F. Vaccaro
AH fanatic
A Savage 99, BLR .308, Henry Long Ranger .308, Win mod 88 in .308 & don’t look back. The .308 is plenty of ctg. till you get to the big bears!
@dialordasailorMy father is at a point in his life where he’s thinking of “the end”. He’s decided he wants to buy myself and my wife a set of matching lever actions we can hunt with. Wants to engrave them as well but I can handle that locally.
the issue/question is, finding a new lever action in 308 or something useful for deer and antelope as general hunting rifles. Found the Henry long ranger in 308 but can’t find them anywhere and Henry’s response was demand is out pacing their production and they can’t tell me when/where I can find one. Do that opens up any other levers out there. Marlin 1894 seems decent but not in my “typical” deer rounds.
looking for suggestions of lever guns under $1000 each in a cartridge good for deer. Also need them to be actually in stock somewhere.
thanks for any help,
Dale
The big advantage to the Savage 99 is the rotary mag. You can shoot spitzers. Much better selection of projectiles.@dialordasailor
If your ok with 2nd hand you could look at long and short action Browning BLR. Calibers from 22-250 up 325WSM
Just a thought
Bob
Or a used BLR.Full disclosure: I don't have this caliber. But everything I have ever read about the .308 Marlin Express has been exceedingly positive, up to elk and out to 300 and more. They show up with some regularity on GB.
I have a .338 Marlin, and it is all that and a bag of chips. However, the are less common and a lot more expensive.
If you are looking for new, Henry might be it; I have never owned a Henry. If you are OK with used, I'll bet you could find a couple of nice condition 99s in .308.
Best of luck sir.
You'll have to decide modern or historic. Not familiar with most of the more modern designs that will give an edge for adding a scope and shooting to longer range with more modern calibers.
But having owned and shot most of the old originals in most of their calibers, IMO, the Winchester M71, being a very strong action (upgraded '86 design), is one the most ergonomic of the old lever guns. The 348 is no slouch cartridge either.
@freefallModel 71s were $750 when I started drooling over them in 1979. I bought a .444 Marlin instead. Wish I still had it.
If you want some sticker shock, look at what Marlin 1895 in 45-70 are fetching on GB. And not even the J-stamped real Marlins, but the Marlingtons made since the Freedom Group acquired Marlin and put them under Remington.I’ve looked at the browning just was little sticker shocked. May have to go that route though.
have a savage 99 in 300savage in the safe. Fun gun. I actually didn’t think about grabbing one in 308.
thoughts on 44mag or 357 for deer and antelope?
Never realized that's the rifle you were holding in that pic. What ammo did you use?@sgt_zim ... I have occasionally looked at GBLs and SBLs too, not our of a desire to acquire one - I have a GBL as well - but morbid curiosity over what folks are paying. It leaves me aghast too. I think I paid just a hair over 500 for my GBL when I bought it. Now? That's closer to an ammo resupply for it than an actual rifle. And when you say yours ain't worth 2K to you, I guess mine is to me because I won't be parting with it, even for the money it could fetch. I have this arbitrary thing that if I've shot something with a gun I can't sell it. Thanks to that buff in my profile pic and a zebra, me and this gun are shackled together for the rest of my life.