Lever gun caliber

[HillDogAU]

If you had to choose, which caliber would you be going after for a lever gun to have in the truck/hunt with. I’m thinking 30-30, 45-70 or 45 long.

I shoot a .375 Winchester in model 94....... pretty sweet rig.

 

[RLSfl620]

Suppressed 45-70

 

[TheGDog]

Only 1? Then a 30-30.

But for tight and thick spots? .44 Mag! If you can shoot lead, then the Marlin 1894. it's a FULL POUND lighter than their 336BL I have. Very slim and handy feeling. Put a 1-4x on it and you're good to go. And they carry like 9 or 10 rds in the mag tube.

 

[menhaden_man]

I’d think about ammo availability too. Love my 35 Rem, maybe 25 animals on it and they all had a tough time taking another step.

 

[z987k]

Big Horn Model 89 500SW or the model 90 in 460SW if you're partial to 454 bullets over a 50.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Anyone shoot the .450 Marlin? I have the guide gun in .450 and its been sweet to carry around the deer woods. Have a 2-7 scope on it. Easy 200 yard gun. Definitely hotter than the 45-70 unless your playing with high power buffalo bore ammo.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Only 1? Then a 30-30.

But for tight and thick spots? .44 Mag! If you can shoot lead, then the Marlin 1894. it's a FULL POUND lighter than their 336BL I have. Very slim and handy feeling. Put a 1-4x on it and you're good to go. And they carry like 9 or 10 rds in the mag tube.

I have a couple Henry's but my favorite LA is a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag with a 1.5x5 Leupold.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’m going iron sights. Something about the classic western gun has me all jazzed up to spend some money. I think I’m slowly turning into a cow/doe hunter.

Tough to beat the 'ol 30-30. For whatever reason, it kills well above it's class. I've dropped more critters in their tracks with my old Winchester than all the other rifles I've owned combined.

No, it's not a long range round and no, it's not going to replace my 7mm-08 or .284 Win for western hunting, but I'd have no issues with taking an iron-sighted 30-30 anywhere for any critter, especially since I'm not going to take shots past 150 yards with irons.

Hornady LeverEvolution ammo makes 2400 fps. with 160's out of my 20" model 94 barrel. That's still pretty stout at 150 yards. Plenty for whatever I'm hunting.

All that said, for a handloader the 45-70 is probably more versatile if you add elk to the mix. But I'd still hunt elk with my winchester 30-30 inside of 150.

 

[Newtosavage]

Out of curiosity, I just looked up the ballistics on the Hornady LeverEvolution 30-30 round. At the elevations I typically hunt, that load still has over 2k fps and 1500 ft. lbs. of energy at 200 yards. Pretty impressive for a 20" barreled lever gun. I always bring it as my backup gun and might carry it next time I'm chasing elk in the dark timber, just for old time's sake.

 

[Jim2914]

30-30 for deer. 45-70 for bear. If I had to go with one I go 35 remington

 

[Ropin4gold]

Love me some lever guns. But if I could only have one it would be my marlin 30-30. Those 160 grn FTX are hammers, I’ve killed a bunch of hogs with them.

 

[eaglemountainman]

A Savage 99 in 308Win, 300Sav, 250Sav, 284Win, 358Win

 

[ClunesAdventures]

I just picked up a nice '54 Marlin Lever in 30-30. Ammo availability played into my thought process. It's a round that is easily found in my area. I'll be excited to put it to use this year

 

[FLATHEAD]

I love the pistol caliber carbines but if I were to get a full size LA, it would probably
be in .444.

 

[danontherock]

Live in Newfoundland , great moose country if I am in range of where a 45/70 can kill a moose a 30/30 will as well. Killed my first moose with a 303 British next bunch with a 30/30.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

...Maybe it’s my love for westerns but always thought it was cool to be able to have a pistol and rifle in the same caliber.

I'm working towards rifle, revolver, and 1911 in the same 357... picking out the lever action model is all that's left.

 

[TheGDog]

.357/38 would probably be good for most stuff you'd want to do with it. If filling a bear tag is a possibility on a trip though, I dunno, I think I'd feel better with a .44 Mag LeverAction in my hand, just so there'd be no doubt it had enough power to do the job.

But with both of these calibers, your effective range isn't that great though, in terms of trajectory. But the lighter carrying weight and higher round count they carry are kinda darn cool though.

 

[Steelruger22]

Went through a pretty healthy lever kick a few years back. Settled on a few that have stuck around. These being...
JM Marlin 1894ss in .44 mag, a Marlin 30tk and a 336 both JMs in 30-30, and a Savage 99 in .308.
If I could only choose one it would be a Marlin in 30-30. It's a boring, time tested combo that works and is pretty much the standard that this class of rifles are compared to. Very much like the 30-06 in a classic 70/700. Both are classics and like broken weenies....you just cant beat them.

 

[branw33]

I think for a do it all lever gun 30-30 is hard to beat

 

[awildswanger]

I’ve got a ~ ‘96 Marlin 336 in .30 WCF. I’m wanting to go both up and down, with a Henry All Weather .45-70 and something in a .357 because it’s just fun