Suggestions for my first lever action rifle?

I have at least (3) 30-30’s at the moment. Fine little hunting rifles. Not ideal (cheap) plinking rifles. Actually only gonna keep one that was grandpas and sell the other two.

I have heard a lot of good things about the 357mag / 38 special levers for plinking pop cans and such. Apparently more fun than they should be. I assume the 44mag / 44 special would be similar.

My suggestion would be a pistol grip in 357/38 and maybe takedown. If you like the notion of being able to leave it in the vehicle the takedown version may be less conspicuous, but it sounds like people trust the accuracy slightly more with the non TD versions.
 
Buy once Cry once :
Pedersoli 1886 45-70
CapAndBall on youtube has a video review of it. Check it out , when you see that Pedersoli you’ll feel movement in the front of your pants lololol
 
Buy once Cry once :
Pedersoli 1886 45-70
CapAndBall on youtube has a video review of it. Check it out , when you see that Pedersoli you’ll feel movement in the front of your pants lololol

D’mn you now I’m really confused.
 
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D’mn you now I’m really confused.

I have a Henry 30-30 , great gun, picked it up used for $850. I have a friend with over 8 Henry’s and never an issue. Those Pedersoli are beauties but you don’t need to spend that much lol I like the 30-30 as it’s a good deer hunting calibre but it’s a bit expensive to shoot a lot of. If you’re looking for fun plinking rifle one of the pistol calibres like the 357 might be more economical to shoot for fun. A 45-70 is really good if you’re hunting bigger game or just want a cool boom-stick.
I’d personally steer clear of new Marlins at the moment as they got sold to ruger after Remington went broke. I’d be concerned about getting warranty or parts if you need it.
A Henry in a pistol calibre is a good bet , hard to go wrong with them.
 
I have a Henry 30-30 , great gun, picked it up used for $850. I have a friend with over 8 Henry’s and never an issue. Those Pedersoli are beauties but you don’t need to spend that much lol I like the 30-30 as it’s a good deer hunting calibre but it’s a bit expensive to shoot a lot of. If you’re looking for fun plinking rifle one of the pistol calibres like the 357 might be more economical to shoot for fun. A 45-70 is really good if you’re hunting bigger game or just want a cool boom-stick.
I’d personally steer clear of new Marlins at the moment as they got sold to ruger after Remington went broke. I’d be concerned about getting warranty or parts if you need it.
A Henry in a pistol calibre is a good bet , hard to go wrong with them.

Someone told me they can be a bit of a pain loading from the top. Have you had any issues with that?
 
Using the tube

No problems at all. Pull the tube drop the rounds in replace the tube. Not much to go wrong. I had a Rossi 44 mag lever gun and it’s quicker and easier to tube load my Henry than it was to side load that Rossi. People say “well you can’t top off a tube” my answer to that is when would you need to top off ? Zombie apocalypse notwithstanding, there’s really no situation you’d need to top off. If you’re hunting and need more than the full tube mag then capacity is the least of your problems lol if you’re target shooting or plinking then there’s no real big deal to pulling the tube when empty as there is to side loading. If you’re buying it for a defensive rifle for animals in the woods or mountains and get it in 45-70 and need more than 5 rounds of 45-70 then ,brother , You’re already F**ked lol
Having had both side loading and tube loading lever guns I honestly don’t see any pro or con of one over the other. I’ve hunted with both types and prefer the tube loading Henry for hunting as I can drop out the rounds from the tube at the end of the day without having to work each round through the action to eject it.
I guess one pro of the tube loading is that it’s a simpler feeding system than a gate loader. One less thing to go wrong.
Most of the “I need to top off” crowd are just blowing tactical wannabe hot air anyway. Ain’t nobody running and gunning against the Apache at the little big horn these days lol
Oh and one last thing , avoid Rossi’s like the plague , pieces of junk in my opinion !
 
No problems at all. Pull the tube drop the rounds in replace the tube. Not much to go wrong. I had a Rossi 44 mag lever gun and it’s quicker and easier to tube load my Henry than it was to side load that Rossi. People say “well you can’t top off a tube” my answer to that is when would you need to top off ? Zombie apocalypse notwithstanding, there’s really no situation you’d need to top off. If you’re hunting and need more than the full tube mag then capacity is the least of your problems lol if you’re target shooting or plinking then there’s no real big deal to pulling the tube when empty as there is to side loading. If you’re buying it for a defensive rifle for animals in the woods or mountains and get it in 45-70 and need more than 5 rounds of 45-70 then ,brother , You’re already F**ked lol
Having had both side loading and tube loading lever guns I honestly don’t see any pro or con of one over the other. I’ve hunted with both types and prefer the tube loading Henry for hunting as I can drop out the rounds from the tube at the end of the day without having to work each round through the action to eject it.
I guess one pro of the tube loading is that it’s a simpler feeding system than a gate loader. One less thing to go wrong.
Most of the “I need to top off” crowd are just blowing tactical wannabe hot air anyway. Ain’t nobody running and gunning against the Apache at the little big horn these days lol
Oh and one last thing , avoid Rossi’s like the plague , pieces of junk in my opinion !

Great, thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.
 
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