The Mighty Prawn Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Greetings, I'm in the market for a lever action for gallery rifle now I was all set for a .38/.357 but having seen most others shoot .44, does anyone have any useful advice? My main thought is purely financial ie which is cheaper to shoot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 38/357 will be cheaper to shoot than 44 mag if you buy factory ammo. I homeload 357 for rimfire money-50 rounds cost me around £4 to make. I reuse my brass and cast my own bullets so the only costs are 3p for a primer and 5p for the powder. I use 9 grains of Alliant 2400,but if you switched to a fast burning powder like Bullseye you could get away with only 3 grains so reduces costs even more. However,if you use FMJ's your costs will rise significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markg Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Had a .44 some time ago. I am looking to get another lever rifle for gallery. Will go for 38/357 this time ,just because its cheaper to shoot,and fancy the 38. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentKill Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 .44 makes a bigger hole. Helps with the scoring on targets..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Mine is a 45... Reloading makes it as cheap to shoot as a 38/357 - with the added bonus of less demand in the UK for Large Pistol primers during shortages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
station Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 As others have said .38 / .357 is definitely the cheapest option. Where are you planning on shooting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1066 Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 If you're thinking of buying a Winchester I would advise against a .357 and go for the .44. The .357 is prone to ejector/extractor problems and spares are now virtually unobtainable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mereside Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 sorry to crash the thread but anyone know of a .444 lever around,atb wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 If you're thinking of buying a Winchester I would advise against a .357 and go for the .44. The .357 is prone to ejector/extractor problems and spares are now virtually unobtainable. It is not an extractor problem really. Due to the Winchester 94 action being built for longer cases and slightly wider at the head it is difficult to control between the magazine and the loading gate and can hinder topping the magazine so Winchester fitted a little gizzmo to assit cartridge postioning to allow the operator to top the magazine up. Without it the 357 cartridge head fouls the loading gate. Mine gizzmo broke as they can do but soon got two others, one spare. In fact when mine broke I had no idea for ages as the gun feeds and shoots just fine, only topping up of the magazine becomes the issue. Swapping a round is still doable! Winchester 92 and the clones are fine, so are the 73 and 76 clones. Remember....Marlins can have issues! In fact as any gun can! U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted November 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 Planning on using it for practical gallery rifle, does involve knocking over non-standard targets so the added knock down power of the .44 is probably going to be useful - I did look a lot at ammo on sale but the massive variables in .38 .357 and .44 meant I couldn't really find a good comparison for cost between them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 What about 9mm and get a lever release ar from southern guns? Looks a lot of fun and would be cheap to reload Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedra1106 Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) What about 9mm and get a lever release ar from southern guns? Looks a lot of fun and would be cheap to reload I know where there's 2 going very cheaply, mine and someone else's, both blew up with identical results. Can't say much more as this is still ongoing after 18 months!. And if you reload you invalidate ANY warranty, even if it blows up using factory ammunition!. Get a Henry Big Boy in 44mag, superb rifle, if you must buy a marlin make sure it's not one of the Remington ones, they are utter carp!. Here's what a nice under lever looks like (minus scope) Cost wise, I reload indoor gallery loads for around £12/100, 3p each for primer and powder, 6p for a cast boolit (even cheaper if you cast your own!) shoots very nice ragged 3/4" hole groups all day long Edited November 28, 2013 by phaedra1106 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONAH898 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Wot is the problem with the 9mm mate as I quite fancied one? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy H Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 For a small cartridge 9mm has very high operating pressures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedra1106 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Can't say too much but two of them have now had a catastrophic failure with identical results, picatinny rail sheared away from the upper, rear locking lug sheared through causing the upper & lower to separate and damage to the magazine well. Most probable causes are poor quality casting or the very large amount removed from the chamber throat to improve the very common feed problems leaving a lot of the case exposed with no support allowing it to rupture under pressure. Both rifles ended up like this, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedra1106 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 If you're looking for something like the 9mm then have a chat with Caledonian Classic Arms, they have the very reliable Czech VZ58 coming very soon in "trigger release" version, press once to fire, bolt then locks back, press again to release the bolt, press again to fire. Should be cheaper than the 9mm and available in 223, 7.62x39 and other calibres later. http://www.caledonianclassicarms.com/acatalog/vz.58.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted November 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Get a Henry Big Boy in 44mag, superb rifle, What can you get in the mag with that good looking chap? In my ideal list I'd like 9+1 to be competitive with the other ten shooters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONAH898 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Dam I like there k22 and just happend to put a variation in for a long barrel pistol, anybody had any experience with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedra1106 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Jonah - By all accounts the K22's are excellent, I'd hang on a bit for the next batch as Scott reckons there's several minor improvements coming "There are a number of minor changes to the pistol on the current batch. From a shooters perspective the most notable one is that the enlarged mag button is now ambidextrous, this keeps things in line with all the other controls which are left and right.New extended safety much improved, actually a little smaller but the operation is now more akin to Brownings et all. (GP35 / 1911 etc) everyone is familiar with that!New magazines with easy load springs and integrated follower buttons due for December. These will be 10 round as standard.Similar date for 20 round mag extensions, integrated red dot slide, magazine well flair.A few other accessories intended for release before Christmas." There's a thread running on Fullbore UK http://www.full-bore.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=14364 Mighty Prawn - With 44 mag you can get 10+1, with 44 special I believe it's 11+1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 Would they let you have 9mm for fox? Don't jump on me, just a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONAH898 Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 I'll give it till after the new year then and wait for the improvements but realy looks nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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