Really liked this article and it brought back fond memories of days past! Well written and entertaining. Being 79 years of age, I have had the good fortune to experience hunting with many of the fine old lever guns addressed in the article and in conversations posted here. Growing up in Iowa, I never had the opportunity to hunt deer with a rifle, but that changed when I went to work for the US Forest Service as Engineering Tech on the Plumas National Forest in Northern California in 1959. On my first deer hunt, I carried a "loaner" 94 Winchester in 32 special hunting black tail deer. On my next deer hunt I used another loaner from a Forest Service buddy; a really nice handling Savage 99 in 300 Savage. Then came 23 years as a Naval Aviator deployed on aircraft carriers or overseas duty; which in effect basically brought my hunting to a halt for that period of my life (1962-85). The first big game rifle I bought was a first year production Ruger 77 in 308 Win, which I used for years. It has a 3 digit serial number and I still have it and use it on occasion. But about 12 years ago I "rediscovered" the lever actions. In a short period of time (3-4 years) I had acquired a collection of 7 Marlins (5 variants of the Model 336,a Model 39A "Mountie" 22lr, and a Model 1894 in 357 Magnum). Four of my Marlin 336s are in 30-30, and one in .35 Rem. I love the quick handling and fast follow-up capabilities of the 20" barreled lever-gun; especially in the dense cover of western side of the Cascades and coastal rain forests of Oregon.
For my hunting on the Eastern side of the state I always used my .308 Win or one of my two classic caliber (dating back to 1892) 7mm Mausers. I have two of the 7x57 Mausers (one is a sporterized Peruvian Army Brno made (1938 DOM) Model 98 Mauser and the other is a modern Ruger 77 Mk II). I really love mild recoil and the great performance of this classic caliber. Yeah, I like the old rifles a lot!
Cascade Jinx
Last edited by CascadeJinx; 08/28/19.
