My Ruger Blackhawk needs a friend

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RMHoward

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
100
Location
Jacksonville Florida
Hello all,
Recently purchased a new blackhawk stainless 357 with 4 5/8 barrel. God, i love that big honkin piece of metal. Recently at Dick's sporting goods, i saw a beautiful Marlin stainless 30-30 with dark walnut stocks, and thought to myself that it would make a very natural and beautiful companion to my blackhawk. Wouldnt it? Here is my question: Is it natural to instantly want a lever action gun right after you purchase a blackhawk six shooter? Has this happened to anyone else? I think i will be standing at the gun counter at Dick's come Dec 1 with my debit card in hand. Told my wife it was the ultimate defense weapon with the neighborhood going downhill and such. She rolled her eyes, again. Thoughts please.
Rick
 
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I have a Vaquero in 45 Colt, 357 and 44. I had to get a 1894 in 45 Colt, 357 and 44. This is the American way of life. Had to look for the 357 a long time but finally found one NIB.
 
Yep; single-actions and leverguns and reloading go together like peanut butter and jelly and bread. mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmm. :D

...Jimbo
 
While the Marlin is a good companion,, the Ruger will need a few more Blackhawks to make a comfortable family. Buy the Marlin,, AND a few more Rugers!
 
RMHoward

A lever action 30-30 probably comes first.

but a lever action in 357 or 44 would not be out of the question or at least comes second.
 
Yep, it is entirely natural to want to have lever-gun and single action companions. And a good side by side too for that matter.

Look for a Marlin 1894-C or a Cowboy in .357 Mag rather than a 30-30. The Ruger and the Marlin will both handle some really top end handloads. With 158 grain jacketed bullets and Lil'Gun powder, I'm getting just under 2000 fps out of my 18" barreled Marlin 1894-C. A longer barreled Cowboy model would do even better, so there is no loss in ballistics from the 30-30. With a 125 grain handload, the velocity is spectacular. Plus, accuracy is really good for sustained shooting, something a few 30-30s seem to not handle as well.
 
rgwarren":edtmoqbp said:
I have a Vaquero in 45 Colt, 357 and 44. I had to get a 1894 in 45 Colt, 357 and 44. This is the American way of life. Had to look for the 357 a long time but finally found one NIB.
Click to expand...

Only one VAQUERO in each caliber? I wish I had that much self control, but I don't have a set of guns in 45 Colt yet! Always looking for Orignal Size VAQUEROS in 357 or 44 magnum.

Go over to gunbroker and look at the MARLIN Cowboy rifles that are starting to show up. 24 inch 357 and 44 PLUS several 336 Cowboys in 30/30. AND the prices aren't real out of line!
 
I have a Marlin .32 Win that is one of my favorite to shoot. I have my eye on a Marlin .357 that a friend is thinking about selling as well. Hard to beat a good lever gun.
 
RMHoward":18pkqnvc said:
Hello all,
Recently purchased a new blackhawk stainless 357 with 4 5/8 barrel. God, i love that big honkin piece of metal. Recently at Dick's sporting goods, i saw a beautiful Marlin stainless 30-30 with dark walnut stocks, and thought to myself that it would make a very natural and beautiful companion to my blackhawk. Wouldnt it? Here is my question: Is it natural to instantly want a lever action gun right after you purchase a blackhawk six shooter? Has this happened to anyone else? I think i will be standing at the gun counter at Dick's come Dec 1 with my debit card in hand. Told my wife it was the ultimate defense weapon with the neighborhood going downhill and such. She rolled her eyes, again. Thoughts please.
Rick
Click to expand...
Geez, Rick, as I asked in the other topic, are we twins separated at birth? ;)

Yes, it's entirely natural. My first lever gun was a 94AE in .357, to match my then favorite revolver caliber. I found even strong .357s coming out of that 24" barrel were a bit too wimpy for my tastes; I thought a rifle should shoot a bigger caliber. If I shot .357 in CAS or some other competition, or even if I'd had a smaller (say 16") rifle I might have thought differently.

I ended up getting a Marlin 336 .30/30 and am very happy with it. This model was one of the first rifles I ever shot as a kid, so it holds some nostalgia for me. It's not a straight-stocked Winchester, but then, I shoot adjustable sight Blackhawks, not Vaqueros. I have an active topic over in the Reloading forum about developing lead rounds for this gun.

I've considered getting a .44mag or .45 Colt levergun (a Henry Big Boy would be ultimately cool, IMO), but I'm not sure my money isn't better spent elsewhere at this time (eg, that other topic about FA revolvers...).

-- Sam
 
Yosemite, although I am a big fan of Henry's GB guns (I have a .22 and a .17 HMR), you could probably buy used .44 mag and a .45 LC lever Marlins for the the price of a new GB.

RM, you are on the road to what I have been doing for years. Since I don't hunt (not by choice but disability), all my guns are pistol/rifle calibers so I can have fun at the range with 2 different weapons (.38/.357 mag; .44 sp/.44 mag; .22 lr/.22mag). So I would go with a .357 mag lever. Also in Florida you are not shooting 300-400 yard shots at elk and with all the brush and the shorter distances the .357 mag would even be enough for deer (if you're allowed in FL).
 
My wife says I only need 1 vaquero but it is not that simple. I have 2 in 357 with action jobs, 2 in 44, 1 in 44-40, 1 in 45 Colt and 2 in 40 S&W.
Thinking about converting one of the 40 S&W to a 10 MM.. I also have a bearcat, single six in 17HMR, Single Six Hunter in 22/22MAG, 2 Super Blackhawk Hunters in 44, 1 Super Blackhawk 44 with 4 3/4 barrel, 1 Single Six in 32 H&R and 1 Super Redhawk in 454. I love the Rugers...
and Brownings and Colts and Remingtons and TC and... well I love to shoot... GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
 
When I was a young buck,my hunting rig was a Marlin 336,in 30-30,and a Blackhawk in .357,4 5/8 inch barrel. Those were the days! :D
 
RMHoward, Ah the "lure" of lever actions! I shot my first deer many moons ago with a borrowed Win Model 94 in .30-30. (1964) Since that time I have shot deer with a dozen or so different calibers. Just recently, we purchased a new home, rural with a wooded area and I built a ground blind (shack) 4' X 5' X 6' and found my scoped rifles are just to bulky to move around in the blind so I am back to using a Win Model 94 in .32 Special my uncle gave me back in the sixties! It feels good to return to my early roots! I also am retired Air Force (1980). I once owned a Win Model 94 in .44 Magnum and would occasionally pair that up with my S&W Model 29 on hunts in brush country. By the way, welcome to this great forum. A lot of "savvy" people on this forum!........................Dick :wink:
 
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