IF I WERE TO DO IT AGAIN.....

SMALL, POWERFUL, COMPACT...

Back in the 1970s and 80s I built a number of different caliber leveraction rifles by using the base guns of the major manufacturers...like Rossi, Marlin and Winchester.

Marlin was chambering there 336 action for the 35 Remington. And the base of that little cartridge has two assets going for the levergun fan. One, it is a non rimmed cartridge case and two, it is very close to the size of the mother rim of all modern rifle cartridges, the 8mm Mauser. That's also the size of the 30-06 head and all the rounds that have come from that base case.

Because the Marlin action is a 40,000 plus psi action pressure must be kept at those standards. I had all rounds developed for it on this case head size made with improved shoulders and longer necks to preclude the factory rounds being fired in the rebuilt leverguns.

The first on this case head was a 250-3000...and it was by and far one of the best, not a wildcat but never designed for the Marlin...it was designed for the Savage Mod.99. My improved version makes it a semiwildcat I guess. To do the job, I only had to chamber a 25 caliber barrel and mount it on the Marlin 35 Rem action. Being a short case it fit the action perfectly..................

The fact that this cartridge came about in 1914 doesn’t detract from it’s ability today with modern components, to be one excellent round. Charles Newton designed it, and it is a winner. It was chambered in the Savage Md.99 action for 48 years...and that is one of the strongest actions on the market...even taking such heavies as the 308 Winchester round. The Marlin 336 action forced me to be more conservative and reloading down a good deal. But I was still able to push the 85/87 rain class of bullets to 2800 fps...with Rel#7 the 100 grain bullets to 2600 fps and the 115 grainers to around 2400 fps....and with cast bullets I was able to get even better velocities.

For deer and antelope it is excellent. With the right bullet, black bear is possible....and with the 60 grain bullets I was able to break 3000 fps and varmints were whacked better than with my 223s.

The second rebarreled levergun was a modified 22-250 which of course is the 250-3000 case necked to 22 caliber. I was getting well over 223 ballistics and exceptional accuracy. Both these cartridges are short enough to function very well thru the 35 Rem/Marlin action. Of course the only concern is to not stack pointed bullets against primers in the loading tube....either flatten the noses or use the guns as two shooters...one in the chamber and one in the tube.

With a case length of 1.912 which is about the same as the 35 Remington and under the 30-30 length...functioning is fine. And pushing 45 to 50 grain bullets to 3200 to 3300 fps is easy from the Marlin rechambered 22-250.....it makes for a nice compact, slim, varmint rifle in this caliber.

Using the Rossi mod.92 format I put together a 256 Winchester. And again all I had to do was chamber and fit the barrel to an original Rossi 357. I have written of this in another article for sixgunner.com. And this rifle and caliber turned out for it's size to be one of the best of the custom remakes. What a fine little 25 caliber round this is out of a levergun. I later built one on a Winchester action 92...as Winchester should have done years ago.

Because the head size of this cartridge and the 357 are the same...and are very small....440 compared to the .506 of the 30-30 case...the back thrust against the bolt face will be less and full magnum pressure can be applied. The case itself is more parallel sided, it is shorter, it will cling better to the chamber...all make it a good candidate for reasonable high pressure and excellent ballistics. For example using 13 grains of 2400 under the Hornady (#2530) 87 grain spire pointed bullet 2200 fps and 16 grains of H 4227 gives close to 2400 fps. With a 200 yard zero, that’s about a 2½ to 3 inch high at 100 yards, this 87 grainer at 2400 fps will be down only 13 inches at 300 yards. And it will still be carrying almost 600 lbs of energy....all this from a neat compact and slim rifle....with a cartridge the size of a 357 magnum out of a 18 inch rifle. The 60 grain soft pointed varmint bullets can be pushed to 2800 fps and the 75 grainers to 2600 fps....all this spells efficiency. It makes for a sweet shooting, and a fun levergun.

There were others...a 308½...the shortened 308 case on the Marlin action, but it was a disappointment for me...it didn't really get above normal 30-30 ballistics. A 25-35 improved on the Marlin 30-30 action. That was excellent...and I liked it so much I finally put one on a Winchester 94 action. As I have written before, with an improved cartridge case this round is a little fire brand....I’m not sure if Hornady still makes the (#2550) 117 round nose bullet but I used to push that with 29 grins of IMR4320 to 2520 fps plus from the long barreled levergun..With Rel#7 I was ably to top that. And Nosler’s fine 115 grain bullet will go well over 2600 fps. One of the unsung heros of the old days with today’s modern components is the 25-35.

