Started off as a tactical handgun guy when I was in college many years ago, coming from a population-dense urban area. My early twenties mind could think of no other gun I wanted more than a Glock 17. Lightweight, reliable, easy to maintain, very neat.
I never really enjoyed the idea of a lever gun until 2014 when I picked one up. However, I do recall always wanting a Marlin 1894 Cowboy octagonal barrel in 44 mag, back when the Connecticut factory was alive and well. But I did not have the thousand bucks to get one. And even if I did, that could buy more 9 mm ammo or a new P226 instead.
By the time I decided to pull the trigger (pun intended?) "Marlins" were made in NY and the quality was quite lacking. I really wish I would have gotten one beforehand. I messaged dozens of people trying to track one down for a couple of years, looking on forums daily but no luck.
Finally in 2014 I found my first one, a .357. Since then I've gotten lucky and added a case-hardened Cowboy Competition .45 LC, a Cowboy 24-inch 44 mag almost brand new, and a 20-inch Cowboy LTD in .45 LC. That last one came with the original box from 2006, and all the original paperwork and is very mint. Less than 30 rounds through it!
So I own four of basically the same gun. It took me many years of wanting one and then deciding I want one and actually finding one. Then I found 3 in a year. Go figure.
I don't shoot cowboy action. Hell, I don't reload, which makes owning .45 LC seem useless and expensive. But oh well!
Something about those octagonal barrels, and the history behind the CT factory makes owning these guns so cool.
My tactical AR15 friends don't understand. Then again, lots of people don't get why I still like driving a stick shift, lol.
