Lever action rifles

[amberg]

You can't shoot .38S or .357M through a rifle chambered for .44M.

@srb08, I am confused, So I can now run my 22 mags in my .357 mag. revolver. Maybe I missed something.

 

[Funky sawman]

I gave up on lever action rifles after owning a winchester in 44 mag, then a 94 marlin in 44 also. Both new guns, they would jam about 99 percent of my own casted keith style flat noses, and about 75 percent of the factory jacketed loads would not feed either. Got me a Ruger 77/44 bolt gun and it feeds everything

 

[srb08]

@srb08, I am confused, So I can now run my 22 mags in my .357 mag. revolver. Maybe I missed something.

No. The only thing you can shoot in a .357M revolver is a .357M, .38 spec, or similar type cartridge.
The .22M is a different diameter and wouldn't work. It's also a rimfire.
You shouldn't shoot .22lr in a .22M.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I gave up on lever action rifles after owning a winchester in 44 mag, then a 94 marlin in 44 also. Both new guns, they would jam about 99 percent of my own casted keith style flat noses, and about 75 percent of the factory jacketed loads would not feed either. Got me a Ruger 77/44 bolt gun and it feeds everything

How were they jamming? Would the round get stuck before it entered the chamber, or would it not go into the chamber all the way? If the latter, then sounds like a finish reamer would have taken care of it. My Browning BLR will only chamber factory ammo easily, everything else is pretty snug. The 'smith is going to do a chamber casting and open it up some. Sometimes, minor variations in bullet molds make all the difference. The Lee C309-150-RF always got stuck in the leade of my Winchester and Marlin .30-30's. Yet, the C309-170-RF works perfectly even though it has a longer ogive!

 

[Funky sawman]

They would get jammed trying to feed, lever would stop about half way. Tip of the flatnose bullets would hit either the top of receiver or the barrel were the chamber starts. Hornady flex tips fed perfectly

 

[FergusonTO35]

I see, sounds like the lifter needed some attention.

 

[Funky sawman]

I had the marlin first, then was told by my local gunsmith to run from this rifle, run fast and hard! Ok so I did. Then got the winchester as what was recommended by many others, but same issue lol. I then said the heck with lever guns and back to what I know which is a bolt gun

 

[FergusonTO35]

Gotta stay with what works for ya. I've always had good luck with lever actions, but I like bolt guns too. Strangely, I think I've had more feed jams with the bolt guns.

 

[Funky sawman]

Gotta stay with what works for ya. I've always had good luck with lever actions, but I like bolt guns too. Strangely, I think I've had more feed jams with the bolt guns.

I've had my fair share of issues with bolt guns, especially the custom ones. Had a 460 short A-Square built on a pre 64 model 70 winchester action, that was a nightmare. Had a custom magazine box made and it would feed the first one in the hole but not the next. After 10 hrs of paying an expensive gunsmith to rework the feed ramps and lips it finally worked, at that point I was so stressed out about that rifle that I just sold it lol

 

[Funky sawman]

I see, sounds like the lifter needed some attention.

With my cast loads I tried all kinds of different C.O.A.L with no success. I did find that when it jammed it tried shavings lead off the side of the bullet.

 

[FergusonTO35]

My .257 Roberts is on a .30'06 length action, which is really too long for this cartridge unless you are using really long VLD slugs. What this means is, the fifth and last round in the mag gets pushed forward with each round fired until it nose dives when it's turn comes to feed. No big deal to me, if I haven't made something dead with 4 rounds then a fifth is not likely to change anything.

 

[FergusonTO35]

With my cast loads I tried all kinds of different C.O.A.L with no success. I did find that when it jammed it tried shavings lead off the side of the bullet.

Do you recall if the rifles would feed factory flat nose ammo properly?

 

[Funky sawman]

The only flat nose factory ammo I had was swift brand 300 grain swift a frames, jacketed of course. They did not feed. If I recall correctly, the winchester would kinda feed 44 special cowboy loads with a round nose lead bullet around 200 grain

 

[Funky sawman]

The marlin was horribly inaccurate also, the heaver the bullet, the more shotgun buckshot pattern I got! The Win was super accurate, well at least minute of deer lol

 

[FergusonTO35]

What caliber was the Marlin? The .44's used a ridiculously slow twist, like 1:39, which seldom worked with anything past 240 grains.

 

[Funky sawman]

Both guns were 44 mag

 

[Onan18]

I have a bit of a lever gun habit (problem). Currently have two Henrys, one is a 45-70 and the other is a Big Boy .357 with the brass reciever. Also own two Ubertis, one is a 1860 Henry in 44-40 and the other is a 1873 in .357. Only Marlin I own is a JM stamped 336 in 30-30. Lastly I have three Winchesters, one is a post 63 (dates to around 1974) model 94 in 30-30, one is a Model 250 .22 LR, and the last one is a Miroku production 1892 Deluxe Octagon Takedown .357.

 

[Joe Kidd]

Had a Big Bore 94 in 375Win with a factory upgraded fancy grade stock many years ago. Man, I'd like to have it back. I've had a couple Henrys' and currently only have a BLR SS 308 in a lever gun. In the 80's I had several JM stamped 30-30's.
They've come and gone over the years.

 

[Onan18]

I bought the 94 for a song this past summer, it had the typical post 63 finish issues on the receiver and was missing a couple of small parts. Currently having my Gunsmith doing a faux case hardened finish on the receiver and checkering it so it matches my 1892 Deluxe. Post 63 Model 94s are a dime a dozen so I figured I would have some fun with it.

 

[Loony661]

I love lever actions, sadly we can’t use them for deer here. So my Marlin 30A in 30-30 just sits.