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School me on Lever Actions (please?)
- Thread starter CoastieRon
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I interpreted that as “ let’s have another Marlin / Henry group buy”
peterk123
NES Member
I have my eyes on a henry silver eagle 22 on grabagun but it is never in stock.
strangenh
NES Member
Nope, but IMI Timberwolves are awesome. The 44mags are harder to find than the 357s. Had a .357, traded it. Don't regret it (great trade) but also kind of miss the thing. The blueing on them is almost classic Colt quality.
Purchased a Henry Big Boy Steel .44spec/mag last Christmas as a gift to myself. Really fun to shoot at the range, never jammed to date and just an all around reliable rifle. The Longer Ranger in .308 is next, of when I can ever find one.
Minor thread hi-jack, but I'm wondering if someone experienced with lever actions can help me out.
Is the firing pin just loosely slotted into the bolt to the point that there's forward/aft play to it? I was inspecting my receiver after takedown and the bolt fell out and the firing pin fell out of the bolt. Not having experience with it, I put it back together how it appeared to go back together and now there seems to be play in the firing pin, to the point that if I tilt the rifle muzzle-down, there's only like 1-2mm of firing pin for the hammer to hit. But if I tilt it muzzle up, there's like 4-5mm of firing pin. Seems weird to me that this isn't spring retained, so I'm wondering if a spring shot across the room when the bolt fell out. Of course, there's almost no information about my rifle's (Chiappa LA322) design online and Chiappa doesn't appear to like to reply to emails.
Is the firing pin just loosely slotted into the bolt to the point that there's forward/aft play to it? I was inspecting my receiver after takedown and the bolt fell out and the firing pin fell out of the bolt. Not having experience with it, I put it back together how it appeared to go back together and now there seems to be play in the firing pin, to the point that if I tilt the rifle muzzle-down, there's only like 1-2mm of firing pin for the hammer to hit. But if I tilt it muzzle up, there's like 4-5mm of firing pin. Seems weird to me that this isn't spring retained, so I'm wondering if a spring shot across the room when the bolt fell out. Of course, there's almost no information about my rifle's (Chiappa LA322) design online and Chiappa doesn't appear to like to reply to emails.
strangenh
NES Member
Printed manual has a parts diagram you should consult to see if there is a spring there - the online PDF copy is unfortunately blurry ( https://www.chiappafirearms.com/uploadimmagini/altrimanuali_documento_28.pdf )
That came with my rifle, but was pretty useless due to said blurriness. There's a much better scan on the Chiappa website, but I didn't immediately see any set spring. Just seems weird and because this is kind of a unicorn rifle, there's almost no knowledge base on the internet about it.
Edited to say: Thanks for the info, btw.
KBCraig
NES Member
Not until Ruger fixes the Marlins... then I'll be in, within my budget.
peterk123
NES Member
Just when I thought they would never be in stock again, I find my Henry Silver Eagle 22lr. On its way. Heck, I own more 22LR guns than anything else at this point.
peterk123
NES Member
I think I now have the full range of lever actions covered.
Henry 22 silver eagle for plinking and squirrels
Henry Golden Boy 357 for a shoot out with desperados
Marlin 45/70 guide gun for shooting elephants, grizzlies, tanks, whatever
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Would love to get my mitts on one of these. Or both.
www.uberti-usa.com
www.henryusa.com
1873 Rifle and Carbine | Uberti USA Replica Rifles and Revolvers
www.uberti-usa.com
Big Boy Color Case Hardened Rifle & Carbine | Henry Repeating Arms
We made our initial centerfire reputation with the handgun-calibered Big Boy, so it was a logical choice to expand the steel-framed case-hardened finish into that line-up, and we’ve got six hard-workin’ lever actions here that merge the classic looks of those beautifully-done case colors and...
www.henryusa.com
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I think I now have the full range of lever actions covered.
Henry 22 silver eagle for plinking and squirrels
Henry Golden Boy 357 for a shoot out with desperados
Marlin 45/70 guide gun for shooting elephants, grizzlies, tanks, whatever
Gotta get a 30-30 bro. Its the quintessential New England deer gun. Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 flavor.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Trust me get the 1873. They’re amazing. I’ll bring mine to the match if you wanna try it.Would love to get my mitts on one of these. Or both.
