A hello and a question

[passinthrough]

Hello, I've been reading on this forum for a while and finally signed up. I've been in love with leverguns and single action revolvers since I was a little kid. I now have a son, 7 months old this Sunday, and I have ordered him a custom serial number Henry Frontier in .22lr.

I want to get another levergun for myself too. I currently have a Marlin 336 in 30-30, but have a single action .44mag revolver and I'd love to get a levergun in .44 mag to go with it. I'm looking to spend up to or a little over the $1,000 mark to get it. Of course the less it costs the faster I can get it. I have a few "musts" that might limit what I'll find. I want it to have an octagonal barrel, straight stock and crescent buttplate. Any recommendations? I lvoe the look of the Cimarron 1892 with those features: http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/repeat ... as630.html and very well may go that route, but wanted to know if you guys who know a whole lot more about this than I do would have any recommendations. Thanks in advance.

[Blaine]

Welcome to the board. I'm not "up" on Cimarron rifles. My .44 Mag is an old Marlin 1894 with the MicroGroove Barrel...It's a little battle-worn, but, I would never get rid of it....I also have it's Big Brother, a Marlin .444 of about the same age, and rifling....If I had to choose between the two of them, the .444 would win....

[TedH]

I don't have any personal experience with the Cimarron rifles, but welcome to the fire.

[passinthrough]

Welcome to the board. I'm not "up" on Cimarron rifles. My .44 Mag is an old Marlin 1894 with the MicroGroove Barrel...It's a little battle-worn, but, I would never get rid of it....I also have it's Big Brother, a Marlin .444 of about the same age, and rifling....If I had to choose between the two of them, the .444 would win....

I remember looking at a Marlin 1894cb several years ago and wanting it. Now I'm kicknig myself for not getting it!

[Pete44ru]

Welcome - I'm glad you decided to join us.

I would suggest this .44 Mag Rossi M92, @ $640MSRP - or about 60% what an Italian Cimmeron will cost ya.



http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=149

Of course, YMMV, if you'd rather have the bling that Cimmeron provides - a higher polished blue & a little fancier stock wood.

Some Rossi's need a little smoothing out (both I've bought new didn't), but we have one or two folks here with some experience, to help members along - including America's pre-eminent M92 gunsmith, Nate "Kiowa" Jones ( http://www.stevesgunz.com ).

Some of us here have replaced the Rossi bolt-top lawyer safety with a peep sight, making a right nice shootin' iron.

BTW - whichever Model 92 you decide to buy, I would heartily recommend buying Steve's DVD, so you can work on you gun with confidence. (After all, that's more than half the fun, dinchano ? )




.

[M. M. Wright]

I've done quite a bit of business with Cimarron and their products, (they sell mostly or maybe all Uberti) have been quite satisfactory. My wife currently shoots a pair of their pistols, 4.75" 44-40s and her '73 is also a Cimarron. Call them in Fredericksburg Texas to check current stock, they may have just what you are looking for.

And welcome to the fire!

[passinthrough]

Welcome - I'm glad you decided to join us.

I would suggest this .44 Mag Rossi M92, @ $640MSRP - or about 60% what an Italian Cimmeron will cost ya.



http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=149

Of course, YMMV, if you'd rather have the bling that Cimmeron provides - a higher polished blue & a little fancier stock wood.

Some Rossi's need a little smoothing out (both I've bought new didn't), but we have one or two folks here with some experience, to help members along - including America's pre-eminent M92 gunsmith, Nate "Kiowa" Jones ( http://www.stevesgunz.com ).

Some of us here have replaced the Rossi bolt-top lawyer safety with a peep sight, making a right nice shootin' iron.



BTW - whichever Model 92 you decide to buy, I would heartily recommend buying Steve's DVD, so you can work on you gun with confidence. (After all, that's more than half the fun, dinchano ? ).

Now that looks like a darn good option.

[pwl44m]

Welcome to the forum, glad U decided to join and quit lurking. Not that lurking is a bad thing but input is better. Now about those pictures of Ur current Guns.
Perry

[passinthrough]

Thanks Perry. I'll have to take pictures tonight when I get home.

[gamekeeper]

Welcome to the fire
I had a Rossi in .357 it was accurate and reliable, wish I still had it
A .44 Magum makes perfect sense if you already have a .44 Magnum S/A revolver.

WARNING If you stay on this forum I'm sure you will end up with more leverguns than you can shake a stick at!

[nemhed]

Welcome, and yeah, we just love pictures! Sometimes we're not too good at the reading part. I'm pretty much a Marlin guy and love my 1894 models in 357 and 44mag. Looks like you'd be more interested in the Cowboy models. There have been enough issues with Marlin since they were taken over and production was moved by Remington, that I can't really recommend a brand new one. Maybe things will straighten out there but that's a whole 'nother story.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Welcome - I'm glad you decided to join us.

I would suggest this .44 Mag Rossi M92, @ $640MSRP - or about 60% what an Italian Cimmeron will cost ya.



http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=149

Of course, YMMV, if you'd rather have the bling that Cimmeron provides - a higher polished blue & a little fancier stock wood.

Some Rossi's need a little smoothing out (both I've bought new didn't), but we have one or two folks here with some experience, to help members along - including America's pre-eminent M92 gunsmith, Nate "Kiowa" Jones ( http://www.stevesgunz.com ).

