.44 or .45-70?
- Thread starter Dustinb80
- Start date
Buckmaster
Senior Member
I was at this crossroads last year. I ended it with a Marlin 1895 XLR in a 45-70.
Now I'm on the slow search for a .44 mag for my boy someday.
But first I'm considering taking care of my own personal desires with a .45 Raptor on an AR10 platform. I'm doing the research now.
Now I'm on the slow search for a .44 mag for my boy someday.
But first I'm considering taking care of my own personal desires with a .45 Raptor on an AR10 platform. I'm doing the research now.
There are some nice Ruger carbine lever action 44 mag rifles out there. I have a 1970's Ruger Deerslayer auto rifle in 44 mag. Not the most accurate rifle but it killed every deer I shot at.
Ruger made a lever action?
I guess they did, wow never knew that...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_Model_96
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Discontinued in 2009...
Never really had any interest in a lever gun since Ohio hadn’t allowed those calibers and really wasn’t interested when they first came out as my savage was all that I was interested in at the time. Fast fwd here comes that Ruger 450....
Bowhunter57
Senior Member
I've owned both 44 Mag. Henry and Marlin 1895 Cowboy 45-70.
The Henry (steel frame), in .44 Mag. and it was everything you could ask for in a deer hunting rifle. Light carrying weight, low recoil, extremely accurate (3/4" groups at 50 yards with open sights) and not very loud shooting it in the woods.
* Just a personal preference, but I didn't care for the tube for loading vs. the side loading of the Marlin.
* As for same ammo for the use of a lever-action and a revolver...I'm NOT a fan. My Ruger Super Redhawk is a heavy duty beast and will handle a lot heavier reload charges, over the Henry. I had to back off on the amount of powder used in my reloads for the Henry to get good accuracy, compared to the same load out of the Super Redhawk that would shoot 1" groups at 50 yards.
My Marlin 1895 Cowboy seems to like hard cast bullets, loaded around 1700 f.p.s. This is the first year of hunting with it and I've yet to kill anything with it. The deer population in this area is almost non-existent, but that's another issue. I like the rifle and it's a shooter. I think any of the Marlin models in 45-70 will get the job done....and for less money than the Henry. I purchased mine through Buds Gun Shop, online, for $600 minus the $100 rebate. The same can be said for the 44 Mag. lever-action rifles.
Bowhunter57
The Henry (steel frame), in .44 Mag. and it was everything you could ask for in a deer hunting rifle. Light carrying weight, low recoil, extremely accurate (3/4" groups at 50 yards with open sights) and not very loud shooting it in the woods.
* Just a personal preference, but I didn't care for the tube for loading vs. the side loading of the Marlin.
* As for same ammo for the use of a lever-action and a revolver...I'm NOT a fan. My Ruger Super Redhawk is a heavy duty beast and will handle a lot heavier reload charges, over the Henry. I had to back off on the amount of powder used in my reloads for the Henry to get good accuracy, compared to the same load out of the Super Redhawk that would shoot 1" groups at 50 yards.
My Marlin 1895 Cowboy seems to like hard cast bullets, loaded around 1700 f.p.s. This is the first year of hunting with it and I've yet to kill anything with it. The deer population in this area is almost non-existent, but that's another issue. I like the rifle and it's a shooter. I think any of the Marlin models in 45-70 will get the job done....and for less money than the Henry. I purchased mine through Buds Gun Shop, online, for $600 minus the $100 rebate. The same can be said for the 44 Mag. lever-action rifles.
Bowhunter57