1873 Rifle and Carbine | Uberti USA Replica Rifles and Revolvers
Big Boy Color Case Hardened Rifle & Carbine | Henry Repeating Arms
We made our initial centerfire reputation with the handgun-calibered Big Boy, so it was a logical choice to expand the steel-framed case-hardened finish into that line-up, and we’ve got six hard-workin’ lever actions here that merge the classic looks of those beautifully-done case colors and...
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I just got two lever action 22lr, one the Henry Frontier and the other is Chiappa LA322 which looks like it might be a clone of
the marlin 39A
The action on the new LA322 is pretty rough compared to the action on the Henry, which is super smooth.
the marlin 39A
The action on the new LA322 is pretty rough compared to the action on the Henry, which is super smooth.
1903Collector
NES Member
I picked up a Henry big boy in .41 mag to go along with my model 57, it's a very nice rifle but the finish is disappointing, not really a blued finish but thats what you get these days I guess. I also picked up a Rossi from a fellow member in 44/40 Winchester, don't know why but I really like that chambering. I have a bunch of lever guns but 3 in particular are 40s and 50s vintage Marlin 336s in 35 Rem, they show their age but not abused.Probably the best lever guns I have owned.
Desired lever guns (in general caliber terms) to have a complete range of options:
22lr (plinking)
.30-30 (hunting small to medium game)
.357/.44 (maybe .44-40) (pistol caliber to go with a SAA)
.45/70 (BIG game) (or just cuz it's cool)
22lr (plinking)
.30-30 (hunting small to medium game)
.357/.44 (maybe .44-40) (pistol caliber to go with a SAA)
.45/70 (BIG game) (or just cuz it's cool)
1903Collector
NES Member
Only issue with 44/40 that I have found is better be prepared to reload cause you ain't finding ammo for it, in fact I had a bit of a hard time finding cases and heads to reload.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Good point on the ammo. Even with something like 45 colt it’s not always easy to find and it’s very expensive. If you’re not reloading than a 38/357 is your best bet for a Centerfirelever gun.
Since Starline expanded a lot of their lines I haven’t had an issue finding brass for anything. Finding proper bullet heads for that cartridge is a completely different story. Then again I guess you could buy caster bullets and a proper sizing die. You’re only talking about sizing down an extra .002” or so to be a proper fit.
The only reason I included it was that it is still offered as a option in both platforms. I would not have one but there are those do would and do.
1903Collector
NES Member
Funny you said that, I stopped in at Bass Pro yesterday just to see how bad it was. All they had on the shelf for pistol ammo was two boxes of 45 Colt, one box of 480 Ruger and a couple boxes of 454 Casull.
BTW, if anyone shoots 22 Hornet they had a lot of it sitting on the shelf, not much of anything else.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
During a panic like this you’re right. It’s about the only thing you will find on the shelves. Even if that though there isn’t much to be had. I like being able to take my 1873 to the range and blast a few hundred rounds in a night. If you had to buy 45 colt you have to have a mighty good job to afford that. Not to mention driving around all week to buy the box or two that every gun shop has on hand.
now if you’re cool and you reload and if you’re super cool and you cast your own bullets then the whole conversation is over.
Unless of course you just started and can’t find any primers.
peterk123
NES Member
Oh you better be reloading for 357 as well. Do you know how many rounds you can blow through in an hour with a lever?
I think what they were going for with the Big Boy Steel was a utilitarian version of the brass models. They actually bead blast those receivers before applying that finish, which I guess is bluing (not entirely sure), and the round barrels and magazine tubes are obviously not polished smooth prior to bluing. Miroku they ain't. But the octagonal barrels on the brass and CCH models are polished to a mirror shine before bluing, and they look great.
Smith often gets accused of not producing blued finishes like the ones of old, but digging deeper one finds different situations in their line-up, including different substrate metals: stainless steel, aluminum, and scandium alloy. Yeah, the 586 L-comp is all carbon steel and looks like they bead-blasted it first, but OTOH, the 27 Classic looks pretty damned good.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Oh you better be reloading for 357 as well. Do you know how many rounds you can blow through in an hour with a lever?
I literally bring my 38 special ammo to the range in half-gallon containers.
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Ive gotta get a BB in 41 Mag. Someone gave me about 1000 rounds of 41 Mag and I've yet to use it. I have a Ruger Black hawk in 41Mag. Now I want to buy one and can't find one. Im sure its not a big seller so Henry is probably busy making other more popular rifles.
I'm kinda hoping they come out with it in side gate, but I'm not holding my breath.
