New to lever actions looking for help

Z

Zerex

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Location
Victoria, BC
As stated in the title, I recently started looking seriously at buying a lever gun and I have a couple of questions.
I'd like to find a short barreled lever gun (16-18.5 inches) that shoots either a pistol or 30-30 caliber. I like the look of something similar to the model 92 Trapper and hopefully can find a new gun for less than $700.
I dont like the barrel band look.
Here's a pic of the style I like

Model-92-Trapper-MID-534186-m.jpg


What are my options and who carries a variety of levers?
Thanks
 
Rossi sells a 16inch barrel trapper model chambered in .357Mag, .44Mag or .45Colt. And I know Wanstalls gets them in quite often.

Check 'em out for yourself.

http://www.rossiusa.com/product-list.cfm?name=Lever Action Rifles&page=1

Rossis with the barrel bands are the round barrel guns. If you don't mind paying a bit more the octagonal barrel models are the ones that are bandless and look like your picture.
 
What would you be using it for?They are of no real practical use,so a picture,is the cheap way out....Be happy with the pic.
 
gtrussell said:
What would you be using it for?They are of no real practical use,so a picture,is the cheap way out....Be happy with the pic.
Click to expand...

Surely you jest! Personally, however, I prefer a longer barrel, at least 22", so I can still see the front sight now that my older eyes can't focus as close up anymore.
 
gtrussell said:
What would you be using it for?They are of no real practical use,so a picture,is the cheap way out....Be happy with the pic.
Click to expand...

Welllllllll.......I'll be using it to punch paper just like the rest of my firearms.
I wish I had known beforehand I could just stare at a picture instead of actually shooting, I could have saved myself a whole pile of money:cool:
 
Zerex said:
Welllllllll.......I'll be using it to punch paper just like the rest of my firearms.
Click to expand...
Well, if that is the case, then a slightly longer barrel will not really be a factor, since you won't be carrying it for hours at a time in the bush. Why don't you check out the Model 1873's that Cimarron Firearms sells? They make several beauties in 38 W.C.F. (more commonly known as 38-40). There is a fellow here in Canada that is the distributor for Cimarron guns, but I forget his name. The Cimarron website will tell you.
 
For range giggles a stoutly loaded .44mag is very close in recoil to the .30-30. And with a 16 inch "trapper" model the magazine will hold more rounds of .44Mag.

When I've shot .357Mag from my own Rossi M92 clone it had some presence but it wasn't overwhelming by any means.

Mind you if you are going to blast off a bunch at a time of ANY of these calibers you'll want to get into reloading for them PRONTO! ! ! ! Otherwise the ammo costs will kill you.

Also another nice thing about a hangun chambering is that if you have any local speed steel events they sometimes have provisions for handgun caliber rifles. And there's little that would be more fun than doing Speed Steel with such a lever gun.

On top of that if you stick with the handgun caliber and reload you can use the same gun with softer loads for cowboy action.

All this keeps things very versitile.
 
A nice little 44 Mag carbine would be a sweet little rig. I'm with you in my dislike for barrel bands but they're not a deal breaker.

Can you mash blacktails with a 44 Mag on Vancouver Island? If so that would be a nice way to go about it.
 
I own a new Winchester 32-20 take Down with the 24' barrel made by Miroku. A fine rifle but pricey. They have shorter versions and available models can be seen on Prophet Rivers website or on their post in the equipment exchange here.

If you don't handload consider the 44 Mag or 357 Mag levers for full power loadings. I found sourcing supplies for the 32-20 a bit of a pain compared to the 44 or 357 Mags. I prefer the historic chamberings but there is no denying availability issues. Right now I'm considering a little TD in 38-40, I'll never learn. For puching paper I would choose the 357. If hunting I would choose the 44 Mag or 45 Colt (handloading a must for the Colt). Any of the original chamberings are great if you are so inclined, 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40. My 32-20 is the best woods loafing rifle I could think of. The Hornady 100gr XTP at 2200 fps is real coyote medicine and 115 gr lead at 1400 fps is a dandy cheap plinker, sorta a super 22 WMR for less money.

