Anybody have any pics of game shot? I'd like to see some load performance on the one's mentioned.

I'm gonna tote a real lever gun almost every time I go... It will be a 307 Win, 356 or most likely my .358.

You can keep the dern 45-70. Been there, done that, shot several deer, even literally poured the insides out of them through the golf ball size hole it left. The effectiveness is not a question.

But the ballistics nothing short of just plain suck.

I have been completely perplexed almost my entire life. The best cartridges chambered in lever guns never took off. There are many reasons, one being magnum mania with the .358 and years later when they introduced the Big Bore 94's they were originally not Angle Eject so the "new" wore off that before they made them where you could put a scope on them. The 94's sales were beginning to suffer at that point before they made the change as scoped rifles were becoming the norm. Marlin chambered in .356 but at that time it was old news and never took off, ammo was expensive and hard to get in a world with no Internet. Might could find some in a mail order catalog or get some special ordered by your local gun dealer but that was about it. If you were a real shooter you knew about Midway and could have got some from Larry, but the majority of the world was still getting their ammo at a Mom and Pop shop and Wal-Mart or K-Mart

Marlin comes out the the .308 Marlin Express and we all know what happened there.... Remington. It has taken them 10 years to just get a .30-30 made correctly.

Been there and done that with all these cartridges. Take my advice and if you fancy lever guns and come across one of these oddball calibers DO NOT let it pass you by.

Love the 307 Goat.

I dont have any pictures but the Hornady 325 gr FTX LEVERevolution make a serious hole and they rarely run.

The answer is no bullets. It is good at what it does but there are no options because it is a one-off. The .444 was the next evolution but it nothing more than a lengthened 44 mag. The .348 is almost identical to the 405 but obsolete as well.

They are all heavy hitters but none of those have any variability. The 405 is 1 combination and done. The others at least a limited number of combinations. They work..... but that is why they are obsolete. The bullets or lack thereof are the problem and flat noses don't lend themselves particularly well to long range ballistics.

The FTX bullets we are all familiar with today did not exist just a few years ago. I think without their introduction lever guns popularity would likely not be what it is today.

Exactly. A flat nose lever gun caliber is not a long range tool. You can stretch them out there a little bit, but nothing you do is going to stop that big flat piece of lead from dropping. They are real practical inside 200 yards , and if you know your drop a lot further than that. For most of us a 45 - 70 is all you need for most hunters in Alabama.

My favorite load for my 45-70 was a max load ( for high pressure compatible firearms) pushing a 350 XTP. It was flat out brutal and would normally break at least two ribs going in and 3-4 going out and yes it bruised the mess out of both rib cages.

Wish I hadn't sold my Winchester 375

Loaded up some Barnes 250 TSX rounds for my Marlin 1895 Guide Gun. Chrono'ed 2,100 fps. Sighted 2.5" high at 100 I'm 6" low at 200. Recoil not bad at all.

That load should flat smash deer VT.

I plan to try it this fall. I wanted a load that would be good to 200yds for deer and hogs and that wouldn't be unpleasant to shoot and I think this is it.

Thanks and that one is a 3x9x40 with low mounts. I wanted a 2x7 but they was out at Van's that day and its customer appreciation day that day and the Nikon reps was there and cut a smoking deal on this one if I remember correctly I paid $116 out the door for it and the scope was usually around $200 at the time

I'm using this Marlin XLR in 45-70 Gov't.



I'm stuffing some 385 grain cast gas check and powder coated rounds in it.

She's pretty.

You're loading it with lipstick?

NOW THAT IS A DEAD ON CORRECT ASSESSMENT. THE 444 IS A GOOD HEAVY HITTER, BUT, IT COULD BE BETTER WITH A VARIETY OF HEAVIER BULLETS. IT IS A CALIBER LOCKED INTO SHOOTING HANDGUN AMMO, WHICH WAS IT'S INITIAL PROBLEM WHEN IT WAS INTRODUCED, THE BULLETS BEING LOADED WERE NOT CONSTRUCTED TO PERFORM WELL IN THAT VELOCITY WINDOW. .

YUP, MY OWN FLAVOR FOR THE KISS OF DEATH.

And for those out there who would like a better bullet for their 44, be it a 44 Special, 44 Mag or a 444 (but only with the first shot, due to the pointy end of the bullet does not play well with its buddies in a tubular magazine, a Ideal Mold #429 303. Handbook of cast bullets 1st edition by Lyman has a two page write-up on the development of this cast steel plate hole punching bullet.