Back Again

[Wildgoose]

Hi All, been gone for quite a long time. Used to be very active shooting levers for hunting and competition. Have been shooting some lever action silhouette a few times a year with my 405 Win 95 and an old Marlin in 35Rem but that's about it. Recently decided to pick up a pistol caliber lever in .44 Mag. So I am back looking for some current information. I am looking at buying one of three current production guns. Rossi, Henry or Marlin in a 20" blue steel. Any opinions on these three would be very welcome. All are readily available. I plan on shooting mostly my own cast bullets in hand loads.
Good to be back.
Thanks

[gamekeeper]

Welcome back around the campfire...

[Blaine]

Welcome back.
I'd handle each, and see which one fits you best. You couldn't possibly go wrong with any of them. Personally, I'd look for an older 70ish Marlin 1894. If it's a little ugly, it will be cheaper, and still shoot real good.

[Merle]

After Remington took over Marlin there were a lot of quality control issues, so if you lean toward Marlin be sure to inspect it carefully before laying your money on the table.

[Pete44ru]

Hi All, been gone for quite a long time. Used to be very active shooting levers for hunting and competition. Have been shooting some lever action silhouette a few times a year with my 405 Win 95 and an old Marlin in 35Rem but that's about it. Recently decided to pick up a pistol caliber lever in .44 Mag. So I am back looking for some current information. I am looking at buying one of three current production guns. Rossi, Henry or Marlin in a 20" blue steel. Any opinions on these three would be very welcome. All are readily available. I plan on shooting mostly my own cast bullets in hand loads.
Good to be back.
Thanks

Welcome back !


I've owned/shot all three rifles.

The Model 92 is into take-apart & feeding drama; the Henry is into weight (heavy); and the Marlin has Microgroove rifling - not an insurmountable problem.

I would recommend a Marlin Model 1894.


.

[rossim92]

henry, marlin, rossi in that order. i have all three. The henry is the smoothest action of them all.

[JOHNNY WACKO]

If new rossi, henry to much money + to heavy for me marlin if it's a old 1 i would not buy a new rmarlin

[Wildgoose]

First off thanks for the warm welcome back! Right now I am leaning toward the Henry but the new Marlin is advertised as having Ballard style rifling, a big draw as I am planning on running cast bullets, but am put off by the poor quality control issues with the them. Some say its better but I still hear from new owners that all is not well and you need to be able to see it before buying to be sure. Any one know what style rifling the Henrys have and what bore diameter? I haven't been able to find this information listed for the Henry. The Rossi isn't out of the running as it is the lower cost unit and would leave a bit more money in the budget for bullet molds and such. I appreciate all of the input.

[mikld]

I have an older Rossi Puma n .44 Mag. (purchased in 2005) and a friend has one brand new. The fit and finish on the newer guns is way below the older model, my bluing is deeper, my wood is a better qualith, and the wood to metal fit is better on the old model. I haven't fired his, but the action seems as tight as mine when I purchased it.

If you get a Rossi, make sure you slug the barrel, mine was giving me problems with accuracy and leading shooting .430" cast bullets. I slugged the bbl, and found it to be .432", a bit over SAAMI specs for a rifle barrel. I went to a Ranch Dog mold and shoot bullets .433" and it shoots fine now...

[Griff]

Welcome back. I won't own a .44Mag rifle. At least until I can get my hands around the neck of the piece of human waste that sole my 1969 Win '94... but I own Marlin's and Rossi in both .38 & .45 calibers, and like 'em all. They are older models... so I won't speak to the new versions. The Marlin's are superb... the Rossi's are also... after working them over a bit to smooth up the actions. Both the Marlins and Rossi in .38 needed a bit of work on the action to feed correctly, and run and CAS speeds... but, outside of that single speed thing, they worked fine. I've not fired a Henry in a pistol caliber, but watching folks try to make them work at CAS speeds, they're not for me. Probably work fine at slow, timed fire type ranges... the two examples sent to 86er in .30-30 were fine guns... I like the round barrel carbine with its blued steel receiver best, but still don't lie the tube loading... give me a loading port in the receiver... please!

[Wildgoose]

I have an older Rossi Puma n .44 Mag. (purchased in 2005) and a friend has one brand new. The fit and finish on the newer guns is way below the older model, my bluing is deeper, my wood is a better qualith, and the wood to metal fit is better on the old model. I haven't fired his, but the action seems as tight as mine when I purchased it.

If you get a Rossi, make sure you slug the barrel, mine was giving me problems with accuracy and leading shooting .430" cast bullets. I slugged the bbl, and found it to be .432", a bit over SAAMI specs for a rifle barrel. I went to a Ranch Dog mold and shoot bullets .433" and it shoots fine now...

Thanks for the info. I have not bought a mold yet so when I do get the rifle I can get it slugged before I do. Nice to know what the nominal bore size is for the Rossi. What alloy mix are you casting your Ranch Dog slugs from and are they gas checked?

I took a look at both a Marlin and Henry at our local Scheels store yesterday. Cant say I was at all impressed with the Marlin fit and and finish. I have two older JM stamped Marlins and they are far better to say the least. The Henry was much better and I did really like the sights on it as well. From what you say the Rossi may well be in the same boat as the new Marlin finish wise. If I am going to go for the cheaper option it looks like the Rossi may be the better bet. Hopefully I can get a look at a Rossi in the near future to tell. One thing seems pretty sure is that with either the Marlin or the Rossi I had better be prepared for some additional hobby work. I would go with an older Marlin JM but the prices I have been seeing are way out of my budget for a fun project like this one.

[cshold]

If I still had my eyesight of yesteryear and didn't need optical enhancement it would be one of these.
Uberti 1873 .44 Mag.

[ollogger]

Tuff one for me as I have all 3 of them but no 44 mags, I like & trust them all
might give the Henry top pick for balance & fit & most accurate with lead or jacketed bullets

ollogger