44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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I've been thinking lately about a nicer lever gun, a Winchester or Uberti in an 1873 model. I've been thinking about the 1873 since I heard Marlene talk about it. (thanks a lot Marlene for getting me interested in another expensive gun!!!)

So now is the time to think about caliber. I am not interested in CAS competition. This will be a sort of ranch rifle, good for dispatching predators, 2 or 4 legged. What I am interested is smooth fast action and good ballistics.

Sooo.....
357 mag, 44 mag, 45LC and 44-40. All the pros and cons please. I know y'all are loaded with info. All is appreciated.

EDIT: Not interested in 30-30
Last edited by Hiker on Fri May 03, 2019 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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I've got the Marlin 1894 in .357 and love it. Holds 9+1 of either .357 or 38 special. Side loading takes some effort. Henry uses that weird front loading but I gather it's much easier because you don't have to fight the magazine spring and side-cover spring.
I think the .357s usually hold more rounds.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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357 sees the biggest performance increase over a handgun. At the muzzle, .223 and .357 coming out 16" of barrel are about the same energy. Of course, this pistol round bleeds foot pounds at a much faster clip.

If you are looking to limit number of calibers, go with the caliber you already have.

.357 will take care of yotes and russlers. .44 mag will take care of bears. .45 has the least recoil (to me anyway). Hot .357 will be more flat-shooting than 45.

.44 probably has the most variation for reloaders. .357 is cheapest for off the shelf.
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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Personally I would go the 44-40 route. then you would be shooting a 1873 rifle with actual rifle ammunition. the two were designed to go together.

Second choice would be the 45LC.

if you want to shoot 357, 44 mag, or even 45LC loaded to basically 44 mag...go with an 1892 or 1894 rifle or the newer marlin designs. those rifles can handle the .357, 44 mag, "+p" (so to speak) 45LC loads as they are a stronger action giving more flexibility.

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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.357 will give you the best bang for your buck as far as 2 legged predators. As senorgrand showed, the barrel length adds quite a bit. But for any longer range than like 100 meters, the round begins to peter out because the bullet is for pistols, round nose. If one loaded, then a pointed bullet might get better accuracy out past 100 meters. But punch peters, too. Then there's in-tube ignition to fret about. Still, recoil is mild in a rifle.

The .45 LC is a great round, but again it's a pistol round, so range is limited. With hand loading and a strong lever gun you could get bang up numbers inside 120 meters. Out past there but only to 200 would be the .44 mag. I don't own that caliber so have not messed with loading. The other two, yea.

CDFingers
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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Senorgrand has it right, 44 mag is off the list for the 73 action. It's not as strong a gun as the Winchester/Rossi92 or the Marlin 94. It's plenty strong for 357 and for standard 45 Colt, but 357 will give you the most bang for the buck.

I adore mine. I have shot the 45 and the 44-40 and I do like them. 357 has the advantage that you can actually buy a box of factory ammo if you feel the need and it won't put you in the poor house. Also, last I checked, there aren't any factory defensive loads available in 44-40. As a reloader, 357 and 38s in 357 brass are MUCH easier to crank out in volume than 44-40.
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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Marlene wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 11:00 pm I adore mine. I have shot the 45 and the 44-40 and I do like them. 357 has the advantage that you can actually buy a box of factory ammo if you feel the need and it won't put you in the poor house. Also, last I checked, there aren't any factory defensive loads available in 44-40. As a reloader, 357 and 38s in 357 brass are MUCH easier to crank out in volume than 44-40.
As another non lever gun owner this made me sad because I was lusting after something in 44-40. Then I realized what you're saying is to buy a 357 AND a 44-40. That's a plan I can get behind

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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If this is your first lever-gun, Hiker, I urge you to consider a ‘92 in .357 because it is simply a “must have” for all the reasons everyone has contributed above, especially if you do not currently reload. It is versatile in being able to shoot so many different power ranges of ammo available off the shelf without breaking the bank so you actually want to shoot it more often.

A ‘73 action is slick. But it’s an older design and as such somewhat neat/funky, maybe something you buy because you are a true levergun enthusiast and already own a ‘92 or ‘94 -IMHO. As 308Scout wrote, it probably pairs nicely with the larger caliber bullets. This again makes it a far more expensive gun to shoot for someone who doesn’t reload.

Myself, I do reload and even cast boolits. I absolutely love my 20” Rossi .357 ‘92 -adore it! It’s an older pre-lock version which has some character in the finish and wood but generally well cared for all its life. I was also in the market for a Winnie/Miroku ‘73 in .45LC because they are just beautifully made rifles with deep bluing but the cost always held me at bay. Then I chanced upon a nice condition newer Rossi ‘92 in .45LC that the previous owner had sent to a gunsmith in preparation for CAS but clearly didn’t end up competing, or at least not with this rifle. The action was so smooth and the trigger so light, lighter than I actually prefer but still safe. These rifles have such strong receivers that I read you can load and shoot .45LC cartridges near .44mag specs to confidently take down most game in N America under 200 yards. But I’ve yet to shoot this gun, haven’t played with any .45LC recipes. The .357 is just that much more fun to pick up and go shooting!

