Want A Lever Action But

In cowboy action shooting, the top shooters use rifles that run reliably, smoothly, and quickly. It's a speed shooting contest.

If you attend a major match, and looked at what the top shooters use, you will probably find:

No Henry Big Bores; and
No 1892s or 1894s.

The 1873 and 1866 Winchesters will occupy most if not all of the top spots.

There is a reason.
 
Lever action

Load up the Marlin and then load up the Henry, then unload-which is easier.The Henry is of course.Sold them at Bass pro in MA when I explained it to customers they readily understood!:)Cliff call if you like 978-424-7024 the # is real!
 
Crunchy Frog!

Thank you for the good info, I appreciate it very much! If that's the case I may need to start saving even more;) . For some reason that 1873 screams "buy me!" Everytime I look at it. Looks like a marlin cowboy is about half the price though :D decisions decisions lol!
 
A picture of a lever action carbine with a sling?
Click to expand...

It's an old Winchester 30-30 and it ain't purty but it has a sling.:D

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Another +1 for Rossi 92. The recent years' (decades now) models have a dumb and IMO not needed safety switch atop the receiver some have successfully eliminated. Others have lived with without issue. Ideally - best ones are pre '06 EMF "Hartfords" (not that commonplace on used market) and Interarms models--all w/o the safety, ie like John Browning originally designed them--just with the half cock hammer "safety." All LSI (Legacy) "Pumas"--which were ca mid 1990s-2008 or so--have the fukakata safety,as do the current "Rossi" labeled ones via Taurus/Braztech. In my view, if you've never had one of the "safety-less" models, the little switch won't be a deal breaker. For some of us shooting these from the "unembellished" early 80s, it's kind of an irritant it's there, even if removeable..

Re the CAS shoots, most of the 73s and 66s have been worked-to-heck over and shoot (in those matches) very light loads. As stated, they're also very pricey. I'm not entirely convinced about these in the .357 chambering as an "all-around" rifle. I would love a Uberti (Cimarron/Taylors) carbine in .44-40 or non original (Win 73) .44 Sp, just because--the design reeks of history, etc. Otherwise, the '92--so ubiquitous with TV and movie westerns--however inaccurately portrayed vs the "more legitimate" 73/66 as the "Gun that Won The West"--is a much stronger action, especially in recent decades' produuced models and modern chamberings, and especially for "normally" or hotly loaded magnums,...and is a lighter gun. It is true that--almost from one gun to another, like personalities, are different in that some shoot the shorter "specials" (.38/.44) better than others out-of-the-box, ie are more or less OAL sensitive. Speaking of weight, the Henry is way unnecessarily heavy for what it is. A real chunk. My .02
 
Have a Rossi in .357.
Use it for Cowboy Action.
Out of box and no slick-up at all, it runs like a Swiss watch.

Have a Marlin in .357.
Experienced the infamous Marlin Jam.
Replaced the lifter.
No help.
Took it to the best veteran gunsmith I know.
No help.
Sent it off to Coyote Cap.
Runs like a Swiss watch.

Have a Uberti 1873.
Out of box and no slick-up at all, it runs like a Swiss watch.

Have a brand new Henry and have yet to put the first round through it.

In fairness to Marlin: they're built like a tank, designed to be worked on in the field by a cowboy with a ground off pocket knife for a screwdriver.
The only reason it experiences the infamous Marlin Jam is because today's Cowboy Action shooter, on average, disposes of more rounds in a month than a cowboy did in a lifetime.
The heavy use bends the Marlin lifter a few thousandths of an inch, just enough to affect timing.
No fault of the rifle's design ... it was never designed for CAS competition.
Marlin has, to its credit, come out with a redesigned lifter that does not distort under heavy use.
 
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