Reliable, lightweight lever action carbine in pistol calibers?

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Originally Posted by Tennessee Jed

Attachment 48726

I have a Rossi 92. It's stainless, with a 16 inch barrel. I kept this as inexpensive as possible for a beater rifle, something I could abuse and not fret about if I drop it, scratch it, etc. And it's become one of my favorites. It's very handy and light.

With 357 mag 158 grain soft points, which travel at around 1700 - 1750 fps out of this barrel, it's surprisingly accurate. I've never had a malfunction, and I think I've put somewhere around 1,000 - 1,500 rounds through it.

I did do a little bit of work on it, but not much. The most significant thing was to lighten the spring on the loading gate to make loading a little easier.

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Thanks for the post! Nice to hear from someone who has one! Love the "Red Green" light mount!

A .44 mag lever gun using XTP's (300, 240, 180) or 225 gr FTX's is quite effective.

The XS sights on a Marlin are wicked, wicked, wicked.

And if you're patient, you can still find really good deals on them.

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Originally Posted by MolonLabe416

In a pistol caliber I like the Marlin and the Taylor’s 1892. In particular, the Taylor’s is available as a takedown. 357 is a whole different cartridge out of a 16” barrel and punches way above its’ weight (pardon the pun).

A 16” (often referred to as a Trapper) in 30/30 is dandy too. In any case, I’d stick to a 16” barrel as they are much handier than the longer rifles.

An N Frame Smith like a Model 28 or a Ruger GP-100 in 357 paired with a like caliber carbine is a fine combination. Also has the advantage of less expensive 38 special ammo for practice.

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The Taylors are nice and the name would match the headstock on two of my acoustic guitars! Probably more than I want to spend I think. I just picked up a near mint S&W M66-2 that I will pair with a lever gun should I get one.

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Originally Posted by 4given

I was thinking Hornady 158 gr XTP might work well out of a 16" barrel. Easy & cheap to reload a duplicate practice round

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That too. Hornady makes both a hollow point and a flat point version of the XTP as reloading components.

I think the beauty of the .357 is there are a plethora of ammo options that work just fine.

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Originally Posted by DocGKR

A .44 mag lever gun using XTP's (300, 240, 180) or 225 gr FTX's is quite effective.

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That would be nice too. I love 44's.

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Originally Posted by deflave

The XS sights on a Marlin are wicked, wicked, wicked.

And if you're patient, you can still find really good deals on them.

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Easy to install?

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Originally Posted by 4given

Easy to install?

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Yes. On both the Marlin 336/1895 and the 1894, you just take out the plug screws on the rear of the receiver, unscrew the front sight, then screw the new sights on.

Because of production variations over the decades that Marlin has made lever guns, it's possible your new XS front sight will not be the correct height to get a good zero with the rear sight near the middle of adjustment range.

If that happens, put the rear sight in the middle of it's elevation range, take note of how many inches high or low you are at 50 yards, then call XS sights.

They will send you a correct height front sight, plus a pre-paid mailer for the old one.

All for free.

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Originally Posted by DocGKR

A .44 mag lever gun using XTP's (300, 240, 180) or 225 gr FTX's is quite effective.

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Tangent for DocGKR: Do you feel the 44 is an important upgrade from the 357 in a rifle for self-defense use; or is the 357 in the same ballpark?

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Tangent for DocGKR: Do you feel the 44 is an important upgrade from the 357 in a rifle for self-defense use; or is the 357 in the same ballpark?

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I'm not Doc, and no where near smart enough to play him on TV. I'm keen to hear what he has to say, but in the interim, I'll lay out my logic for buying the .357:

I really liked the idea of a J-frame, 4" GP100 and 18.5" lever gun that all eat the same food. Obviously shooting 180 grain rhino rollers through the J-frame isn't ideal, but I found the economies of stocking the same primers, powders, bullets and ammo attractive. I shoot these guns a BUNCH.

So while the .44 was undeniably "more" the .357 was "enough" for deer and a-holes, and the lesser ballistics were made up for by the superior logistics.

If I was only pairing up an outdoors/field revolver and a carbine, the .44 would have gotten the nod. I'd be comfortable hunting elk with a .44 Mag carbine at appropriate ranges.