Let's Talk About Lever Spoons

[Superman]

New. I think the .357 ones are more popular but I can't really see past 100 yards-ish. And the .45 rounds fit my favorite six-shooter. Makes sense when defending a stagecoach against attacks.

[jyl]

Noice!

I want a lever gun now!

[KFC911]

Awesome Supe ! I like the .357 because Ima cheap bastid ... and it's more than potent enough at shorter distances. .44 mag would have matched another S&W I have ... but ammo availability and the price of it figured into my decision.

Whatcha waitin' for John ?

[Wetwork]

I picked up a Ruger/Marlin 45-70 SBL a few weeks ago. I'm pretty slight, about 140lbs soaking wet.

This spoon has become my new favorite, and I'd be willing to bet this caliber is one of the best survival/prepper firearm you can purchase.

You can use black powder, dozens and dozens of different smokeless powders, even homemade gun cotton to send a 405 grain slug down range. You can load up T-rex shoulder busting elephant droppers or load up some shotshells for grouse and squirrel.
Casting your own bullets is easy for these things.

Sure you can only shoot at the most 200 yards ethically but dudes shot buffalo at 1000 yards back in the day. Lots of stories of the slugs going lengthwise all the way through critters. Read about a accidental two-fer on Cape Buffaloo. They didn't see the cow standing behind the bull. And these bullets are barely breaking the speed of sound. For most hunting you don't want the bullet going over 1600fps. Love this thing.-WW

ps. Sure you can load it up too painful recoil, but why?

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Wetwork

...ps. Sure you can load it up too painful recoil, but why?

Yeah I've been looking into hot loads for the .45 Colt. I want to see how much flatter they can fly compared to standard loads. IOW, this is not about "what's the hottest round I can put in this thing?" It's about bullet drop between 50 and 125 yards. Range time is needed.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Wetwork

I picked up a Ruger/Marlin 45-70 SBL a few weeks ago. I'm pretty slight, about 140lbs soaking wet.

This spoon has become my new favorite, and I'd be willing to bet this caliber is one of the best survival/prepper firearm you can purchase.

You can use black powder, dozens and dozens of different smokeless powders, even homemade gun cotton to send a 405 grain slug down range. You can load up T-rex shoulder busting elephant droppers or load up some shotshells for grouse and squirrel.
Casting your own bullets is easy for these things.

Sure you can only shoot at the most 200 yards ethically but dudes shot buffalo at 1000 yards back in the day. Lots of stories of the slugs going lengthwise all the way through critters. Read about a accidental two-fer on Cape Buffaloo. They didn't see the cow standing behind the bull. And these bullets are barely breaking the speed of sound. For most hunting you don't want the bullet going over 1600fps. Love this thing.-WW

ps. Sure you can load it up too painful recoil, but why?

Kind of counter intuitive, I know, but you lighter guys actually do better with heavy recoil than us heavier guys. Less resting inertia to overcome, you "roll" with it much better.

That said, the .45-70 remains the only round for which I hand load wherein my limits dictate the load, not the limits of the rifle. I've demonstrated to my satisfaction that a 400 grain bullet can be made to exceed 2,000 fps in a Marlin 1895, modern Winchester (Miroku) 1886, or Ruger #1, and can do so safely, with good case life. I just see no real reason to do so. My loads go about 1,750, mimicking Keith's 53 grains of IMR 3031 load (I use H322). I've killed a pretty good variety of game with this load and have never recovered a bullet, regardless of the size of the animal or angle at which it was hit. These go all the way through mature elk, lengthwise. More power just digs a deeper hole in the berm on the other side of them.

Here are my four "go to" .45-70 loads. From left to right, the RCBS .45-400GC that I load over H322 for use in my Marlin or Winchester. Next is the Lyman #457193, a vintage 400 grain design that I use for hunting out of my Ballard Pacific, Shilo Sharps 1874, or Remington Hepburn (the latter two in .45-90). Next are two black powder match loads, the left one being the RCBS .45-500BPS 500 grain, the right a Paul Jones Creedmoor weighing 540 grains. Both have won long range matches for me, starting out at the blistering muzzle velocity of about 1,200 fps.



And, since we are talking lever guns and Miroku Winchesters, he is my pair. Top is an 1886 Ultra Light Rifle in .45-70, bottom is a Model 71 in .348 Winchester:





These are among the best made rifles I own. Without even having yet seen Supe's 1892 (in real life, anyway), I'm sure it is every bit as well made. Looking forward to shooting that thing... I feel a lever gun and .45 Colt range day in the making...

[fanaudical]

Originally Posted by Wetwork

I picked up a Ruger/Marlin 45-70 SBL a few weeks ago...

What do you think of the quality of your new Marlin now that Ruger is involved?

[Wetwork]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

What do you think of the quality of your new Marlin now that Ruger is involved?

Ruger knocked it out of the park, the fit and finish is extremely tight and solid. Not that I'm OCD or anything but I did really go over the checkering on the wood stock and it was perfect, no imperfections at all. Ruger went above the board with little extras like the little red and white bullseye inlayed under the stock, the fluted bolt and putting a fairly long accessory rail on top. Can't brag enough.-WW

ps. The aftermarket accessories for these now is endless. If you are a tacticool guy you can gin these up into a scary AR/spaceman looking thing. I put a red dot on mine cuz my eyes are getting a little old.

