Cowboy lever gun/ which one Marlin or Puma

I just got one a month ago. The gun itself is great. Decent enough wood for the price but definetly plain as it comes stock. But for the price I paid, $560 before taxes, it is just a great deal on a nice gun. The metal work is far better than the mediocrity of the wood other than for one part. The rear sight on mine is really a sad bit of work. Not only is the dovetail out of square with the rearward spring tang but the sight groove was cut off center to the left. On top of that the whole bullhorn blade was twisted to the left as well due to the flat spring tang being twisted on top of the angle cut. It was also cut far too high to the point I had to remove the stepped long range ramp altogether and drift out the dovetail so I could correct the bend in the tang. On top of that I filed the groove deeper and widened it strongly to the right to help correct for all the mistakes. It's still a work in progress and I want to replace it with something better.

But other than the rear sight the gun itself is superb. The exterior metal is neat and well finished with no tooling marks or evidence of excess sanding and buffing. It cycles smoothly and easily for a new lever gun and the new version I got does not have the safety button on the top of the slide block so it really does look like the old ones. It feeds both flat nosed lead .38Spls as well as round nose .357 mags easily through the loading gate once you get used to the idea of jamming them nose down and letting the gate turn them into the magazine. Try to push them in too flat and they'll stick a little. Some very square ended hollow point +P's with a very sharp ridge around the nose did not want to go into the loading gate easily at all. A real struggle in fact. But my other rounds slip in like fresh caught fish on a wet cutting board... :D Once loaded the gun fed and shot all the ammo easily and without fuss.

Wear a hat. Unless you get into the habit of angling the gun slightly to the side it loves to chuck the brass up about two feet high and lob it onto your head. I caught a good half dozen with my hat at my first CAS event with my Puma. Shooting accuracy is a hard thing to pin down. But in one target session in a pistol range at 18 yards I put 5 .38's into a 2 to 2.5 inch circle holding it freehanded and with my old guy eyes struggling to make out the bullseye. I have yet to get out to the open range and try it from a rest at 50 and 100 yards. Mind you this is my CAS rifle so really what does it matter if I can hit the gongs. And it did that with style all day long during its first outing. Nary a miss. Still, it would be good to know what she'll do. After all with some slightly stronger .357Mag reloads it should be a decent small deer gun out to 100 to 150 yards if she'll group tightly enough.

Given that the Marlin is running up around twice the price if you can find a Puma I recomend it. The Puma is far more than half the gun. Oh, and if this is for cowboy action shooting do NOT get the 16 inch version. It will only hold 9 rounds of .38Spl. You'll need the 20 inch. It'll take the 10 rounds but not quite the eleventh. I have not tried .357 but I suspect it'll swallow ten given that I can almost get the eleventh .38 into it.
 
I use a Marlin 94CB, Marlin 94C and a Rossi/Puma 92 all in .357 for cowboy shooting. My Rossi/Puma does not have the safety on top. The Marlins are usually over all case length sensitive and most will only take OAL of 1.5+ however, there are some Marlins that will eat any length. I usually alternate during a shoot with the 94CB and the 92. I use the .357 case with a 158 gn SWC or RNFP and max cowboy load with Trail Boss powder. I love all three. The 94C is a neat little carbine but only holds 9 rds of .357. They say that if you cut the mag spring on the 94C it will take 10 rds.

One one costume that I wear I have a hat with the pencil curl and with the 92 I can catch some of the empties on it.

Cowboy Shooting is the fastest growing shooting sport in North America. It's also the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
 
If you are going to use it for Cowboy action, I would wait and find a Marlin. They are much easier to strip for cleaning, and a lot easier to slick up. Just my 2cents worth.
 
I tried out both the Marlin 1894 CB and the Puma 1892 for cowboy action. Granted the Marlin is a better finish, but the action on the Puma was every bit as good, the stroke as short, and the trigger as crisp as the Marlin. Heck of a price difference though, so I also bought the Puma 92 last month- but I took the 24 inch octagonal barrel rather than the 20 inch. It's slightly heavier, but I like the balance better. Also easier to load 10 rounds for cowboy action. And yes, I broke a finger nail trying to load it the first couple of times too. By the way, the local "historical" person here says the "short" carbine version was not offered until after 1900, so I guess the 24 inch is the right one if you really want to be correct for the 1899 period.

I can second just about everything BC Rider said- eats 38 spl and 357 both no problem at all. It will even shoot 38 spl wad cutters. I did, however, manage to jam one by "short stroking" the action. I don't think it would happen with 38 spl RNFP's.

Sights a bit of a pain to adjust for windage, you need a brass drift and a small hammer to tap them off sideways. I had to do this a couple of times as I kept drifting the sights too far with each tap. Mine was off a fair bit. I could not get the elevation low enough for center of mass sighting at 50 feet either, so I know to aim abut 1 1/2 inch low and that is about right.

