of our gang have them.
Most in the .38 squirrel caliber though.
Many found the 94's too fussy when trying to make .38 loads that would cycle smooth
without jamming.
 
Uberti 73. They are more expensive to start, however most of the shooters who try to compete at the top level end up with the Uberti. The older Marlin Cowboys are also very competitive, but most of the top shooters use the 73. The 92s and clones have a tendency( unless they are timed perfectly by someone like Kiowa Kid) to stovepipe rounds when run very fast and there is not the same aftermarket speed accessories available for them. Stay away from the Win 94s they are not built robustly enough to handle the amount of shooting and the speed we shoot. The pump clones of the Lightning from my observations, and I may be mistaken, are not reliable enough for everyday use.
 
Cariboo Lefty said:
Uberti 73. They are more expensive to start, however most of the shooters who try to compete at the top level end up with the Uberti. The older Marlin Cowboys are also very competitive, but most of the top shooters use the 73. The 92s and clones have a tendency( unless they are timed perfectly by someone like Kiowa Kid) to stovepipe rounds when run very fast and there is not the same aftermarket speed accessories available for them. Stay away from the Win 94s they are not built robustly enough to handle the amount of shooting and the speed we shoot. The pump clones of the Lightning from my observations, and I may be mistaken, are not reliable enough for everyday use.
Click to expand...

Agree for the most part. Save yourself the headache and get yourself an Uberti 1873 or 1866. They both use the same short stroke kit to my knowledge. And yes you will want the short stroke kit added. I started with the Puma 92 (Win Copy), worked O.K., but issues as mentioned started to show up after only a few matches. 94's are no good too, unless you do a lot of tightening, plus some have those flat stocks that slide all over the place.

As for the Lightnings. The Uberti's are the bad ones as they are an exact copy of the Colt, so all the flaws and safety issues with the colt are in the Uberti. They were originally only in 44-40. They are hard to reload for. The Pedersoli Lightnings have engineered out most if not all of the flaws and safety issues of the orginal, and are more forgiving when using reloads. I surely hope so, because I just got one to use exclusively for Wild Bunch.

Also, as you grow in Cowboy, you may want to do yourself a favour and use a 45 Colt rifle (or 44 mag if you wish), because if you ever want to shoot Wild Bunch, it has to be 40 cal or bigger.
 
BHein said:
I have an 1894 Marlin in .44 mag and its awesome. From what I understand if you can find an older model you will be better off. Rumor is the quality has gone down in the last few years.

Some of the older CAS members here may be able to shed a little better light on this though
Click to expand...

X2
I have an 1894 in 44 mag as well made in the 60's. Great condition, got it for $300 off of EE around a year ago. Aboslutely love it! Matches my S&W model 29-2 made in 1968 very nicely!
 
I have a number of levers that I am very happy with in the 15 years I have been shooting Cowboy Action, my main match carbine is an older Marlin M1894S in .44 magnum, it fired over 9,000 rds before I broke the front portion of the firing pin, 1,500 rds later the back portion went. I've replaced it with a 1 piece firing pin and had 4 years of great service with it. My backup rifle is a 1906 manufactured Winchester M92 in .44 mag, only causes problems(stovepipes) when loaded with .44 Spl, it is flawless running .44 mag though.

My wifes main match gun is a Browning B92 in .357, the barrel says .357, believe it. It runs flawlessly with .357 brass but stovepipes using .38 Spl brass. Her backup gun is a Puma M92 in .38Spl/.357 Mag according to the barrel but works flawlessly using only .357 brass

I've been shooting .44 magnum for 15 years now and I'm looking to be ammunition compatible with my wife (since I make all the ammo) so I have a Uberti M73 Winchester on order in .38 Spl from Rusty Woods Trading Company. I'm looking forward to trying something different.
 
