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.44 mag rifle?


Little Bear Torsen

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Hey SASS family 

 

Need advice on which lever gun can be slicked up the best that will run .44mag?

 

Marlin, what Winchester clone (1992?), Henry side gate,  Rossi 92...anything

 

honestly, whats best.  I'd like to buy once. 

 

Going to join wild bunch too and my .38 won't work. 

 

Ty for the help. 

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A 44 mag Marlin can be slicked up and is probably one of the easiest Marlins to find.  But a '73 can be short stroked and slicked like any other '73.  However, there aren't near as many 44 mag '73's out there so harder to find.  A '92 would be easy to find and easy to slick up, but not as fast.

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Marlins are decent. If you can find one, Uberti does or did make a 44 magnum model 73. It can be slicked up and short stroked like any other uberti 73.

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20 minutes ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

A local store has a new Uberti '73 carbine in 44 Mag.  One of the very few I have seen.  They are not listed in the Uberti catalog any longer. 

The Carbine does hold 10 in the magazine.

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  Many years ago a friend had a marlin 336 in 44 Mag and it was crap.. I started with a Win 94 in 44 mag and it was crap,
Both of these were real rifle length rifles that someone thought would be a good seller in 44 mag. Stay away from them. i had a Rossi 44 mag that was a trouble child and I got rid of it,. but did not have anything done to it. I have a  later 45 Colt Rossi and it works well. 
 I have a Browning 44 ,mag 92 that will shoot special and mag all day. My late model Marlin 94 took a lot of work to get it to work right, but now works well special and mags.  Every once in a while I wonder if one of the new stainless Rossi 92s might make a good black powder rifle. The Henry's don't get any respect for out game. .

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I have a Marlin Cowboy Limited that I shoot for Wild binch. It has had minor Gunsmithing ,just smoothing and 1.piece firing pin. It works great . I shoot 44 spl loads with 180fp or 200 rnfp seated in the crimp groove and it feeds and functions everytime 

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Keep your loads using a RNFP shaped bullet and either a Rossi 92 or Marlin 94 should be fine.  Both are relatively simple to slick up, but the Marlin is a little simpler to disassemble and reassemble!

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3 hours ago, Tulsey, SASS#11236 said:

  Many years ago a friend had a marlin 336 in 44 Mag and it was crap.. I started with a Win 94 in 44 mag and it was crap,
Both of these were real rifle length rifles that someone thought would be a good seller in 44 mag. Stay away from them.

Not only did the 336 .44 mag tend to not work all that well, the 336 came along about fifty years too late to be legal for this game. ;)

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3 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

Not only did the 336 .44 mag tend to not work all that well, the 336 came along about fifty years too late to be legal for this game. ;)

I'd argue that if the Henry BigBoy is legal, the Marlin 336 is certainly even more legit... being a direct descendent of the 1893...  but... I don't have to, 'cause the 336 is legal, just not as a main match rifle in anything BUT the 44 Mag.

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The Big Boy was specifically allowed. The 336 isn't, but your point is valid - why would a 336 in other than .44 mag be a legal side match rifle, while the .44 mag version isn't a legal main match rifle? I don't have the answer, but if it is a legal main match rifle, it should be documented in the handbook as an exception, just as the Big Boy is. The handbook says pre-1899 for both, and the 336 didn't come along until 1948(?).

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I had my Marlin slicked up and it is a saddle scabbard rifle in .44 mag.  It digests .44 Spcl and Mags alike without a hitch.  Highly recommend one!

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I've got an essentially new Rossi M92 .44 mag I've been thinking of selling, if you're interested. Spring kit and lever wrap already installed, safety removed and hole plugged. One tiny flaw in the stock on the left side where the wood meets the action.