Groups were about the size of a quarter when shot off a sandbag at 25 feet- and that's with Winchester "cowboy load" 38 sp ammo. I understand the groups are a bit better with 357 ammo, but as someone above said, for SASS more than good enough.

Enjoy it.

LGH

Accuracy is pretty good- off a sand bag
 
I guess Marlins have gone up in price. My hubby and I ordered ours from SIR (before it became Cabela's) and we only paid about $300 each. With taxes and shipping they both came out to a little over $700. We've both been really happy with their performance.
 
Ty all for the help I think I will try a Rossi/Puma 92 and see how it goes. I will also be going to watch the shoot at Rocky Mtn House on the Aug long weekend. Hope to be able to talk to you alittle Buffalo Creek.
 
Coffeguy after meeting you at the last shoot I can tell your one who will try to make em rock & roll---Go Marlin or Uberti. Both 94's & 92's stovepipe & throw live rounds out when used at a high rate of fire.

Looking forward to seeing you again in a week
Doug
 
Puma .45colt

Yesterday I attended a CAS shoot at a club that is behind my favorite gun store (about 3.5 hour drive from home).
I arrived early so I could do a little shopping before the shoot.

I bought a Puma lever gun in .45Colt, 20" octagonal barrel because I had no lever gun for the competition.

I arrived at the Cowboy Shoot with barely enough time to run a wet patch down the bore, no sighting in, no cleaning the action, just straight up to the line and shoot.

Ten .45 Colts cartridges slid easily into the mag without a snag. First stage had us shooting the lever gun into a large steel target and a very small swinging steel.

All ten found their mark without a belch, fart or hiccup. I was grinning.

By the time the day was done, 4 stages and 40 rounds later, the Puma had cycled all rounds smoothly and put each one on that damned small ever moving steel target.

I watched many beautiful Uberti, Winchester and Marlin rifles jam, spit out live rounds and generally befuddle their owners (said owners having many rounds through at a much greater cost).

When can I expect troubles from this new gun? So far I am very impressed.
 
I'm leaning towards this now myself after my last shoot two weekends ago. Maybe it just needs some cleanng but on fast lever cycles I was getting a lot of rounds caught by the rim and sticking straight up. The only way to work from there was to reach up and push them forward and guide them into the breech as the lever was raised.

I probably just need to clean it. Haven't done a thing to it since I got it.
 
puma

that’s not really fair. You guys are comparing apples and oranges. None of these rifles (puma, marlin and uberti) were made for C.A.S. out of the box, and thats what it seams everybody wants. But if the rifle won’t do it, it must be a piece of junk. …WRONG…I wish people would do some research and learn and understand how and why some things work before they condemn something. This is not pumas design it’s, Winchesters ...and there the ones that made the ramp system complicated and the puma is the closest copy of that rifle.
you could NOT give me enough money to get rid of my puma. i use it on cyotes, badgers, and gophers and have dropped a dear with it and i also use it for C.A.S.
 
I`ve made the decision.
After researching high and low, I must have read at least 60 forms about which is best Marlin or Puma. What I came away with is that for the difference in price the Puma is a great buy. So I ordered a Puma M92 .357mag, 20" Stainless steel Barrel from Epps, landed at my door I will save enough to almost cover the cost for a New Vaquero.
I'll keep you posted. :cool:
 
I just picked up a new Rossi 92 carbine in .44 Mag from Pro-Line in Calgary.

Under 600.00 out the door, and it's fit and finish I must say is close to perfect. It functions perfectly as well, feeds and ejects effortlessly.....

You made a good choice Cagunman!
 
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Cagunman said:
I`ve made the decision.
After researching high and low, I must have read at least 60 forms about which is best Marlin or Puma. What I came away with is that for the difference in price the Puma is a great buy. So I ordered a Puma M92 .357mag, 20" Stainless steel Barrel from Epps, landed at my door I will save enough to almost cover the cost for a New Vaquero.
I'll keep you posted. :cool:
Click to expand...

STAINLESS! ? ! ? That doesn't sound very cowboy'ish..... :D

I just put about 40 rounds of .38 through my own blued .357 last night along with a few .357Mag. The bullet shape on these were flat point round nosed instead of the SWC's I used before. With the rounded shape it fed as fast as I could pull the lever.

On top of that I'm sure that ol' zeek bindertwine is right about the advantages of slickening up the insides to both cycle faster and more easily and deal with any ammo fussiness. There's a good writeup out on the web for doing just this for the Puma. I found it some time back and printed it off but it came up quite easily using google and the right keywords.
 
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