Some of us here have replaced the Rossi bolt-top lawyer safety with a peep sight, making a right nice shootin' iron.



BTW - whichever Model 92 you decide to buy, I would heartily recommend buying Steve's DVD, so you can work on you gun with confidence. (After all, that's more than half the fun, dinchano ? ).

Now that looks like a darn good option.

Howdy and welcome to the fire.
Think about this. All the folks that made the original 92's are long dead and gone. The folks with the most experience building 92's now are the Rossi folks. They have been doing it almost 50 years now.
The other makers have only been making them for about a 4th of that time.
Then you have to take in to account that about 30 to 40% of the cost to build a gun usually goes toward the final fit and finish because that’s all hand work. What that means is just because it looks well fitted and finish it doesn't guaranty it will work right. Kind of like a custom paint job on a car doesn't mean it runs good.
The Rossi's aren't finished as nice as the others. But they don't cost twice as much either and functionally it's closer to the original than the others so the dang things work. One important change they made is Rossi cartridge guides are setup to run straight wall ammo so they are not as ammo sensitive as the others.
The Rossi's generally get a bad rap because of the older very stiff pre-2000 guns ( they re-tooled to all new CNC about 2000). But, even those earlier guns clean up well. The current Rossi's are the best bang for the buck, hands down.

[passinthrough]

Howdy and welcome to the fire.
Think about this. All the folks that made the original 92's are long dead and gone. The folks with the most experience building 92's now are the Rossi folks. They have been doing it almost 50 years now.
The other makers have only been making them for about a 4th of that time.
Then you have to take in to account that about 30 to 40% of the cost to build a gun usually goes toward the final fit and finish because that’s all hand work. What that means is just because it looks well fitted and finish it doesn't guaranty it will work right. Kind of like a custom paint job on a car doesn't mean it runs good.
The Rossi's aren't finished as nice as the others. But they don't cost twice as much either and functionally it's closer to the original than the others so the dang things work. One important change they made is Rossi cartridge guides are setup to run straight wall ammo so they are not as ammo sensitive as the others.
The Rossi's generally get a bad rap because of the older very stiff pre-2000 guns ( they re-tooled to all new CNC about 2000). But, even those earlier guns clean up well. The current Rossi's are the best bang for the buck, hands down.

Thank you for the reply. That does look like the route I'm leaning toward now. I want one that works. I have a style in mind that I want and the Rossi meets every point of it. This rifle will be used for fun and hunting so it's likely to get a few scrapes and bumps/dents aka gain some character over the years. It won't be a competition rifle other than trying to outshoot my friends.

[COSteve]

Deleted

[44-40 Willy]

My Rossi 92 is one of the ones they built for Navy Arms. 24" octagon in 357 Mag. It's my go to gun here on the farm and for hunting. I bought it new in '99 and the only thing I've had to do to it was flush the grease and gunk out of the action, oil it back up and work the action to wear it in. I grew up with Marlins and the Marlin 1894 will always be a favorite of mine, but if I was to only be allowed one gun, my 92 would be it.

If Rossi has been building 92s for 50 years, then they've built them about as long as Winchester did.

I didn't know that what Nate said about Rossi having modded the the cartridge guides to use straight case cartridges instead of the original tapered cartridges that Winchester used.

[Sixgun]

Passinthrough,
I suggest you "passonpast" the Italian and South American junk and buy a Marlin, Jap Miroku, or an original pre-war levergun, in that order, with the pre-wars getting the most vote...............if you want reliability and resell value. --------------------------------------Sixgun

[Blaine]

I haven't noticed any Rossi going for cheap lately

[Griff]

and Welcome to THE Forum.

If you find one of the Marlin "Cowboy Competition" rifles in .44Mag, it's certainly worth makin' an offer on. However, Marlin suffered a bit when Remington took them over and they tried to move production down to South Carolina (or was it North)!? Regardless, the consensus has been that the new "Remlins" were not that strong quality-wise. Plus, frankly, the lawyered up Winchester offerings from Miroku of Japan are full of parts unecessary to the correct operation, and while, yes, they can be converted to the simpler, original design... that's on top of already good money you've paid.

The Very Best of either a Marlin 1894 or a Miroku made 1892 would be a pre-safety model. But, finding them in good shape brings a premium. Which again, you'll pay for, unless you luck into a deal.

I gotta agree with Nate and Pete, a Rossi is probably the best bargain on the market. The Cimarron are pretty rifles, but they are built slightly different than the Rossis. And while they tend to have the receiver contoured more like the original, they also differ in their internals. You would use a different method for tear-down and re-assembly of any Armi-Sport (Chiappa) assembled 1892, so tuning methods and such might be a bit different than you'll find addressed on the internet, most of which is geared to the Rossi, which has been around far longer.

[mikld]

Well, my "junky" old Rossi Puma in .44 Mag. has been around here shootin' like it thinks it's a $10,000.00 rifle! I got it about 8 years ago and spent some time looking for a bullet/load it likes and got Steve's CD. It has provided me with a whole lot of shooting fun and a lot of reloading/casting fun too...

[92&94]

I have a Rossi similar to CO Steve's, 'cept without the tang sight and in 44 mag. Real nice gun for the $$$