[Wetwork]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Kind of counter intuitive, I know, but you lighter guys actually do better with heavy recoil than us heavier guys. Less resting inertia to overcome, you "roll" with it much better.

That said, the .45-70 remains the only round for which I hand load wherein my limits dictate the load, not the limits of the rifle. I've demonstrated to my satisfaction that a 400 grain bullet can be made to exceed 2,000 fps in a Marlin 1895, modern Winchester (Miroku) 1886, or Ruger #1, and can do so safely, with good case life. I just see no real reason to do so. My loads go about 1,750, mimicking Keith's 53 grains of IMR 3031 load (I use H322). I've killed a pretty good variety of game with this load and have never recovered a bullet, regardless of the size of the animal or angle at which it was hit. These go all the way through mature elk, lengthwise. More power just digs a deeper hole in the berm on the other side of them.

Here are my four "go to" .45-70 loads. From left to right, the RCBS .45-400GC that I load over H322 for use in my Marlin or Winchester. Next is the Lyman #457193, a vintage 400 grain design that I use for hunting out of my Ballard Pacific, Shilo Sharps 1874, or Remington Hepburn (the latter two in .45-90). Next are two black powder match loads, the left one being the RCBS .45-500BPS 500 grain, the right a Paul Jones Creedmoor weighing 540 grains. Both have won long range matches for me, starting out at the blistering muzzle velocity of about 1,200 fps.
And, since we are talking lever guns and Miroku Winchesters, he is my pair. Top is an 1886 Ultra Light Rifle in .45-70, bottom is a Model 71 in .348 Winchester:


These are among the best made rifles I own. Without even having yet seen Supe's 1892 (in real life, anyway), I'm sure it is every bit as well made. Looking forward to shooting that thing... I feel a lever gun and .45 Colt range day in the making...

That is a great write up thanks for taking the time typing it out. I'm still in the development stage. I really like those 300grain Barnes got them up to about 2000fps with great accuracy using IMR 4198. I also got a couple of pounds of Oregon Trail 405s. That company started in my hometown but sold out and they are produced in Montana now. Oregon Trail is my favorite since they use a actual silver alloy. So basically I can now drop vampires and werewolves along with everything else -WW

[dmcummins]

After seeing this thread I decided it was time to clean up a couple of my old lever spoons.

Here is a pic of my old Winchester 1886 in 45-70 and an old box of shells.


Here are a couple of old 30-30 winchesters.



My 1892, forget the caliber .32 I think.



And everyone should have a 1873.



I inherited these and I’ve had them for years, but have never shot any of them. I keep planning on taking the 30-30’s out as I have plenty of ammo, but never due.

I think about selling some of them sometimes, but don’t have a handle on what they are worth, and don’t really need the money. So every now and then I pull them out of the safe and wipe them down.

I also have a marlin 39a .22, along with a Winchester 9422 and 9417. I have shot those, and will probably save them for my grandson’s.

[dmcummins]

I guess this qualifies as a lever spoon, my pride and joy 1885 Winchester schutzen. My dad purchased this back in the mid 70’s and I’m pretty sure he never shot it. He just liked taking it out and looking at it.

It’s chambered in 22 short and is a very heavy gun. Also has set triggers. I have posted this pic before and as you can see I have taken this one to the range.

I have the paperwork on this one from the Cody museum, it was shipped in 1887, and is an original schutzen high grade gun.

It’s in the same shape as when my father purchased it, but I’m pretty sure it’s been refinished sometime in its past as it’s into good a shape for a gun this age. And I don’t think the case colors are correct. But it’s still a pretty gun.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Wetwork

That is a great write up...

Professor Higgins delights us from time to time with little seminars on this or that firearm history complete with interesting anecdotes. Good reads.

He's been here a while and writes real good. Some of his threads are legendary. Like the shower one.

[Wetwork]

Here it is in all its glory. I have a red dot on it for fast handling and since these things are pretty much 100 yard cannon it works out great. At some point I'll probably have to scope it with a 1-6, but I hate the look, don't like the red dot look either but needs must when the devil drives. Oh the thingy stuck on the end is a linear compensator. It cuts a little recoil but the main job is throwing the blast and sound away from the shooter and everyone else in the immediate area. I have a few on my other spoons and I like them. Someday I'll probably go supressor but this gadget works fine for me.

[Jeff Higgins]

I'm heartened to see these "modern" lever guns attracting new shooters into the lever action fold, I really am. Their modern features seem to appeal to the pragmatic non-traditionalist, which is great. With the direction modern gun law is rather unfortunately going, they seem to be an attractive alternative to the AR platform and other semi automatics. I applaud that whole heartedly.

But, well, I'm a traditionalist at heart. I'm attracted to the older guns for the challenges they present. Any sort of optic on a lever gun (even worse on a single shot) is anathema to my view of them. Just not for me. I'll go as far as a peep sight, but that is my personal limit. Doesn't have to be everybody's.

Here is a trio of old Marlins. 1895 in .45-70 with a Williams peep, 1894 in .45 Colt with a Skinner peep, and a 39A Mountie with an XS Sight Systems "ghost ring".

[KFC911]

I've posted this pic before ... the new Marlins just don't call out my name like the "old skool" ones ... which is OK by me .....