Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

[Tread Head]

Of the pistol calibers out there in lever guns would be the best one to have??

A 44mag, .357mag / .38 spl ?? what? In a SHTF sort of situation.

I am sort of thinking .357mag, but I am not sure. 44mag has quite a whallop too!

Opinions, thoughts??

Thanks
Tread

[acem]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

My friend has a 45/70 revolver so I guess that would make a great pistol/lever action combo! 454 also packs alot of punch.

My choice is 45 Long Colt. It is just a classic.

Thx-Ace

[RT]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

.44 mag Marlin is probably the best of the breed, but there are a few Rossis that are pretty good too.

Its not premium firepower for going up against well trained and equipped determined attackers, but as a 50 state legal truck gun its not half bad for keeping around to deal with a few robbers or all around jerks who might be a little more dodgy at medium distances to be reached with your Mossberg cruiser.

[paintballmagnet]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

As an antipersonel round the .357 will do ALMOST as well as the .44. We can add less expense, easier to carry ammo-you know..all the regular reasons supporting smaller calibers. IF hunting anything much larger than very small deer might be on your list of things to do, the .44 magnum is your only real choice. With a hard cast SWC, I'd tackle even Elk at close range with a .44 A good levergun with a suitable revolver alongside could be nice to have. I'd have to go with both in .44 Rmag.

[Tread Head]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

I too love the idea of the 44 mag. But I was thinking about the availability of the ammo in bad times shall we say.

Which cal would one more likely run into for barter or trade? 44Mag? 357Mag/38Spl ???

Then again does it really matter??

Tread

[paintballmagnet]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

Any common cartridge is gonna be scarfed up as soon as anything hits so I doubt much if anything will be available. Tread, do you load your own? If not make friends with someone that does, my Dillon will crank out 500 rounds in an hour, five hunded loaded for bear .44 mags will go a long way from a revolver or lever action rifle.

[jefferson101]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

The only problem I have with that idea is that I don't have a semi-auto pistol in .357 or .44 Mag. Just Revolvers.

And I'm not taking a six-shooter to a gunfight, unless I have my P-14 or a BHP, or some such, to back it up. And if I'm carrying two calibers of pistol, why have a carbine that shoots the low-cap loads?

If I have two calibers anyway, I might as well go all out and have a 7.62x39 or some such for the long gun.

Hey. I loves me some revolvers, for range guns, or here in the house where I can do a "New York reload" whenever I want to. But in a real SHTF situation? I want at least a dozen rounds per reloading. Anything less than that will make me feel a bit deprived.

And even if I carry two revolvers, I still have to reload them eventually, perhaps. I like the idea of pushing a button and putting a whole 'nother 16 or 17 rounds of whupazz into a JMB design, actually.

YMMV, but there it is for me.

[paintballmagnet]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

I doubt I'd want any lever action rifle or six shot revolver for urban combat, but rambling around on an ATV or walking in the woods where I'm not likely to be assaulted buy mass attacks of city dwellling "zombies" I think I'd feel right at home with a combo such as this. A Marlin 16" and a Ruger Redhawk 6" woould be a wonderful pair together. Never been much a single action fan, too slow to reload even at revolver reload speeds, never recommended a single action for bear defense either, cocking before firing each round MIGHT be a bit difficult if off balance and fighting hand to hand...or hand to jaw full of teeth!

[acem]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

An older pistol round (such as 45LC) could be usefull in an EXTENDED SHTF situation. You can make usable components for reloading from raw materials. Black Powder can be made. Lead can be scavanged or smelted from the proper rocks (other metals can be used also). Primers are more difficult but they can be made. High pressure rounds made for smokeless powder could be made from scratch but the technology is more difficult.

It helps to have a degree in Chemical Engineering (as I do), Chemistry or related.

Thx-Ace

PS: Just because I have a degree in Chemical Engineering dose not mean you can hire me to help you design a better meth lab. You would not be the first one who asked me...

