At the risk of inciting a kidney kontest, who is making the best fit and finish in a lever rifle these days? Or would it be Uberti or Henry? A .44 with 20 inches of barrel has some a appeal ...
I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
OK, I'll play. Of the four brands mentioned if I walked into a gun shop today, just looking at fit and finish, I'd say Henry first, followed by Uberti then Marlin and Rossi. Obviously there's more to the game then fit and finish and they all have produced excellent firearms.
from what i see, the new marlins are nice as are the henrys. really apples and oranges there. the rossi's i've seen were crude. not familiar with the uberti.
Marlin is out of stock here. Since Marlin is not in production and we don't know if Ruger is going to rush to market with poor finish or if they'll do it right.
Henry fit and finish is good. If you find a problem after the sale, Henry will make it right. Uberti would be next because of some inconsistencies in internal finish. Rossi is last in lever action finish but first in handyness. They can be slicked up and the bolt top safety deleted.
Rossi is supposedly made in Bainbridge, GA now. It's been open a little over a year. Will have to check the barrel mark to confirm next time in the store.
Bought a Rossi 357 a few months ago. The fit and finish is miles ahead of the old Interarms Rossi. Take a look at a new one, you may be surprised. Oh, says made in Bainbridge, GA.
Rossi's have 1:30 rifling across the board or at least they used to. 158 grainers and below seem to be precise shooters out of the Rossi. I found to get any accuracy at the 358429 weight projies I had to load to the top of the loading to get precision on paper and have to admit I am just starting to get there. My plan was to shoot the 180 grain RNFP out if this rifle. With the heavier projies OAL is critical to feeding as is vigorous manipulation of the lever.
Last edited by LouisB; 03/26/21.
Some spelling errors can be corrected by a vowel movement. ~ MOLON LABE ~
If it's not too late, I would like to submit my two cents (or non-cents).
In my experience Uberti spends its money on fit and finish, inside and out. That's not to say that they are not well made and don't shoot well. It's just that as very accurate replicas of the original lever guns, probably a large number of them are purchased solely to display, and are never fired. An 1866 short rifle that I owned was beautiful, but had problems that I had to correct to get it to work properly. Most Italian replicas also use case-hardened parts that may not wear as well fully-hardened parts.
Marlins are bread and butter guns. The 1894 rifles made by Remington in the last few years seem to be an improvement over the JM 1894 rifles in some ways. Having owned both, I noticed that the Remington guns were using breech bolts and cartridge lifters that seemed to have been redesigned in small ways to function better. They still inherited some of the problems of the JM guns though, and the finish, while very good, wasn't as good as older JM rifles. Still, on the rifles that I have bought recently, every screw slot was perfect. Also, the stock wood, while good, does not have the beauty of the original JM wood. Partly, that's the finish which is deliberately matte instead of glossy.
I don't own a Henry Big Boy, but I have handled them and viewed close-up images of them, and the fit and finish is excellent, as is the stock wood. Better than the Marlin rifles.
Miroku Winchesters have superb fit and finish and function great and are very accurate. Wood varies from plain to fancy, depending on cost, but so did the originals.
Rossi, in my experience is a crap shoot. The .44 magnum 1892 that I owned was stiff and had internal problems that needed correction. I had to fully strip it and file and stone parts to get it to work, and it remained somewhat stiff afterward. The finish was dull and the stock seemed oil-soaked. And, the accuracy was the worst of any rifle that I ever owned, thanks to button rifling that was so shallow it was hardly there at all. Cast bullets key-holed. But, that was nearly 20 years ago. Quality may have improved some since then. Some swear by them, and some swear at them. I will never buy another.
Trying to remember if I've ever heard a bad word about a Miroku Winchester ...
I have a Miroku Winchester in 1886 - 1 of 500 octagon barrel etc - fancy wood. I have a Lyman aperture receiver sight on it. I don't like the rebounding hammer. The rifle is heavy. Otherwise it is a nice rifle.
I prefer classic. Semper Fi I used to run with the hare. Now I'm envious of the tortoise and I do my own stunts but rarely intentionally
I find it interesting how many praise the fit and finish of the Miroku Winchesters. I took delivery of a new M92 .357 two days ago. The fit of wood to metal was better on all three of my Rossi rifles from various years production. And my Chiappa is fitted much, much better. The Winchester's wood is proud at least 1/10 to 1/8" in all areas where wood joins receiver, and all along the tang and grip too. I thought I was buying a premium product. Turns out the fit is about the same as my Remington era Marlin.
I find it interesting how many praise the fit and finish of the Miroku Winchesters. I took delivery of a new M92 .357 two days ago. The fit of wood to metal was better on all three of my Rossi rifles from various years production. And my Chiappa is fitted much, much better. The Winchester's wood is proud at least 1/10 to 1/8" in all areas where wood joins receiver, and all along the tang and grip too. I thought I was buying a premium product. Turns out the fit is about the same as my Remington era Marlin.
I saw a video on You Tube where the presenter did have a Miroku Winchester where the wood was proud of the stock by about 1/16", but certainly not as much as you suggest. In fact, I have never in 50 years of shooting seen a lever gun with as much proud wood as you suggest.
And, I bought a Miroku Winchester 1873 short rifle with a round barrel and plain walnut stocks about 1 year ago, and the wood fit was about perfect. Also, I have viewed close-up photos of individual serial number Miroku 1873 rifles currently for sale on a web-site and the wood fit was again about perfect.
I suppose that even Miroku can have quality control problems on some runs. I can say however that on my rifle the fit and finish is about the best of any lever action rifle that I own.
The only Rossi that I owned about 18 years ago had good wood to metal fit, but the stock seemed like it had soaked in motor oil as a finish. It literally seeped oil. The rifle itself failed to function out of the box, was stiff to operate, and had button rifling that was so shallow that cast bullets keyholed. Accuracy was nonexistant. After much stoning of parts and reassembly, it worked reasonably well, but not 100%.
My recently purchased Remington Marlins have reasonably good wood to metal fit for the most part, but not perfect. They work well but some needed some minor tuning. Springs tend to be too heavy and the front sights on regular models are crap.
Bought a Rossi 357 a few months ago. The fit and finish is miles ahead of the old Interarms Rossi. Take a look at a new one, you may be surprised. Oh, says made in Bainbridge, GA.
I received a Rossi .44/40 24" octagon barrel at my retirement party.
It is wonderful, with no issues. The wood finish will probably change to Tru-oil someday. Fit, finish is great and I really enjoy it.
The octagon barrel is a little heavier than my 1896 Winchester Model 1892 but nothing to complain about.
I size my cast bullets @ .430 to use in both rifles and life is good.
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