Lever Guns

[Rick R]

Guys, talk to me about a Winchester 94AE with a cross bolt safety and a saddle ring in .45 Colt. Appears to have a fairly short barrel, but no measurements are available. Are these things a yay or a nay? I've read the 94 wasn't really meant for pistol cartridges and the feeding may be a bit iffy. The safety is of course ugly, but not a lot of genuine American lever guns out here for sale so it can't be a deal breaker alone.

(If I'm right about what model the gun is, the price is about twice what the MSRP of a new one was in the US. Oh well...)

I had the 20” version. It was quite accurate and fed everything I put through it. Some folks say that the 1894 wasn’t designed for pistol cartridges and yes the action is long but Winchester seemed to have sorted it out. Others say that the vestigial rim on the .45 Colt isn’t good in a levergun but the only real jam I had was when I let my teenage son carry it deer hunting. He somehow managed to get the first round in the magazine lodged between the bolt and lifter. More of a bored teenager sitting on a stump problem than a design flaw.

The only reasons I got rid of it were I’d quit shooting CASS and I have several .44 Mags. It’s possible for bored teenagers to load a .44 into a .45 and we don’t want that to happen.

Now that they’re grown up and not in my house I’d love to find a Trapper.

[SecondsCount]

I've had a 45 Colt Trapper since 1996 and while I don't shoot it a lot, I cannot remember it having any feeding issues. All the ammo that has been my reloads including 200, 230, and 255 grain bullets with an RNFP profile. I also had a warm 230 grain Winchester HP that functioned fine.

When I played cowboy action, I shot the 230 RNFP with Clays.

I have always wanted a 92 in 357 but haven't been able to find the exact one I want.

[Rex G]

The Miroku-made, Winchester-branded, tang-safety 1892 Trapper that I bought several years ago would not reliably feed any of several .45 Colt factory loads I tried. I did not keep it long.

The Winchester 94AE .45 Colt Trapper Carbine, pre-crossbolt-safety, which I acquired somewhat recently, seems to feed factory loads reliably and omnivorously, but I have yet yet to to truly vet it, with live-fire. A road trip out west, to public land, is the next step.

My recently-added Browning B-92, one of the better-regarded 1892 copies, seems to reliably feed .357 Magnum loads well, but, again, that trip out west is needed, to confirm live-fire reliability.

[That Guy]

I've been thinking about loads for a carbine length .45. My typical .45 Colt loads are for my revolver, fairly mild, and use plated bullets that I am afraid might not like it if I try to push them faster through a carbine length barrel. So, what kind of bullets do you guys with Winchesters use to reload stouter loads in .45 Colt? Looks like the selection available locally isn't as great as I hoped. Hard cast lead is definitely out of fashion... And some stuff like Sierra bullets are out of stock everywhere - you guys in the US buying them all? I did find Magtech 260gr JSP's for a decent price, but those things are .454" wide. A bit too wide for a jacketed bullet, perhaps?

I've used round leads, Sierra's hollow points, ball 45acp bullets, but I have also loaded hard cast.

No safety concerns in feeding round nose bullets out of a tubular magazine? I've always understood one should only use flat point or hollow point bullets in a tubular magazine.

[SecondsCount]

@That Guy

Xtreme is out of hard cast 255 but have their plated in stock. Not sure if that is a hard cast bullet or not but if it is, they say 1500 FPS is okay, and 1200 if it isn't.

[CSW]

I've been thinking about loads for a carbine length .45. My typical .45 Colt loads are for my revolver, fairly mild, and use plated bullets that I am afraid might not like it if I try to push them faster through a carbine length barrel. So, what kind of bullets do you guys with Winchesters use to reload stouter loads in .45 Colt? Looks like the selection available locally isn't as great as I hoped. Hard cast lead is definitely out of fashion... And some stuff like Sierra bullets are out of stock everywhere - you guys in the US buying them all? I did find Magtech 260gr JSP's for a decent price, but those things are .454" wide. A bit too wide for a jacketed bullet, perhaps?



No safety concerns in feeding round nose bullets out of a tubular magazine? I've always understood one should only use flat point or hollow point bullets in a tubular magazine.

I must admit that I did think about the same thing, but I have not had issues.

Try here for hard cast. Hard cast from my Mountain Gun, loaded to about 900fps, work fine as well in the carbine. Most weights of hard cast will blow right thru an animal, leaving a pretty big wound channel and exit.

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm

[OlongJohnson]

@LGChris is doing lever guns now.

Why Everyone Likes Lever Actions

[Bigghoss]

@LGChris is doing lever guns now.

Why Everyone Likes Lever Actions

Also available in video form for those of us too lazy to read.

[Malamute]

^^^ pretty decent, other than the little faux pas about the Remington rolling block being US Army issue for 30 years.

[Bigghoss]

^^^ pretty decent, other than the little faux pas about the Remington rolling block being US Army issue for 30 years.

I think he corrected himself in a pinned comment.