best of the best 44 mag?

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brybenn

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My local gun shops Dont have a great selection of lever guns so I come to you. I'm considering a lever gun in 44 mag. However I want a straight grip and the action and lever must be colour case hardened. I'd prefer an octagon barrel as well. Who has the best fit and finish and brightest case colors and nicest wood out there for less than $1500
I've been lookin at the Rossi 92. Could I do better?
 
I'm not sure you will find a rossi in the configuration you're after - the color cased ones are harder to come by. The newer Winchesters in .44 are usually blued, not color case.

Chiappa makes one like what you are looking for, but to be honest, I can't recommend Chiappa - their QA/QC is non-existent, I returned my last two .45 Colts for having serious manufacturing defects right out of the box - both were octagon barrels on colour case receivers though ;) If these were Rossi priced, I might have fixed and kept them, but they were priced like real Winchesters - which is ridiculous f you ask me. They are NOT as well made as their price suggests.

If you can live with a blued receiver, a Rossi .44 with a straight grip stock is easy to find and with a minimum of work (de-burring internals, replacing the factory follower with a metal one, and possibly putting in a lighter ejection spring) they run better than anything else out there. The fit and finish is not very good on these, but they work well and take abuse like no other 92 clone in my experience.

My .44 92 is a stainless 16" trapper. It had a few warts out of the box, but they were easy to fix and for $650 new, it was hard to not like the end product ;)

If you DO manage to find a color-cased .44 Mag Rossi , you will be looking for model R92-50003 (24" barrel rifle click here) or model R92-50203 (20" barrel short rifle click here). I haven't seen dealers carry either in Canada - but I haven't checked every dealer either - lol.
 
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Find an older Win 94 or go with a newer Miroku 92... an 1894 is a good option also... be patient... watch all of the used outlets... one will come up in short order.
 
Claven2 that is the model I was looking at. Can't find one in around me to handle.
Fredyfour can you plz pass on that gentleman's name and contact info
I love my 94/22 would be nice to have a big brother for it but I'm set on case colored for sure. Fit and finish are important if I find a 44 lever
 
I believe they are referring to Oskar Kob.

Oskar Kob 1-902-587-2257
923 Lewis Cove Rd.Site 5,
Box 9RR #1
St. Peters, N.S.
B0E 3E0

Oskar does superb color case hardening, but if you are able, you are better strip the gun down to prep your metal yourself (i.e. sand to 400 grit without rounding over any edges). Also, if you want authentic colors that will mellow with age, ask for him NOT to lacquer the parts after he does his work.

If you go this route you could, for example, get a new Marlin 1894, have a good gunsmith (I recommend Jason Spencer in Ottawa) TIG up the stupid cross-bolt safety hole in the receiver, and then send to oskar for new color case. It would look amazing. Similarly, ANY Winchester 92 with a nice bore can be turned from blue to color case. You just can;t do it with stainless is all.

I can;t recommend a Win 94AE .44 as someone earlier posted. The 94's just were;t designed for pistol rounds and there are much better actions that handle short rounds beautifully like the 92 or Marlin 1894.
 
how are the Henry rifles? Anyone know how the quality and accuracy is? I believe I saw a real beauty with the octagon barrel and gold trim. I would take one in 45 Long Colt.
 
Big-Boy-Rifle1.png


http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/08/chris-dumm/gun-review-henry-big-boy-44-magnum/

http://www.henryrifles.com/rifles/big-boy/
 
Henry Pros:

- nice looking fit and finish
- smooth action. It's based on the Marlin 336 action, but the steel on brass slides smoother than a marlin

Henry Cons:

- heaviest rifles in their class. The massive brass receiver is heavy and the barrel has a LOT of meat on it.
- Mag tube loading. Not that fast to do and in the opinion of many is a feature more befitting a .22LR.
- Cost - they are among the most expensive guns in their class.

I think that about covers it. Henry claims their receivers are as strong as steel, but I have my doubts about long-term durability if you shoot full-house .44 Mag or .45Colt hotrods in your Henry. It's interesting Henry only offers their .45-70 version with a steel receiver and the steel receiver version of their .30-30 outsells the brass version.
 
