There was a time back in the early 00's, pre-divorce days when I had a model 94 in .307 Winchester and another in .375 Winchester. I had to let them both go of course (I have not even seen one of either since).

I also remember a Marlin 336 in .30-30 that I sold for $150 at the time. I love lever actions and other then my Henry .22, I get just a great deal of remorse when I see them seling for $800+ and remember what I let go.....

Anyway, I apologize now that I whined all over your post

 

There was a time back in the early 00's, pre-divorce days when I had a model 94 in .307 Winchester and another in .375 Winchester. I had to let them both go of course (I have not even seen one of either since).

I also remember a Marlin 336 in .30-30 that I sold for $150 at the time. I love lever actions and other then my Henry .22, I get just a great deal of remorse when I see them seling for $800+ and remember what I let go.....

Anyway, I apologize now that I whined all over your post

If we didn't remember the "ones we let get away" it would probably mean we ever owned any worth keeping. I have a few I let go that I would love to have back.

Grumpy

 

BTW, I use a colored Sharpie to color the case head to make the cases more easily identifiable to check primers. If I see any signs of overpressure, I can tell what load they came from. Works well for ladder loads.

Grumpy

 

Never owned a lever and never reloaded 44mag so give me some education. Why the shortened cases?

 

The bullet with the polymer tip is longer, so to fit most chambers the trim the case down a bit. PIA, but they perform well. Just need to keep the cases separated. After I size and prime them, I just color the case head and keep them in a separate MTM box.

 

I have a Rossi 92 in 44 as well, neat little rifle.....not much fun to shoot with that steel butt plate My 336 loves Hornady Leverevolution if you're looking for factory loads.

 

I have multiple levers, all are Henry’s , ,, great fun ! I have them in 22lr/22shorts , 38/357 , 45 Colt and 45-70,,, I enjoy shooting them all and tend to shoot them out to 100yds. I have a scope on the 22lr and Skinner peep sights on the 38/357 & 45-70,,, the 45 colt is a “X” model with fiber optic sights…

The only one that’s not all that accurate to 100yds is the “X” model in 45 Colt , it shoots pretty good to about 50yds but not really very good past there. All the others are quite good out to 100yds.

I love levers, they appeal to me like a 1911..

 

Can't beat a lever . Thinking about getting that Henry Golden Boy in 30-30. Nice looking gun.

 

I had a Rossi 92 44 mag and wish I kept it. One of those that got away, I regret selling it. Yeah it can thump your shoulder good with that butt plate.

 

To be honest, I “wimped out” and hung a folded towel over my right shoulder. 100+ .30-30 rounds and another 50+ .44 Magnum rounds would have had me sitting next to the Tylenol bottle the next few days.

Grumpy.

 

Load two: 180gr Hornady XTP, WLPP, 29.5gr W296, 1.602" OAL. Rounds fed well and kicked like a mule. 😁 Grumpy

Haha, them what thinks a hot loaded .44Mag in a light little carbine with a metal buttplate won't sting your shoulder a bit need some learning.
A little jumping going on, It's a more feisty round than might be imagined.

 

Haha, them what thinks a hot loaded .44Mag in a light little carbine with a metal buttplate won't sting your shoulder a bit need some learning.
A little jumping going on, It's a more feisty round than might be imagined.

The Rossi has a heavy octagon barrel and weighs as much (or maybe more) than my Winchester Model 70s. The added weight helps, but that metal butt plate still digs in. The W296 loads definitely have a snap/slap as opposed to a push.

Grumpy

 

Always like me some Leverage……

 

Was out shooting my 357 Henry yesterday too. Hornady FMJ 358 gr bullets. 100 yards at pop cans. Kicked them around and holed a few. Mild recoil. Skinner peep with a taller front sight. I am 78 so don’t shoot any rifle off hand any more. Hard to hold any rifle up or steady enough. I load 357 with Extreme plated for my Python and FMJ for my rifle. Same load a lot faster in the longer barrel. Now that temps are cooler in S.C. I will be out to my gun club a lot more. NV

 

Long ago I realized I love shooting. Pistols, rifles, shotguns not quite as much. When I shoot, I like to be as comfortable as possible. Standing and shooting off-hand doesn't allow me to shoot as long or shoot as many rounds as when I'm seated, resting my elbows on the bench or laying the forearm across my range bag. I have only person to please when I go to the range, and he's pretty happy with how I do it.

😁

Grumpy

 

It’s amazing what a difference in butt plates can make,,, I have a Springfield Trap Door in 45-70 with a metal butt plate but a 32” barrel (I think) and it will flat out hurt you shoulder even with my mild reloads,, about 10rds is my max. But my Henry with a 22” barrel and a factory rubber butt pad I can shoot a lot more, still wears on the shoulder but more manageable.

You’d think the much longer Trap-Door barrel would tame the recoil a bit but quite frankly it just hurts, but the Henry with the rubber butt pad and much shorter barrel shooting the same rounds back to back is more comfortable to shoot,, still hurts after a number of rounds but I can do it.