 

 

RossiRight.thumb.jpg.7303e7bbc5e764dd512416f78c25f2aa.jpgRossiLeft.thumb.jpg.c8ea03d17760940bc367415782c05ebb.jpgRossiSafety.thumb.jpg.a46a133316e15d424c1a7ffc783418a9.jpg

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18 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

The Big Boy was specifically allowed. The 336 isn't, but your point is valid - why would a 336 in other than .44 mag be a legal side match rifle, while the .44 mag version isn't a legal main match rifle? I don't have the answer, but if it is a legal main match rifle, it should be documented in the handbook as an exception, just as the Big Boy is. The handbook says pre-1899 for both, and the 336 didn't come along until 1948(?).

For the same reason a Winchester 94AE in a pistol caliber is a legal main match rifle... Which didn't come along until 1982!

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My backup rifle is a Marlin 1894 .44 Deluxe made around 1990.  200 grain Lee tumble-lube bullets and 5 grains of Reddot in a Magnum case work well.

It will cycle .44 Specials well but the chamber is so tight that it requires cleaning before a Magum cartridge will fully seat.  My fix is to only shoot magnums.

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Hey Pard! Find yer self a Browning model 92 they're getting harder to find and a bit pricey, but well worth it. Much better quality than the Rossi or Marlin. I own 2 both shoot great, slicker than snot and I've never had a jam!

20210127_170611.thumb.jpg.4309ef5e0830b9a6df409b045095cd19.jpg

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Well, for a .44 Magnum, although they do exist, you are probably not talking about a 73.   I've seen pictures, but never an actual gun.   Assuming you can find one in the caliber, it is well known as to how the 73 can be made to run well for our game.

That being said, you are much more likely to find a 92 in the caliber.   You are talking either Rossi or Chiappa.   Personally, I'd spend the extra money for a Chiappa, they are good to go right out of the box.   Rossi's will probably need some work.

I've got 3 92's in .44 Magnum.   My first one is a pre-safety Rossi.   If I was dead set on getting a Rossi, this is what I would hunt for on the used market.   Not only do they not have not annoying modern features, IMO they are of better quality.   The new Rossi's are very clunky to me.  My pre-safety one ran okay as it came from the factory, and it was only after I had another 92 that was really, really nice that I realized that my Rossi could be better.   So, I had Happy Trails smooth it out a little.  He did and excellent job.   I specifically did not have it turned into a "race gun."  I simply had him "fix" some very mild clunkyness.

 

My second 92 in .44 Magnum is a real Winchester that someone rebarreled to this caliber, put on a John Wayne loop, and shortened the barrel to 17.5"  It still holds ten rounds.   (According to its factory letter, it started life as a .38-40)  This gun is a slick as butter and works great!   I would not advise so modifying a real Winchester in this manner today, but apparently for a while many years ago it was a commonly done thing.   You may be able to find one, and if you do, as a real Winchester, it'll be good to go.

My 3rd .44 Magnum 92 is a Chiappa in Mare's Leg configuration.   Right out of the box, it's as smooth and reliable as a vintage Winchester.   If you want a new 92, then the Chiappa is recommended without reservation.

 

Other 92's I have are a Winchester in .32-20 and an Armi San Marco in .45 Colt.   The ASM is a very pretty gun, but it had the most disgusting out of the box action I've ever had the misfortune to acquire.  This was the first gun I had to have an action job done on because, well, it was all but unusable otherwise.   It's now slick and great, but I would not recommend the ASM if you happen to come across one in the caliber you want on the used market.

 

One last thing, I found that running .44 Specials in these guns can cause stove pipes and other cartridge malfunctions.  Running just the Magnum cartridge is pretty flawless.


And that's my experience with 92's in .44 Magnum.   
 

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11 hours ago, Jay Vendetta said:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/930945174

Quick check on gunbroker shows 1 '73 in 44 mag. Looks like a decent price. Disclaimer: not my posting and I have no affiliation with the seller. Just passing along what I found.

I own that same model.
It does indeed hold 10 in the magazine tube.
And is no longer offered on the Uberti product pages on their web site.

 

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