Claven2 said:
Henry Pros:

- nice looking fit and finish
- smooth action. It's based on the Marlin 336 action, but the steel on brass slides smoother than a marlin

Henry Cons:

- heaviest rifles in their class. The massive brass receiver is heavy and the barrel has a LOT of meat on it.
- Mag tube loading. Not that fast to do and in the opinion of many is a feature more befitting a .22LR.
- Cost - they are among the most expensive guns in their class.

I think that about covers it. Henry claims their receivers are as strong as steel, but I have my doubts about long-term durability if you shoot full-house .44 Mag or .45Colt hotrods in your Henry. It's interesting Henry only offers their .45-70 version with a steel receiver and the steel receiver version of their .30-30 outsells the brass version.
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All you need to know is how they shoot and feel... Henry's are the sweetest shooting lever action rifles that I own, bar none...
 
My comments aren;t meant to slag the Henry - they are nice guns. I was trying to be honest and factual and I think I got the pros/cons just about right. Weight is an important factor - frankly, I'd WAY rather carry a Win 92 than a Henry if I have to walk/stalk a long distance. YMMV.

They are a slick and sweet rig at the range though.
 
I'd be carrying it more then shooting it. Mostly 2 weeks a year while scouting for bear and wolf. I've walked up on smaller bears and wolves often enough and on nice days a nice light pretty lever gun seems just right. Right now I carry a sxs in 45/70 which I'll continue to carry most days. Life is to short to hunt with an ugly gun!
 
For compactness, reliability and function the Browning 92 in 44 Mag is superb. I wish I had never sold mine.
 
brybenn said:
I've walked up on smaller bears and wolves often enough and on nice days a nice light pretty lever gun seems just right.
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Based on that, a Henry is not your gun... they are heavy suckers... personally the heavier weight is one of the things I love about them, but certainly not everyone feels that way... in addition I prefer the tube fed magazine... I made a speed loader and the bullets don't get damaged on loading as they often do when gate loading.

I think the Win 94/92 or Browning 92 would fit your requirements nicely... as mentioned above, they can be case hardened if you just gotta.
 
hoytcanon said:
Based on that, a Henry is not your gun... they are heavy suckers... personally the heavier weight is one of the things I love about them, but certainly not everyone feels that way... in addition I prefer the tube fed magazine... I made a speed loader and the bullets don't get damaged on loading as they often do when gate loading.

I think the Win 94/92 or Browning 92 would fit your requirements nicely... as mentioned above, they can be case hardened if you just gotta.
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I never thought of that. The tube magazine is one of two things that puts me off considering the Henry. The other is I don't like the brass being so bright and shiny, though I'm not opposed to brass itself. Does it dull if you leave it alone?

There is no perfect solution, right now the Marlin 1894 seems to be the compromise I dislike least in a lever action. But the things you like about the Henry are things I could like, too.
 
TheTooner said:
The other is I don't like the brass being so bright and shiny, though I'm not opposed to brass itself. Does it dull if you leave it alone?
But the things you like about the Henry are things I could like, too.
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The brass can be dulled down or shined right up based on what you prefer... the heavier Henry, feels SO solid in off-hand shooting... it has that "I can't miss" feel to it... and the way my son and I smoke the clays with them only bolsters confidence in using them... I am loading the 225 FTX over H110 for them (and my Ruger 77/44's).
 
I have two Miroku Winchester 44 mags. Great bluing, reliable, great lines, excellent fit and finish. Rossi is like half the price so a better value but not as good a gun...though the Rossi is more 92 original correct
 
brybenn said:
Claven2 that is the model I was looking at. Can't find one in around me to handle.
Fredyfour can you plz pass on that gentleman's name and contact info
I love my 94/22 would be nice to have a big brother for it but I'm set on case colored for sure. Fit and finish are important if I find a 44 lever
Click to expand...

Yes I was referring to Oskar Kob, same as Claven2 gave.
 
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