1873 Winchester Lever Action on Curator's Corner "The 1873 Winchester Lever Action Rifle is the most identifiable of the legion of guns that earned the moniker of the guns that won the West."When you think about all those cowboy movies and television shows you watched as kid, you'll probably agree with that assessment. And how could you not? After all, those words came directly from National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier when asked to described the focus of tonight's Curator's Corner.
I don't know if I'd say the Winchester lever action rifle is more identifiable than the Colt Peacemaker, but if they're not tied, the Winchester is a very close second. On the want list is a lever action rifle in .357 Magnum, most likely a Henry Big Boy - of course, then I'd have to get a Ruger Vaquero in .357 Magnum to match...
I think I'm going to have to bring my Marlin 39A and the Colt New Frontier to the range this weekend...
That is all.
9 comments:
I dislike the fact that Henry omitted the ability to reload from the side, instead, one must remove that tube (like on your 39A) and drop rounds in.
Not that it's useless...it would make a reload a little more difficult on a range with fire being returned.
I'm just starting to learn how awesome leverguns are. (When they work. Older is better.) That Winchester is beautiful.
The nice thing about shopping for leverguns is many models are old enough to be classed as Curio & Relic, so if you have a C&R license you can have them shipped directly to your house and don't have to do the NICS Limbo.
Yep, good guns... and they STILL work :-)
Love the Henry Big Boy in 357M. It was the first rifle my kids and I used for Cowboy action shooting. It's lever stroke is a little long for real speed, but we're not that fast yet so it works fine for us.
We shoot 38 Specials out of it with no problems at all. Another shooter has one that will only cycle 357's. I guess some of them are picky.
Its a nice looking gun that shoots well. Like the first commentor said - it's a tube load. Which is really not much slower to load than a side load, it's just nothing you've ever seen Jimmy Stewart do in the movies.
However this gun is not a '73 model rifle as it ejects out the side of the receiver, not the top like the old 73s.
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/1894centerfire/1894c.asp
Love my Marlin in .45 LC. . . I am sure they have .357 too. . . . Gotta love lever guns.
I have a minty Winchester in .357 Magnum. It's a great pity they're no longer being made - they're a hoot to shoot, with minimal recoil and maximum 'fun factor'. I've already had some fairly attractive offers for mine, but I'm hanging on to it for now.
:-)
I have the Marlin 1894SS, stainless steel and .44mag. That is one fun gun to shoot, and Jay, I'm pretty sure I've had it at a bloggershoot or 2. Guess you missed it.
I have Rossi 92's in both .357M & .44M. The .357M is a dream to shoot but the .44M is definitely not for recoil wimps.
TAK
Jay,
My buddy Irish, he of the Browning Auto 5 and many other fine arms, has a pre-1964 version of the mod 94, in the venerable .30-30 WCF. The rifle's a cream-puf and a dream to shoot. Milk jugs don't stand a chance at 50 yards. I'll try and convince him to bring the rifle to Blogger-shoot. If not, I'll buy a box of shells and ask to borrow it for the day.
Happy Easter my friend . . .
Brad
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