I apologize if this's been beaten to death somewhere else, but since the search feature is currently down I'm giving myself the leeway to ask. Does anybody shoot a lever carbine in .45 Colt during competition? If so, what is it and how happy are you with it? Currently have a Vaquero in .45 LC and a .45-70 rolling block (Pedersoli) and was wondering if a long gun matching the Ruger would make any sense. Haven't done CAS yet but I'm not ruling it out.
Lever-action .45 LC?
- Thread starter Ed Dixon
- Start date
Nodakmarine
New member
Well, I haven't done any CAS shooting yet but I have been a member of the 7th Cavalry as a scout for a number of years. I used a Rossi .45 Colt rifle and was pretty happy with it. Last year I won the military rifle shoot with it when we went to Fort Sissiton so that was a pretty good deal. The only problem was that the Rossi is copied after the Winchester 92 and Custer (who was healthy BEFORE he left North Dakota by the way
) got whacked in 1875 so I decided this fall to get a Cimmeron 1873 Winchester that would be period appropriate. So far I think I like it far better than my Rossi but then again for $400 more, I better dang well like it better! 
But I guess if you are looking for a cheap .45 Colt rifle, EMF has 1892 Winchester carbines for about $267 and I think the rifles with the 24 inch barrels were going for about $336 or so. Like I said, the Rossi isn't a bad rifle for the money and I REALLY like both my 73 and 66 Winchesters from Cimmeron. Guess it all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend.
) got whacked in 1875 so I decided this fall to get a Cimmeron 1873 Winchester that would be period appropriate. So far I think I like it far better than my Rossi but then again for $400 more, I better dang well like it better! But I guess if you are looking for a cheap .45 Colt rifle, EMF has 1892 Winchester carbines for about $267 and I think the rifles with the 24 inch barrels were going for about $336 or so. Like I said, the Rossi isn't a bad rifle for the money and I REALLY like both my 73 and 66 Winchesters from Cimmeron. Guess it all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend.I've opted for the Winchester Legacy in .45LC, primarily due to price. ($325 range out the door) They have the Trapper and another model, I believe, both with shorter barrels and less capacity (9 rounds v. 12 in the Legacy) My Winchester is extremely accurate - operator error when excited on a stage at a CAS match accounts for my misses.
The real hot shooters in CAS go for the Marlin in .45 - the gun was designed for pistol-length cartridges, and thus has a shorter and smoother throw on the lever than the Winchester, which was designed for rifle-length cartridges. Marlin has easier disassembly for cleaning/maintenance, too. They go for $550 around here.
The 1873's are widely reported as great shooters and smooth also; some Rossi's have been reported as "crunchy" until they get broken in or an action job, others as just fine out of the box. As the other posters have shown, they are plenty accurate, too. No personal experience with either of these.
Get yourself a rifle and another Vaquero and join us hooligans at a CAS match; it's all about fun, and we're always eager to recruit more to the game.
"ABOGADO" - SASS #36181
The real hot shooters in CAS go for the Marlin in .45 - the gun was designed for pistol-length cartridges, and thus has a shorter and smoother throw on the lever than the Winchester, which was designed for rifle-length cartridges. Marlin has easier disassembly for cleaning/maintenance, too. They go for $550 around here.
The 1873's are widely reported as great shooters and smooth also; some Rossi's have been reported as "crunchy" until they get broken in or an action job, others as just fine out of the box. As the other posters have shown, they are plenty accurate, too. No personal experience with either of these.
Get yourself a rifle and another Vaquero and join us hooligans at a CAS match; it's all about fun, and we're always eager to recruit more to the game.
"ABOGADO" - SASS #36181