The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

ukrifleman wrote:I shoot a 20" octagonal barrel S/S Rossi '92 in 45 Colt for gallery comps. The 250gn bullet is accurate and isn't affected as much by crosswind.

ukrifleman

Same here,.45 long colt,5.7 gns of American select, got me a ton of golds...

ovenpaa wrote:Has anyone come across or shot a 45ACP under lever?

I wonder if it could be one of the SGC lever release rifles, saw someone using one at Bisley a couple of months ago.

There were a few custom Marlins converted to .45 ACP 15 years ago, or so. Pete Moore ran a series of articles on them. Expensive then....

My favourite gallery cartridge recently has been .32 H&R Magnum. Used .32 S&W Long in it, just as .38s in a .357. Unfortunately only one rifle chambered in this cartridge and they only made about 800 of these, Marlin Ltd Cowboy.

ovenpaa wrote:Has anyone come across or shot a 45ACP under lever?

IIRC SGC did an "underlever" in 45 ACP - the pistol grip was articulated to act as the lever. Don't know how successful or popular they were but all the ones I've seen for sale emphasised that they could be used as (or were converted to) straight pull.

When it comes to lever actions I find it very hard to go beyond the 44-40, I had a Winchester 73 in that calibre and I do regret selling it.

dromia wrote:When it comes to lever actions I find it very hard to go beyond the 44-40, I had a Winchester 73 in that calibre and I do regret selling it.

.32-20 for me, in "old money". But there was a load of malarkey a few years ago about these cartridges as they didn't fit into the gallery cartridge definition as they were originally "rifle cartridges". Things were being muted about it as subsonic AR platform ammunition had also caught the eye of the "governing body". Don't know if anything ever came of it as I knocked gallery rifle comps on the head....

Most everybody in our club use 38 Spec. so in order to simplify recovering my empty cases at the end of the night I stick to 38s. There is one guy who occasionally appears with an original Marlin in 44/40, that thing produces groups so small that they have to be seen to be believed.

Use a Marlin 1894c five years old and fired over 20K rounds with two broken firing pins, (Two piece) a broken ejector and a lifter detent pin came loose.

I find that the Marlin loads better with the 38 Spec loaded slightly longer. 1.5" OAL.

25Pdr wrote: I find that the Marlin loads better with the 38 Spec loaded slightly longer. 1.5" OAL.

Marlin recommends that Special ammunition, in either .357 or .44 is loaded to Magnum OAL.

ovenpaa wrote:Has anyone come across or shot a 45ACP under lever?

I made a couple of 45ACP bolt guns out of No4s, not seen an underlever 45ACP though. These were good fun and if I was right-handed I'd probably still have one.

But for competition I have a Marlin 44Mag. When the ban came in I shot and reloaded for pistols in both .44 and .357 and got rifle slots for each, the .44 came up first and I stuck with it.

Downloaded magnum cartridges (to roughly SPL standard) and paper punching at 25/30 yards max and it is spot on. I'm not trying to get long range or max speed from it I just load developed until I had a sweet load for the distances I shoot it, and this way it is nicer on the shoulder and for the gun itself. No need to knock the guts out of it if I don't have to.
Every time I think I should sell it I take it out and shoot through a box of ammo, and I realise how much fun it is, remember that it has given me several placing medals from the Phoenix and other Bisley Action Weekends and I decide to keep it.

Sim G wrote:

dromia wrote:When it comes to lever actions I find it very hard to go beyond the 44-40, I had a Winchester 73 in that calibre and I do regret selling it.

.32-20 for me, in "old money".

I love the 32-20 too but in my mind/practice it is a single shot rifle cartridge.