[RT]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

I had a Desert Eagle .44 mag and then the Winchester .44 mag trapper as my "California legal" package for a while but the Desert Eagle proved better in the movies and Mack Bolan books than out at the range. Big problem is that it requires +P .44 mag loads to even function, then it is not really a handgun, but a "handsgun", meaning it really takes both hands to operate with any level of efficiency. I found I could sling and unsling the rifle just as quickly and it was so slim that it was pretty easy to pack and carry. The Desert Eagle just got in the way of my other gear and when I figured out I had to carry another handgun anyway for quick draw, I kind of decided I just did not need it.

Then I got one of those .44 magnum Ruger Vaqueros, which is a very nice revolver. It is a cowboy type gun so very slow to reload, so slow that you can pretty much forget reloading it during a gunfight, but then there was another factor in that it was very very handy, and with .44 special loads, not really all that bad for recoil. Not exactly gunfighter material for going up against the government, but something quick to whip out and nail an opportunistic predator - definitely.

Again, we are not talking "war guns" but as foraging rifles, the magnum pistol caliber lever guns are a pretty good bet, and I have to agree with paintballmagnet on the idea that if you are going with a set, then the set in .357 is a bit more practical than getting the set in .44 magnum, except you can mitigate some of the cost and recoil issues by going with a cowboy style .44. I think I had gotten the Vaquero for around $250, the rifle and the revolver (and an ammo can full of ammo) went away in a trade that got me the HK93 you see in my signature picture. I put about $400 net into the HK93, selling some of the original accessories then buying the rail system, traded that all out for a Gen3 night vision scope which I then traded for a PVS-14. I ran into the guy I gave the .44 to a while back and he is still happy with the deal and in the long run I don't think he did that badly at all.

[jefferson101]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

An older pistol round (such as 45LC) could be usefull in an EXTENDED SHTF situation. You can make usable components for reloading from raw materials. Black Powder can be made. Lead can be scavanged or smelted from the proper rocks (other metals can be used also). Primers are more difficult but they can be made. High pressure rounds made for smokeless powder could be made from scratch but the technology is more difficult.

It helps to have a degree in Chemical Engineering (as I do), Chemistry or related.

Thx-Ace

PS: Just because I have a degree in Chemical Engineering dose not mean you can hire me to help you design a better meth lab. You would not be the first one who asked me...

At that point, wouldn't a flintlock muzzle loader be even more useful?

They do sell them, don't you know?

[acem]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

A flintlock muzzle loader would also work. But you can make reloading components for low pressure cartridges with low tec methods. Even low power cartridge guns are alot better than muzzle loaders. With enough pratice you could make nitro cotton also, but you need to make nitric acid first. Thx-Ace

[paintballmagnet]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

Had I to rely on anything that loaded from the front end, I'd literally starve in a pasture full of cows. In spite of my best loading efforts, three different propellants, GOD only knows how many bullet weights and types-I still ain't had no luck getting better than 6"-8" at 100 yards. I'm about to sell out and start cheating.....have I shown you my muzzleloading 30-30?

[ISC]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

I really like my rossi .357 LA rifle. I only had a chance to shoot it on one range trip, but it was accurate, quick to shoulder and keep on target.

I like .357/.38 sp over .44 mag or .45 LC because it is so extremely common and cheaper than either of the latter 2. In a pinch, I would be willing to try to reload .38 sp with improvised powders and a homemade primer. I think you could even do it without dies if you had to.

As long as you don't get a squib round, the concerns about insufficient pressure to operate a semiauto would be alot less of an issue.

I liked my rossi that it has me thinking about a .44 mag or .45 LC revolver/rifle combo when I get home.

[Wayne]

Re: Lever Rifle pistol calibers??

The 38/357 rifles are very cheap to reload. That said I think a Rossi in .454 would be a better choice. It will shoot 454 or 45 long colt equally well. It will also shoot 45 Schofield as a single shot. With a 454 you have power options for about anything on the planet.
A Rossi in 45 long colt will still give you the power to take anything in North America. The actions are incredibly strong and reloads are still pretty cheap. Especially compared to factory ammo.
Any of the Rossi's will fill the bill as a long term survival weapon. I would really like to see Rossi lengthen the action and chamber them for 30/30, 38/55, 460, and 45/70. It worked with the Winchester 76, why not with the 92 action.