Since the 32-40 was always a soft spot in my heart...and getting one that was a good shooter was impossible. Because if they were good enough to shoot...they suddenly became gunshow 'collector's items' and the prices were into my gag response in seconds. So I chambered a .308 barrel for a (308) 32-40...and put all the tricks of mounting and cutting and customizing into play. It turned out to be a solid hit...with accuracy that was outstanding. I once took an antelope at an outlandish range on a bet...just to show an arrogant individual that leveraction rifles are not short ranged...oh yeah and to take his money, to help keep the lesson on his mind longer...

That rifle finally went to Jim Taylor after I gave it a very sharp improved shoulder and made a 30-30 imp out of it....so Jim could really get the velocities up. Jim would have to tell you where it went from there, I lost touch on it.

After writing my book...the urge to rebuild and remake leverguns kind of dried up in me. Though I have been giving some thought to building another 25-35 Imp on a Winchester 94BB action so I can really set up the pressure and velocity using 375BB Winchester brass. That's some of the toughest brass made...it would be the berries for a 25 caliber levergun.

But if I really wanted to build a neat little levergun again..I would first build a Mountain gun. Everyone has his own definition of a Mountain gun. But basically I guess we can all agree on some general basics. It has to be short, handy, and accurate...as well as fairly light and quick handling and at least moderately powerful.

To fit my prescription I would build a 16 inch barreled leveraction from a pistol cartridge format. Marlin or Rossi would probably be the pick here...though the Marlin would be the best, for those times when a scope was needed. I would get a Marlin 1894/44 mag leveraction and pull the barrel. I would get a Marlin 357 barrel and rechamber for the 357/44 Bain and Davis wildcat.

This chambering and rifle would about equal velocity and power as the older 35 Remington loads. Why this powerful...again the efficiency of the little cartridge, and the newer components on the market today. Using around 27 to 28 grains of WW296 and a 125 grain/357 magnum bullet it would easily be a vermin to large varmint load at 2800 plus fps. Even deer with a clear set shot out to 80 to 90 yards. The various 160 grain 357 mag bullets could be pushed to 2400/2500 fps with WW296 or H110 (around 25 grains). A number of older 30-30s don’t get 2500 fps with 150 grain bullets. And deer and black bear out to 200 plus yards would be in deep trouble with this load.

My favorite two 180 grain bullets...the Remington scalloped hollow point and the XTP H.P. by Hornady would easily hit 2200 fps and near a ton of energy. With a 2 ½ inch high at 100 yards it would on at 150 yrds, down around 6 inches at 200 yrds, and only down 13 to 14 inches at 250 yards but still doing around 1300 fps at that range...(these figures come from test loading my 35 Remington to these velocities). That’s still 675 lbs of energy at 250 yards...what a 357 mag gets with these 180s at the muzzle.

This would be the neatest small and compact rifle/cartridge one could carry up into the mountains.....it would be perfect for camping trips and four wheeling forays into the outback. For those that always wanted the ultimate small wildcat levergun...the 357/44 will come close. I would use Ashley’s Ghost ring sights...but also a quick detach scope arrangement for long shots or those in bad light. This little Marlin could be hidden so easy in a pickup truck or jeep...it could live there without anyone being the wiser. What a survival gun it would make. From double ball loads over a few grains of Bullseye...to 200 grain plus cast loads to 1800 to 1900 fps....it would be ready for anything from a mess of grouse to a very large wild boar....

It would be quiet but powerful with a Lyman 200 grain cast bullet over a few grains of fast pistol powder.....pushing the bullet around 800 fps and that’s more power than a 38 special. It would certainly take a fat eating bird without destroying all the meat...or settle a varmint’s intrusion into camp without waking everyone for 500 square yards.

I have shot crows with the 356 Winchester levergun loaded with 125 grain soft round nose and hollow pointed bullets at 3000 fps plus. When hit you get a sudden black ball of feathers exploding outward to around a foot in size and then they float away on the breeze. Certainly at 2800 fps from a 357/44 you would get the same kind of reaction. And I suspect you would anchor a big fat ground hog a lot faster then with a 55 grain 224 bullet at 3000 fps plus. You might not have the same range, but certainly twice the fun....where I wouldn’t shoot a deer with a 55 grain 22 centerfire at 3000 fps...out to 100 yards I would do it with the 357/44 and 125 grainers, if the shot was clear and a vital area well exposed.

I had a small four power scope...it was a Russian made, and it was really small...perfect for small rifles. I gave it to Ashley Emerson at the last Shootist Holiday.....but it was perfect for pistol caliber chambered rifles. It would come off and on the 357 Winchester leveraction without losing it’s point of aim....that’s the kind of set up this mountain rifle would need. And with the peep sights Ashley Outdoors makes it would be a perfect combination for any conditions.