1866 or '73 fan here.
I had a Rossi '92 in .44 and put a lot of shots through it for a number of years, but the action on the '66's and 73's, right from the box, is very slick and beats the 92 I had, all hollow.
It might also be noted that if you decide to shoot Classic Cowboy, you'll need a 1860 Henry, an 1866 or a 1873 Winchester.
 
Hey KK how is it going. Long time no see.
I have used an original Win 94 and 92- a Marlin 94- Now have 2 Uberti 73s I absolutely love the 73. You can buy all sorts of springs and short stroke kits from many different makers ( Cowboys and Indians ) are my favorites, but they all seem to be acurate shooters rite from the factory.
 
Last edited:
Garand said:
I've been shooting .44 magnum for 15 years now and I'm looking to be ammunition compatible with my wife (since I make all the ammo) so I have a Uberti M73 Winchester on order in .38 Spl from Rusty Woods Trading Company. I'm looking forward to trying something different.
Click to expand...

Peter is a great guy!!! I got a bunch of ruger parts from him. He is coming out to our big match in July I think. Are you having him put the newest gen short stroke kit in right away? Might as well to save extra shipping (if you are shipping). Also, are they including the 357 block too, or just the 38 (or do you have to buy the 38, I forget). Having shot many model 94's and the 92, you are going to notice a big difference with the 73, and if the short stroke kit is inm you'll think you are in heaven. There are some nice front sites available for them too, not sure how good the ole eyes are now. I have a nice big front site on mine. Real nice. I am hoping my local smith can put the same site set on my new lightning.

takeiteasybird said:
Does anyone know of any dealers with Uberti rifles in stock?
Click to expand...

Don't fall into that trap and settle for what you can find. Stoeger Canada is the importer for Uberti. Go to the Uberti site, find the one you want (make sure it holds 10 rounds in the mag tube of the caliber you want) and order it from your dealer of choice (anyone who sells Beretta or IGA can get for you). I recommend staying at a 20" to 24" max barrel length. Blued is good if you are around a lot of BP shooters, otherwise the case coloured looks great. Octagon barrels are the cats meow, but the round ones look nice too. There are many, just pick one you think you will be happy with.
 
I was going to buy a Uberti M73 through Shooters Choice until Rusty Woods mentioned he has a EMF SASS Limited M73 Uberti in stock. Modifications that I asked for came to another $640 on top of the rifles basic price. Too late for me to take it to Cody next week but I'll have it for Winter Range in Arizona.


Tuco Pike said:
Peter is a great guy!!! I got a bunch of ruger parts from him. He is coming out to our big match in July I think. Are you having him put the newest gen short stroke kit in right away? Might as well to save extra shipping (if you are shipping). Also, are they including the 357 block too, or just the 38 (or do you have to buy the 38, I forget). Having shot many model 94's and the 92, you are going to notice a big difference with the 73, and if the short stroke kit is inm you'll think you are in heaven. There are some nice front sites available for them too, not sure how good the ole eyes are now. I have a nice big front site on mine. Real nice. I am hoping my local smith can put the same site set on my new lightning.



Don't fall into that trap and settle for what you can find. Stoeger Canada is the importer for Uberti. Go to the Uberti site, find the one you want (make sure it holds 10 rounds in the mag tube of the caliber you want) and order it from your dealer of choice (anyone who sells Beretta or IGA can get for you). I recommend staying at a 20" to 24" max barrel length. Blued is good if you are around a lot of BP shooters, otherwise the case coloured looks great. Octagon barrels are the cats meow, but the round ones look nice too. There are many, just pick one you think you will be happy with.
Click to expand...
 
Enlarged front site, .38 Special block, short stroke kit, action job and one or 2 more touch ups that I can't remember at the moment, I have the email on my computer at work and won't be their to Monday as I'm heading, this morning to a match in Saskatoon and my ROII course.
 
Got a Rossi M92 octogonal 24 inch barrel with the metallic cresent in the stock, love the cowboy look of it and it is a pretty good shooter... JP.
44004.jpg
[/IMG]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom