Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Which lever action rifle and caliber would be the deadliest?

Shootist
Nahh you don't have to buy a horse but having one is nice to carry the ammo.
The only other qualification required for a rifle to be a lever action is...it should be able to have three or more rounds in the magazine.
Jim

The Marlin Guide Gun (nor any other Marlin) is no beauty queen either, but they are reliable. I wish the .45-70 Cowboy came in a 16 1/2 barreled model.

Swampman1 i can understand beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the lines of a guidegun are much nicer than that bloated reciever of the BLR of which i used to own. On that note though, the BLR is a very accurate handy firearm. I just couldn't get used to the asthetics. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Now Pete . . . . or Jim . . . . .

Does the "magazine" that you refer to have to be an INTERNAL magazine, or can I carry them external but still attached to the firearm? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And did you use the number three to beat the BLR out of the running? I think their 450 Marlin only holds 2 in the mag.

Now Pete . . . . or Jim . . . . .

Does the "magazine" that you refer to have to be an INTERNAL magazine, or can I carry them external but still attached to the firearm? And did you use the number three to beat the BLR out of the running? I think their 450 Marlin only holds 2 in the mag.

Shootist.
I'm a purest, the BLR doesn't even show as a blip on my lever action radar. Marlin and Winchester,

If you actuating the lever cocks the hammer, ejects a spent case and moves a fresh cartridge into the chamber without removing one hand from the forearm and the other from the lever, then it's a lever.

Jim

BC If you do a search on John Linebaugh (sp?) and his seminars a lot of good information has come out of his seminars. He holds a couple a year one will be in Oklahoma and one in Wyoming this year. But there is a lot of shooting and experimenting and seperating fact from fiction as it were. If a guy hasn't experimented with good Hard Casts at moderate velocities he will be shocked at the penetration. A 325 gr HC 44Mag will penetrate both shoulders of a full grown moose, or on a frontal shoot penetrate the majority of the body. There is a lot of good 45-70 hard cast out there. For the $ I can't imagine much doing more than the 45-70 with a good hard cast. I personally use the 430 grain Buffalo Bore's but as you are aware you can certainly go heavier if you want. I am going to stay out of the fray regarding the rest of this.

I recently tested my 458 LOTT loaded fairly mild to about 1700fps,with those 405 remington bullets many of you guys use against a 470 grain lyman hard cast gas check design,at the same velocity on a back stop of loosely stacked wet drywall stacked two feet thick, the hard cast zip thru, the jacketed bullets came apart, while not proving much, as I seldom need to kill attacking dry wall, Ive use the same hard cast bullets on hogs and never found one that failed to exit

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000152640671

Get the Winchester 1895 in 405 WCF, I have one reworked by Fred Zeglin who owns Z-HAT and it is the BEST FIREARM I have ever owned.

Another vote for the Marlin in 45-70. Not the 450...that's just around to appease the non-reloaders and the lawyers that think people haven't got wit enough to keep Garrett ammunition out of their Trapdoors! I just convinced a buddy that he needed to trade up from his 30-30 to a 22" 1895 in 45-70 for moose hunting (trust me, he did). If I was back in horse and grizz country you can bet your boots I'd be adding a Guide Gun to my 45-70 arsenal...the 26" barrel on my cowboy is too long for that purpose. Mind you, I've been tempted to pick up a stainless Guide Gun and have the 45 barrel swapped out for a 50-110, just for something different.

Show me one the 45-70 can't match or beat!

45-70 and less than $500!!!

Jayco <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Interesting discussion. I'm siding with the .45-70 as a very practical solution and there is no difference between the .450 Marlin and the "heavy" .45-70 loads other than the belt.

First, for the oldster there is factory fodder from "plinkers" to the niche +p stuff pushing very serious bullets at the 1800-2000 fps range. Heck, look at the Hornaday ballistics for the 450/400 an old African number; this cartridge pushes a 400-gr at about 2100 fps and the .404 Jeffry is only a trifle faster in its original loading. Not a great deal different from the heavy .45-70 loads. The old .45 has been proven in penetration tests "in vitro" and "in vivo" (buff, the big bears,etc.) and it has the diameter and mass in its bullets like those African numbers to be classified as a stopper within reason.

458 Win who posts here uses the .45-70 among others and if anyone is familiar with what it takes to be a stopper he should be.

For a "A scope-less lever action that I could throw up in a flash for a close shot", nothing - absolutely nothing - handles better that a Model 71. The stock was designed by Townsend Whelen for shooting with open sights and it comes up instantly, with the barrel pointing where you are looking, just like a fine shotgun. Original Winchesters are collector's items but Browning reproductions are still available.

Since you specify a CLOSE shot there is no point in going for the flat shooting that is the main advantage of a 300 mag. Trade some velocity and BC for the cross sectional area and heavy bullet offered by a 45 caliber or larger gun.

Since the original post mentioned 50 Alaskan I assume the OP handloads. If that's the case crank up some 250 grain 348s. Or take your pick from the 45 or 50 Alaskan.

Some quotes about the 50 Alaskan:

"I never recovered a bullet from a bear or moose no matter what angle the animal was shot at."

"a fearsome penetrator of bone and tissue"

Both from the article on the 50 Alaskan in BIG BORE RIFLES AND CARTRIDGES from Wolfe Publishing.

The only drawback to the 50 would be the the recoil might be awkward firing from horesback. In that case you might consider the 348 or 45 Alaskan.

I'm a 45/70 fan but the most powerful Levergun is the 338 Win. in a BLR...which can be converted to a 416 Tayor....

45-70 in marlin guide gun

Why do so many people insist that only a CRF bolt action is suitable for dangerous game, but agree that a guide gun would be OK for defense against bears. Mine will not chamber a cartridge unless it's in a reasonably vertical position. Otherwise the feed ramp will fall into the ejection port and block a cartridge from being fed. I'm not saying that's a big deal to me, but isn't that the objection to PF bolt actions?

I would Recommend a Savage 99 in 375
Steve

+1

+1 on the 375 Win in the Model 99. Want to sell me yours?

Well, I think the 45-70 is a grand old warrior. Got three 1886s in 45-70. However, in the field, on real tuff game, the Model 71 and the 348 caliber is the most effective killing combination I have used. Paper ballistics just don't tell the story. It's bad to the bone. Moose drop like they are struck by lightning! Top of the food chain in lever guns.

Rem 405 - 1800 fps - 125 yards



300 Speer HP - 2100 fps - 40 yards



350 Speer - 2000 fps - 20 yards



350 North Fork - 246 yards

All 45-70, all with Ruger #1, but all except for the 350 Speer load could have been safely fired in a Marlin.

The 45-70 works.

Of course, where you hit 'em, not with what, matters most:



170 Core-Lokt - 2000 fps- 80 yards (30 WCF)