Questions about lever actions for a new to the sport shooter

["Big Boston"]

I've dabbled with a few brands and calibers, and discovered that not all guns are good in all calibers. IOW, some rifles work very well in 38/357 but not as well in 45 Colt. 

 

My concern is the bore/groove/twist specs for some rifles make them poor candidates. 

 

Case in point, a Miroku in 45 Colt has a 26" twist, bore/groove not specified, and a Uberti has a 16" twist and .442/.450 bore/groove. The difference in twist may make a difference. i shoot a 255 grain bullet, slow, and in the Uberti accuracy is very good. A 26 " twist may do just as well, but is probably better suited for a 180 gr bullet.

 

These twist/bore/groove specs can be important, depending on your bullet and load. 

 

I only have one Miroku, a '73 in 357, and IMO it is a very well built firearm with some modern improvements that make sense to me. Out of the box the stroke is less than an out of the box Uberti. I have Uberti rifles in 45 Colt, 44-40 and 38 Spl. They are good as well, but IMO the QC of a Miroku is just a bit better. The bore/groove/twist of the Uberti rifles is spot on for all those calibers. The twist on a Miroku 44-40 is 36", approaching muzzle loader twist. 

 

In reality, for our game, I'm not sure you even need rifling. A properly sized smooth bore would probably work perfectly fine. I know of one shooter that shot 44-40 in his 45 Colts for a whole match, and only noticed when he was sorting his brass at home. 

 

I like to have fun with my rifles, some have the Winchester carbine style barrel mounted ladder sight and I felt compelled to test it at 250 yards, worked fine, 

 

BB

[Captain Bill Burt]

3 hours ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

And you AIN’T a new shooter are you?

 

what percentage of the total members are competitive shooters?  How many titles do you have?  How often do you practice/shoot events a month?  How many state, regional and National shoots each year?  How much ammunition to you go thru a month?  Do you reload?

 

I was talking about members or new shooters that only shoot once a month at their local clubs monthly shoots, obviously that isn’t you Phantom. And what rifle did you start the game with, how many do you have now, and do you still have the first one?

I believe his point is that everyone is doing this for fun, including the ‘competitive’ shooters. Your statement implies that competitive shooters aren’t in it to have fun, which I believe is incorrect.

[Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439]

56 minutes ago, Captain Bill Burt said:

I believe his point is that everyone is doing this for fun, including the ‘competitive’ shooters. Your statement implies that competitive shooters aren’t in it to have fun, which I believe is incorrect.

No I didn’t, of course they are shooting for gun too, but those are the shooters that want specific firearms, just like skiing, the beginners or weekend skiers use skis that aren’t as fancy, maybe not design with the latest technology or ones the like the looks of without necessarily being the fastest. 
Bottom line, some shooters need to know that their choice of guns is ok in this game, started a long time ago by people who used whatever they could find.  Now all of a sudden if they aren’t shooting short stroked 73’s, Uberti 4 click, smoothed SAA, and either a modified 97 for loading two, or an ultra smooth SxS, they are equipped correctly and what is wrong with them. This was a game that was fun for everyone and then became competitive for some with the addition of the short stroke kits, the pawl mods for Vaqueros and firearms endorsed by the winning shooters. 
No firearm is wrong for a person if they want to shoot it, might not be the best choice for certain people but for others it gives them pleasure in shooting them. 

[Phantom, SASS #54973]

4 hours ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

And you AIN’T a new shooter are you?

 

what percentage of the total members are competitive shooters?  How many titles do you have?  How often do you practice/shoot events a month?  How many state, regional and National shoots each year?  How much ammunition to you go thru a month?  Do you reload?

 

I was talking about members or new shooters that only shoot once a month at their local clubs monthly shoots, obviously that isn’t you Phantom. And what rifle did you start the game with, how many do you have now, and do you still have the first one?

My response was directed specifically at the often stated and erroneous belief (ref: " if you are into the game for fun"), that there are folks that are in this game for something other than "FUN". 

 

Has ZERO to do with how long someone has been in the game...how many Titles they have...how many hours...how much ammo...etc, etc. Considering the whole spectrum of SASS shooters I've had the pleasure to meet/know, I've never encountered one to not be into it for the FUN. Wait...okay I know of ONE (won't mention this "kids" name, but he's in it for the recognition as told to me from his own mouth).

 

Phantom

PS: I'm not much of a CAS gun collector...maybe only have 20 or so CAS guns, but yes, I still shoot my original 73 that I bought 19 years ago...plus a few mods along the way.

[Captain Bill Burt]

23 minutes ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

No I didn’t, of course they are shooting for gun too, but those are the shooters that want specific firearms, just like skiing, the beginners or weekend skiers use skis that aren’t as fancy, maybe not design with the latest technology or ones the like the looks of without necessarily being the fastest. 
Bottom line, some shooters need to know that their choice of guns is ok in this game, started a long time ago by people who used whatever they could find.  Now all of a sudden if they aren’t shooting short stroked 73’s, Uberti 4 click, smoothed SAA, and either a modified 97 for loading two, or an ultra smooth SxS, they are equipped correctly and what is wrong with them. This was a game that was fun for everyone and then became competitive for some with the addition of the short stroke kits, the pawl mods for Vaqueros and firearms endorsed by the winning shooters. 
No firearm is wrong for a person if they want to shoot it, might not be the best choice for certain people but for others it gives them pleasure in shooting them. 

Sorry, but your post has exactly zero to do with his comments or mine.

[Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439]

4 minutes ago, Captain Bill Burt said:

Sorry, but your post has exactly zero to do with his comments or mine.

Sorry misspelled “fun” with gun. 
 

thought I was responding to you saying that I implied that competitive shooters aren’t shooting for fun as well. Guess I read your post “incorrectly”. 
my bad. 

[Cholla]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:10 AM, Hells Comin said:

One weekend come on  over to Cowtown "BEFORE" u buy anything I'll show u around and we'll talk Guns.

 Hells Comin

Take him up on this. Cowtown is legendary and is a training center for champions, all of which will go out of their way to help you also be a champion.

[Captain Bill Burt]

1 hour ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

Sorry misspelled “fun” with gun. 
 

thought I was responding to you saying that I implied that competitive shooters aren’t shooting for fun as well. Guess I read your post “incorrectly”. 
my bad. 

You were replying to that and you did imply that competitive shooters aren't shooting for fun when you posted:

On 8/6/2022 at 12:16 PM, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

If competition is what you are looking for stay with .38s and get short stroked 66s or 73s. Otherwise if you are into the game for fun, then go with what you like. 

It can be a touchy subject since there's a long standing belief on the part of many 'just for fun shooters' that competitive shooters have taken some of the fun out of the game.  In their game, there's no room for competitive shooters because as we all know, cowboys were only shooting at each other for fun.  They would never practice or modify their guns, or try to be fast and accurate as that wouldn't be the 'Cowboy Way'. 

 

Personally I don't see why a competitive cowboy would be offended when a pard implies his way of shooting detracts from the game.  After all, it's the "Cowboy" way to judge your fellow shooters and find them wanting when their likes deviate from your own.

1 hour ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

This was a game that was fun for everyone and then became competitive for some with the addition of the short stroke kits, the pawl mods for Vaqueros and firearms endorsed by the winning shooters. 
No firearm is wrong for a person if they want to shoot it, might not be the best choice for certain people but for others it gives them pleasure in shooting them. 

No reasonable person could read the bolded part above and conclude that the person posting it thinks that the game is less fun due to it becoming more competitive. 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

2 hours ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

This was a game that was fun for everyone and then became competitive for some with the addition of the short stroke kits, the pawl mods for Vaqueros and firearms endorsed by the winning shooters. 
 

Just a thought but the very first CAS match involved a timer and was between a bunch of guys who had been shooting other "competitive" venues for some time. CAS was "competitive" from the get go and while I wasn't there I am certain that group knew a lot about potential modifications to "stock" guns from their participation elsewhere.

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

[Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439]

4 hours ago, Captain Bill Burt said:

You were replying to that and you did imply that competitive shooters aren't shooting for fun when you posted:

It can be a touchy subject since there's a long standing belief on the part of many 'just for fun shooters' that competitive shooters have taken some of the fun out of the game.  In their game, there's no room for competitive shooters because as we all know, cowboys were only shooting at each other for fun.  They would never practice or modify their guns, or try to be fast and accurate as that wouldn't be the 'Cowboy Way'. 

 

Personally I don't see why a competitive cowboy would be offended when a pard implies his way of shooting detracts from the game.  After all, it's the "Cowboy" way to judge your fellow shooters and find them wanting when their likes deviate from your own.

No reasonable person could read the bolded part above and conclude that the person posting it thinks that the game is less fun due to it becoming more competitive. 

C’mon Captain, i was trying to let the original poster know that buying a Henry is ok. But I obviously am getting into something that can be interpreted any way you want to.
Anybody that wants to play this game can shoot any rifle that is qualified in the rules and that includes a Henry whether it is spot over by the repliers or not!  If a person wants to shoot a Henry leave him be, that’s my point ok!  

 

3 hours ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Just a thought but the very first CAS match involved a timer and was between a bunch of guys who had been shooting other "competitive" venues for some time. CAS was "competitive" from the get go and while I wasn't there I am certain that group knew a lot about potential modifications to "stock" guns from their participation elsewhere.

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

Gateway, no one was thinking of modifying guns for the first 4 years I was in the sport starting in ‘94!  And I believe the game started in the 80’s.
My point to all this nonsense is that a person can shoot any approved firearm by SASS, without being criticized for that choice for whatever reason! 
 

[Phantom, SASS #54973]

4 minutes ago, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

C’mon Captain, i was trying to let the original poster know that buying a Henry is ok.

But the OP asked this: I am firm on sticking to 45 LC but wanted to hear some opinions on different brands from those who have more years under their belt in this sport (specifically opinions on Henry pros and cons).

 

This request will warrant a wide variety of responses...of course these responses shouldn't include suggesting going to 38's since the OP specifically states that they are firm on having a 45 Colt chambering...yet...some folks suggested 38's 

 

Also, I happen to have known...still know...a bunch of folks that were shooting SASS before you joined...a long time before you joined. And I can assure you that there was a LOT of thinking going on about Modifications.

 

Cheers!
Phantom

[German Jim]

On 8/2/2022 at 1:19 PM, Jedediah Westwood said:

I am no stranger to guns and grew up shooting at m grandpas farm here in AZ out in the desert. I am looking at several different lever action brands and styles. I like the Side gate henrys but have shot on some Winchester models as well. I am firm on sticking to 45 LC but wanted to hear some opinions on different brands from those who have more years under their belt in this sport (specifically opinions on Henry pros and cons).

 

Jedediah Westwood

 

Great cartridge for smokeless.  If you ever think about moving to black powder, I don't think the .45 with black powder is the best choice in a rifle due to getting crud in the action.  Just my humble opinion.