I will admit that I haven’t shot either for a number of years due to several back surgeries & fusion , I don’t want to tempt fate ! I’ve had a serious jones for a Magnum Reasearch BFR revolver in 45-70 but have resisted also due to the back issues,,, but there’s that Jone’s thing !😁

 

It’s amazing what a difference in butt plates can make,,, I have a Springfield Trap Door in 45-70 with a metal butt plate but a 32” barrel (I think) and it will flat out hurt you shoulder even with my mild reloads,, about 10rds is my max. But my Henry with a 22” barrel and a factory rubber butt pad I can shoot a lot more, still wears on the shoulder but more manageable.

You’d think the much longer Trap-Door barrel would tame the recoil a bit but quite frankly it just hurts but the Henry with the rubber butt pad and much shorter barrel shoting the same rounds back to back is more comfortable to shoot,, still hurts after a number of rounds but I can do it.

I will admit that I haven’t shot either for a number of years due to several back surgeries & fusion , I don’t want to tempt fate ! I’ve had a serious jones for a Magnum Reasearch BFR revolver in 45-70 but have resisted also due to the back issues,,, but there’s that Jone’s thing !😁

I had a BFR 45/70. I went to the range and a ten year old girl asked me if she could shoot it.Her father was the range maste. I told her to ask her father if she could shoot it. He said sure. This little girl actually was able to handle the revolver. Sure it kicked and jumped, but she had it under control. So all you wimps out there remember, if a 10 year old can do, you can too!

 

The .30-30 was the first centerfire cartridge I ever loaded for, on a Lee Loader. Rifle was also my first 'deer rifle', a Marlin 336 'Texan', a model they discontinued at some time - short barrel, straight Walnut stock, slim forend. Basic open sights, not 'Buckhorn'.
I had fun loading the Speer 110 Gr. 'Varminter' JHP's ahead of a moderate charge of IMR3031.
Lived on the East coast and a few times a year would make the drive with my Dad to visit his Mom , my Grandmother in S.- Central Texas (Nolan Co.) She and her husband owned many acres of unused ranch land and it was well populated with Jackrabbits.
Walking the land and jumping those big, fast Jackrabbits and hitting them on the run (on an infrequent basis) would really teach you how to run a levergun. And when those 110 gr. JHP's made contact - there was no doubts about whether you hit the Jack.
The carcasses went to a neighboring ranch and were fed to hogs.
Also used the Speer and Hornady 100 gr. 3/4-jacket 'Plinkers' which also did a great job, with almost no recoil.

 

Very nice

 

Love your taste in rifles and calibers. Here are my '94, and a Uberti in .38/.357. Both are very soft shooting and accurate with the right loads. I got good results using 150 gr FNSP and 30gr of Varget, for 1900fps MV. I'm thinking Ill refinish the stock & for-end on the '94 this winter when the snows come.

Thanks for sharing!

 

I should have attached photographs of the rifles. Here they are.

Grumpy

I had not felt the Rossi was heavy, until I used both it and the Model 94 back-to-back. The octagon barrel on the Rossi is H-E-A-V-Y.

 

My brother bought a Rossi 38/357 a bit ago and shooting it back to back with my Henry 38/357 the Rossi feels much lighter than the Henry , almost toy-like..

Accuracy wise the Henry was much more accurate but the Henry has a Skinner peep sight vs the oe buck horn on the Rossi,,,,I don’t care for Buckhorns by the way !

What started the comparo was that my brother had been complaining about how bad the Accuracy was with his new Rossi,, but my brother has an ego problem where to be a true man you must run the hottest ammo you can ! He had 357 mag +p ammo and he also believes that a real man can shoot any type of sight accurately but his results @ 50ft were all over barely keeping his results on the paper….

so we switched guns and I shot my mild reloads using accurate #2 powder and 158g flat nosed bullets,, I could consistently produce 1-2” groupings at 50ft, did I mention that I’m not a buckhorn sight fan ?

My brother was shooting my Henry with my reloads because I wouldn’t allow him to shoot the +p’s in my gun, add-in the skinner sight and the little bit of extra weight and he could consistently produce sub 1” groups,,, he was convinced that the Henry was just a better rifle and was complaining that he was going to trade in the Rossi because it was just junk…

We haven’t talked much since then so I don’t know if he traded it off or not,, an interesting side note is that my son-in-law was with us and he was shooting an actual older 94 Winchester in 30-30 which shot very nicely even for it’s age.. the Rossi was a very accurate replica of that Winchester 94 imho,,, in my opinion it (the Rossi) was a fine piece being solid with a very smooth action, and considerably cheaper than my Henry which I really like as well… my .02

 

I started shooting lever guns late in my shooting life and found out how much fun they are to shoot. Started with my 45-70 (I cast and reload so I shoot it a bunch) then immediately got a 30-30 because I was having so much fun. Recently got an 1894 in .357 Mag and have been enjoying that one immensely.


In the pic L to R:

Marlin 1895 45-70
Marlin 1894 SBL .357 Mag
Marlin 336 BL 30-30