School me on Lever Action rifles.

[Maelthra Reloaded]

I'm looking to buy my first real gun (Owned a couple .22s, always ended up passing them on to other people when I grew bored of them) shortly after I renew my firearms permit sometime in August or September.

I'd like a lever action. The Marlin 336 defiantly caught my eye, but is only available in two calibers, where as the BLR lightweight (expensive tastes, I know cool ) is available in more, such as .308 or .300 WinMag, in case I decide I want to drop something a little bigger. (My uncle goes moose hunting every year)

Yes, my two choices are vastly different beasts. This is why I'm asking the "experts"  

[Freak_090]

*looks around for Armas*

eek Wait, Armas hasn't posted in a thread about lever-actions!?!?!?

I sense a great disturbance in the force
 

[uryu ishida]

I like my 336.

Doesn't Marlin make another lever-action in .45-70?
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/1895.asp
you can see in the side menu that there are other models.  

[Maelthra Reloaded]

But is the 45/70 going to come anywhere close to matching the .300win mag? What about the 444 and 450 marlin?  

[ArmasTermin]

Fear not, Armas is here!

Okay, lever-actions. That comes down to only a few main cartridges. You can go for .38/.357 or .44 Mag/Spl or .45 Long colt for pistol cartridges. Or you can go for the .30-30 or the popular and powerful .45-70. There are others, yeah, but those are the popular ones.

If you want to drop something big, I'd say .45-70. It offers a great punch and throws a heavy bullet. As for specific guns, I'm sure you know anything by Winchester or Marlin will work great.

And .300 Win Mag? Well how far are you planning on shooting? Because that's probably not necessary.  

[Fresnel]

Maelthra Reloaded

But is the 45/70 going to come anywhere close to matching the .300win mag? What about the 444 and 450 marlin?

"As is usual with military ammunitions, the .45-70 was an immediate hit among sportsmen as well, and the .45-70 has survived for one and a third centuries. Today, the traditional 405 grain (26.2 g) load is considered adequate for any North American big game within its range limitations, including the great bears, and it does not destroy edible meat on smaller animals such as deer due to the bullet's low velocity. It is very good for big game hunting in brush or heavy timber where the range is usually short."

From Wikipedia. If it can drop a grizzly, I don't think a moose will pose too much of a problem.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Freak_090

*looks around for Armas*

eek Wait, Armas hasn't posted in a thread about lever-actions!?!?!?

I sense a great disturbance in the force

Hmm, never thought I would say the following. That Storm Trooper has nice legs. wink  

[Freak_090]

OberFeldwebel

Freak_090

*looks around for Armas*

eek Wait, Armas hasn't posted in a thread about lever-actions!?!?!?

I sense a great disturbance in the force

Hmm, never thought I would say the following. That Storm Trooper has nice legs. wink

I thought it would make a good Psy-ops poster...  

[Floyd]

I'm an ex-Marlin owner. My experiences with the .30-30 were limited due to a dramatic life change while I owned it (my dad died).

I've often looked with great interest at the .44 magnum Ruger 96/44 rifle. While not something I would want to face a moose with, it has always been considered a good light deer gun.

http://ruger.com/Firearms/FASubType?type=Rifle&subtype=Lever Action

Then there is the out of production line of lever actions from Savage. Their rotary magazine Model 99 was a fine weapon, lacking all the negatives of a tube magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Model_99

Winchester had a box magazine large caliber lever action series that went in and out of production. So did Browning.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Freak_090

OberFeldwebel

Freak_090

*looks around for Armas*

eek Wait, Armas hasn't posted in a thread about lever-actions!?!?!?

I sense a great disturbance in the force

Hmm, never thought I would say the following. That Storm Trooper has nice legs. wink

I thought it would make a good Psy-ops poster...

Well it's doing something for me. Not sure if it makes me want to be a storm trooper though. wink  

[uryu ishida]

Floyd

I'm an ex-Marlin owner. My experiences with the .30-30 were limited due to a dramatic life change while I owned it (my dad died).

I've often looked with great interest at the .44 magnum Ruger 96/44 rifle. While not something I would want to face a moose with, it has always been considered a good light deer gun.

http://ruger.com/Firearms/FASubType?type=Rifle&subtype=Lever Action

Then there is the out of production line of lever actions from Savage. Their rotary magazine Model 99 was a fine weapon, lacking all the negatives of a tube magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Model_99

Winchester had a box magazine large caliber lever action series that went in and out of production. So did Browning.

I haven't quite studied it, so I would like ot hear of the downsides and upsides of tube magazines. I know that loading time is a downside.  

[Floyd]

I could load the Marlin quickly enough. Just slide one round in at a time, just like loading a shotgun of the same design.

The significant issue was the inability to load pointed rounds for fear of having a Kb! if the point detonated the primer in the round in front of it. So you were dealing with flat tipped bullets. Some argue that this was never a significant issue at ranges one would take game at.  

[Freak_090]

OberFeldwebel

Well it's doing something for me. Not sure if it makes me want to be a storm trooper though. wink

I'm not sure that I would want to be staring at a Storm Trooper mask while in bed...  

[ArmasTermin]

Floyd

I could load the Marlin quickly enough. Just slide one round in at a time, just like loading a shotgun of the same design.

The significant issue was the inability to load pointed rounds for fear of having a Kb! if the point detonated the primer in the round in front of it. So you were dealing with flat tipped bullets. Some argue that this was never a significant issue at ranges one would take game at.

That and Hornady's leverevolution made it a non-issue.



Semi-malleable polymer tips give enough so they don't set off primers, but offer increased aerodynamics and flatter trajectories.  

[uryu ishida]

Floyd

I could load the Marlin quickly enough. Just slide one round in at a time, just like loading a shotgun of the same design.

The significant issue was the inability to load pointed rounds for fear of having a Kb! if the point detonated the primer in the round in front of it. So you were dealing with flat tipped bullets. Some argue that this was never a significant issue at ranges one would take game at.

My 336 loading gate is really stiff, it takes quite a bit of force to load rounds. Any fixes, other than repeatedly loading rounds?
......Do they make snapcaps for .30-30WIN?