But if you are set on the ‘73, then go with a .357 Winchester/Miroku. The cost is nearly the same with Uberti and the quality is far higher in my opinion.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Like Bisbee, my lever-action is pre-cross-link safety, a 40 year old 1894 Marlin JM. Paid too much for it...but it wasn't too much! It instantly became my favorite gun the first time I tried it. It's just flat-out fun to shoot, and even with my presbyopia and astigmatism, 50 yards is easy shooting even with iron sights--even though I can't see what I hit without reeling it it or a 'scope!

The Marlin '94 has a side-eject so mounting a scope is easy, with no need for offset mounting. .357 FJM isn't too bad cost-wise, and .38 special isn't much more than 9mm...as long as we can still buy it online in New Jersey...Trenton hasn't targeted that yet, but give Murphy and the gang time....
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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wooglin wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 7:09 am
Really want a 327 though. Shoots faster, flatter and further than either the 44 or 357.
Damn Wooglin, why did you have to say that!!! Now I have another caliber to consider. Y'all are a bunch of enablers. And I have a fetish for .32 caliber anyway. My whole life is changed because of 3 words-- faster, flatter, further!!!!

I need to go buy a lottery ticket if I'm ever going to be able to afford all the guns I want.
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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The world is full of justifications for guns that are somehow more practical than we actually require. I don’t need a levergun of any sort. The primary purpose of this thing is to make me happy. It can make me happy by tickling various aspects of my imagination about the things I might do with it. It can also make me happy by way of the pure kinesthetic pleasure of throwing the lever and pulling the trigger.
When it is in the safe or on the bench or on the rack at the gun store, there are a lot of real advantages that come with the 92. When held between my shoulder and my cheek and my hands, the 92 offers nothing to compare to the 73. The Marlin 94 comes closer, but not really.

I like the 327 and definitely have the 32 disease, but any advantage over 357 in a rifle doesn’t exist in functional reality. Recoil doesn’t exist for either. The marginal difference in “flatness” is unimportant, because if it were we’d be talking about 223, which wins over both on ballistics by a quarter mile at least. I have the option of a 73 in 32-20, which can safely duplicate the ballistics of the 327, and I still pick the 357 because it’s right there and it’s easy and it works.

There are lots of reasons to get lots of different guns, but often pondering those reasons is a pleasure of its own. When that’s all over and it’s just me and the gun, the one that makes me smile is the one I finally kept.
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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Marlene wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 10:21 am ...It can also make me happy by way of the pure kinesthetic pleasure of throwing the lever and pulling the trigger.
I have a Rossi 92 in 357. It was really just another gun in my small, but fun collection. There was an automated metal plate system at the indoor range at Bud's. Well I was talking to the clerk at the range desk and told him I would love to take my Rossi in the plate range but it was marked 'handguns only.' When he said it was OK, I went right home and got my Rossi.

I programmed the range to pop up plates randomly and at different distances. The rifle became an extension of my arm, my hand and the lever tangoed together. Suddenly I was transported to the old west. Bad guys were trying to rob the mail wagon. As I fired at them, I could feel the presence of Stagecoach Mary sitting right next to me. Oh my Goddess it was magical.

Really haven't shot my AR-15 much since then. There is a certain joy with a lever gun that I just don't get elsewhere.
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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If you find that old Marlin and they happen to have two, pick one up for me, please!
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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That’s right! I recall the the thread a while back when Hiker was getting her Rossi ‘92.

Well, then by all means buy the 1873 in .45LC!
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Marlene wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 10:21 amWhen that’s all over and it’s just me and the gun, the one that makes me smile is the one I finally kept.
This. Those that make me giggle are the ones that I tend to keep around, other than a few for purely practical reasons. The others, if I'm no longer feeling it, may make someone else happier than I am with them.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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I have also been drooling over a lever action. I sold a basic win 30-30 and an octagonal centennial win 30-30, 30 years ago. Prolly got 300 bucks between the two.
I just saw a centennial model like mine today at the gun shop today, 2500 bucks!
But my kid grabbed a sig 938 extreme something or other.
So yeah, I've got the lever bug, always have.
I would go .357 as well since i have a new ruger blackhawk in .357. Nice pairing.
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Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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wooglin wrote:A Marlin in 44mag showed up at my lgs the other day. I managed to control myself and walk out without it, but a 357 would have followed me home on the spot.

Really want a 327 though. Shoots faster, flatter and further than either the 44 or 357.

Or a 444 of course. Just because.
There's a pawn shop local to me that had a Marlin .444 that I looked at briefly. I'll swing by tomorrow and see if he still has it...

"In every generation there are those who want to rule well - but they mean to rule. They promise to be good masters - but they mean to be masters." — Daniel Webster

Re: 44mag vs 45LC vs 357mag in lever gun

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Bullitt68 wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 10:24 pm I have also been drooling over a lever action. I sold a basic win 30-30 and an octagonal centennial win 30-30, 30 years ago. Prolly got 300 bucks between the two.
I just saw a centennial model like mine today at the gun shop today, 2500 bucks!
But my kid grabbed a sig 938 extreme something or other.
So yeah, I've got the lever bug, always have.
I would go .357 as well since i have a new ruger blackhawk in .357. Nice pairing.
It wasn't so much that I got the lever bug, but that there actually was proposed legislature in Trenton that would have outlawed semi-automatics.
In response I got a revolver and lever-action, both in .357, just in case it happens. I'll still have a pistol and a carbine.

Then I found the lever action was flat-out total fun to shoot, much more than the revolver or the semis.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

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