Marlin 1892 and Rossi 92 levers in short cartridges are best bang for buck. The new Winchesters are very well built and finished. They also come without barrel bands. An original Winchester 92 in a good shooter will be pricey but historic, homework required for knowledgeable shopping. An 1873 Italian rifle has some real appeal to me. I have no experience with the Italian levers but I chose the new Winchester as the price was comparable.
 
OP ... The one thing about Lever's you really want tocheck is the length of throw for each one. Some are much shorter than others. For me, it makes a difference and I prefer as short a throw as possible. I've got one lever .22 that needs more than 90 degrees of travel on the lever to fully operate it :( Make sure to try the action of the one you areinterested in before buying it.

gtrussell said:
What would you be using it for?They are of no real practical use,so a picture,is the cheap way out....Be happy with the pic.
Click to expand...

Dammit all :( Why didn't someone tell me Lever's were useless a long time ago? What am I supposed to do with all the ones I have now?
 
IMagius said:
Dammit all :( Why didn't someone tell me Lever's were useless a long time ago? What am I supposed to do with all the ones I have now?
Click to expand...

Ditto, the only bolt I own is a Lee Enfield and that is for history and respect for our Armed Forces.

My 444 never read any of those classy gun magazines it just dropped moose and deer since the 70's!
 
Well as an update I went and handled a bunch of lever guns today. I really like the feel of the Marlin 1895 GBL, i just can't stomach the $2 a bullet for punching paper. The 336 is nearly identical but chambered in 30-30.
On a side note, the clerk at Cabela's (yes i know.....) said that they'd seen a bunch of them returned for quality control issues:cool:
Can anyone here give me an idea of how much cheaper it is to reload 30-30.:confused:
 
Canuck Bob said:
Ditto, the only bolt I own is a Lee Enfield and that is for history and respect for our Armed Forces.

My 444 never read any of those classy gun magazines it just dropped moose and deer since the 70's!
Click to expand...

Actually levers are not all useless.I have 2 94s,several 88s and blrs.Some cals in my opinion,are useless however.
 
Zerox: Most cals. are too expensive to buy factory ammo and use enough of it to become proficient. You need to reload and in the case of some lever cals., you can reload much better ammo then the factory stuff if you do your homework. You can load some cals. much heavier because of the modern gun you are using or load way down to reduce costs and recoil. Of the smaller(pistol) type rounds, I'd recommend the .44 Mag. and .45 Colt's...for all out power; the 45/70 with handloads.
 
Or join the elite and snoop around for a 358win.
Impressive round with 200 grain bullets and fill the
case with around 50 grains of IMR 4320.
Makes for a nice round capable of longer legs than the
45/70 and less recoil.
 
Zerex said:
Well as an update I went and handled a bunch of lever guns today. I really like the feel of the Marlin 1895 GBL, i just can't stomach the $2 a bullet for punching paper. The 336 is nearly identical but chambered in 30-30.
On a side note, the clerk at Cabela's (yes i know.....) said that they'd seen a bunch of them returned for quality control issues:cool:
Can anyone here give me an idea of how much cheaper it is to reload 30-30.:confused:
Click to expand...

The 30-30 will be much cheaper to but factory ammo, and reloading
will lower that cost a good bit. 100 rounds will cost you:
$30 for hunting quality bullets
$15 worth of powder
$4 worth of primers
Your time, with practice, a bit more than an hour.

For plinking practice: 500 rounds will cost you
$50-60 for 500 bullets
$30 for a pound of powder
$20 worth of primers
your time

And you've found a fun new hobby that compliments your
other hobby, and the one feeds off the other.
You reload so you can shoot more, then you shoot more
to create empty brass to reload,and so on, and so on......


About buying a new Marlin. We hear all about the problem ones,
but there are a bunch sold that have no problems.
Do a search over at Marlinowners.com to educate yourself
on what to look for. Personally, I would take a package
of snapcaps up to the guncounter to run through it first.
If they won't let you run them through, they don't get the
sale. Better to try it in store than get it home and then
find out it's a problem child.
 
If you want to know more about Marlin rifles and their issues/fixes go to MarlinOwners.com it is the very best site on the net for Marlin firearms...
 
Does anyone have experience with the Chiappa 1892 trapper? Looks like a decent Winchester clone, chambered in pistol calibers. Who sells Chiappa here?
 
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