Looking at lever guns which one?

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wolfie

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Looking at S&W 1854 in 357
Henry Protector in 357 and of Course the Marlin Classic or SBL. Will most likely mount optic because of old eyes. Want one with the least problems but like the S&W but hear they have more feeding problems. The endless internet search does not help but liked the feel of all of them. It will be mostly plinking and maybe some close range deer hunting. Have a 270 so anything more serious would use that for hunting. Thanks
 
Havent seen a Marlin jam yet, but they do indeed suffer occasionally from what some content creators call the "Marlin Bop". Its when the cartridge starts to hang up while chambering, so the operator quickly reverses the lever a tiny bit and retrys. It always chambers fine after that.
 
Marlin 1894. Very easy to take apart for cleaning and the top of the receiver is already drilled and tapped for accessories. If you reload, consider a .45 Colt or a .44 Mag. Can be loaded for plinking or quite stout for hunting. Another consideration might be a Canuck Wrangler. Made in Turkey, based on a 1892 action, very smooth action. Reasonably priced also. I have the Blackout version.
 
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I'm a Winchester guy, and nothing is slicker than an 1892 IMO, but if you're going to mount an optic, it's really better to get a Marlin clone.

I have one of the new Marlin's in 44magnum, and an iron frame Big Boy in .357. The Henry is a chunkier feeling gun, but I do like the tube loading, if I'm doing a lot of shooting, as the King's gate is very stiff on mine.

Feeding and cycling is nowhere near as slick as a '73 or '92, but you're not running the thing on a timer, or doing gymnastics where you need controlled feeding, so, yeah - I'd vote Marlin-ish, which includes S&W, though I've not handled one of them. It can't have fallen far from the tree.
 
I got a Henry Bigboy X in 357 few weeks ago and boy, the action is smooth. After cleaning up packing grease and lubing everything, it is even smoother.

Ran around 100 rounds of 357 mag and another hundreds of 38 special, it is super accurate. My girlfriend loves it too and we had a small competition with my (our) new lever gun.

I might put on some furniture from RPP or midwest industry however the factory handguard and stock are not bad at all. Of course, if you buy S&W stealth hunter or Marlins Dark Series if you could find one, you don't need to spend extra few hundreds + your own labor to make a space cowboy gun.

I handled S&W in LGS, it is a good gun but the action might need break-in time to be smooth like Henry's however I do like stainless steel barrel + receiver.
 
Winchester 1873 (or a repro). It'll be the slickest/smoothest, and is the canonical 'lever gun'; movies, TV, etc - if it's a lever action, it's almost certainly a '73. And the cowboy shooters pretty much all land on the '73, too.
 
Best built...hands down any Miroku made Winchester. If you wish to mount a scope or red dot a Henry or Marlin. My Henry's shoot well, but the Miroku built Winchesters are my favorite. Just a joy to look at or shoot.
No experience with Rossi's or Chiappa levers
When it comes to levers I avoid Turkish built altogether.
 
ZREXER said:
When it comes to levers I avoid Turkish built altogether.
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I hear that a lot, but it doesn't align with my experience w/Turk levers. My Morisson is *fantastic* - I have no complaints with it whatsoever, and prefer it to my Marlin 336's or my Rossi.
 
Have a Marlin and Henry and s&w in various calibers. No issues with any so far. Feeding or otherwise.
Henry feels the nicest and lightest to operate, their fore ends are slick and thin and nicer to hold. Fit and finish is incredible.
The Marlins (all sbls) are just pretty to look at. Also very smooth but feel bit bulkier, and heavier, thicker fore end. Fit and finish also incredible. My old blued 336 is nice too but not as smooth.
The s&w is also very smooth, buttery action. My go to bush gun because it feels like it can take bit more abuse than the Marlin/Henry and I don't mind scratching them up.

The s&w is apparently not rated for +p pressures for the 45-70 btw, but you're not going that heavy seems like.

Honestly all great rifles, you won't regret getting either of them.
Best advice, go to a store and work all 3 of them, and see what feels best in your hands.

Lots of upgrade parts for all 3 if you're into tacticool-ing them... or leave as is.

The bigger the caliber the harder i have to work the action. 357 will be smooth for all 3. Keep it clean and greased up.

Have chiappas (alaskan) as well, but they are not even in the same realm as the 3 mentioned. Nice. But that's it. Feeding issues with the 357 no matter what I do, the 44 is fine. Fit and finish is just adequate.

I personally stay away from Turkish/Brazilian ones.. sure lots of good feedback, just a personal preference.
 
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Mark-II said:
I'm a Winchester guy, and nothing is slicker than an 1892 IMO, but if you're going to mount an optic, it's really better to get a Marlin clone....
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Same opinion here about the cycling and handling on the 1892. There's just nothing else like it. The question is which manufacturer to go with. Miroku-made Winchesters are really very nice, but the tang safety and rebounding hammer just make me sad.

For this reason I actually really like the Heritage (formerly Rossi) 1892 clones. They're nowhere near as nice as Miroku, and sometimes need work to get them to run, but at least you can remove their regretful safeties with little issue. And there is a great option for mounting an optic on them - They are drilled and tapped underneath the rear sight assembly, and Skinner makes an optic base to fit.
 
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