First 45 colt in a lever action

[mickbr]

What action and when was it fellas?

[J Miller]

Winchester 94AE Trapper, 1985 was the first year of the 45 Colt in lever actions.

Joe

[Scott Tschirhart]

Sure have been a lot of them made since then!

[mickbr]

Thanks, I did not realise it was that recent.

[Molasses]

It does seem kind of strange at first glance that it took so long for a levergun to be made in that chambering.

We've got folks on this site that know a lot more about cartridge design history, collecting them and all of that who can set me straight if I get this wrong.

My understanding (based off stuff I read probably 30 years ago) is that for a long time, with the exception of ammo made for the double action, swing out cylinder revolver that the military used for a bit in the early 1900s, most .45 Colt ammo had a rim that was almost like an afterthought. I do know that I have a single round of older Remington .45 Colt that has a rim like that: not much there and no extractor groove cut in front of it.

It would be hard to make a lever action work reliably without much of anything to grab hold of for extraction. Cutting an extractor groove and having more than a tiny lip of a rim appears (with the earlier noted exception) to be a more recent development.

[AJMD429]

.
I've also read that patents were part of the reason there wasn't a 45 Colt levergun a long time ago. Not sure if that's true though.

[Bill in Oregon]

I've always assumed it was a combination of the tiny original rim and the straight-sided case that let black powder fouling blow back into the action that kept the .45 Colt from being chambered in leverguns.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Might be but think about the tiny rim on
The .44 Henry flat.

[J Miller]

It was the patents that prevented other manufactuers from chambering their guns for the .45 Colt.
The small rim didn't have much to do with it.

I have lots of the old balloon head cases and have run them through my win 94, Marlin 1894, and a Rossi 92 copy with no problems.

The biggest problem I had was when I used the wrong lube on the bullets with the black powder I was shooting. That gummed up the action something fierce. Had I used a proper black powder compatible lube there wouldn't have been any problem.

Joe

[Scott Tschirhart]

Thanks for experimenting with the older cartridges.

Very interesting results.

[Rockrat]

Had a Win 94, but hated the rebounding hammer, so got rid of it. This was about 20 years ago. About 10 years ago I picked up a Marlin Cowboy in 45 Colt. So much better.

[J Miller]

Had a Win 94, but hated the rebounding hammer, so got rid of it. This was about 20 years ago. About 10 years ago I picked up a Marlin Cowboy in 45 Colt. So much better.

Mine started out with the rebounding hammer action and I tried my best to get used to it. But since I was trained on and had other 94s with the half cock action, I simply could not live with it. So I bought a new HC lower tang assembly with action from Numrich put it in and never looked back.

Joe

[Ysabel Kid]

I've always assumed it was a combination of the tiny original rim and the straight-sided case that let black powder fouling blow back into the action that kept the .45 Colt from being chambered in leverguns.

I also read those were the reasons why.

I didn't realize when I got my Winchester 94AE that they had only been making them in .45 Colt less than 10 years!

[trapper45]

Got my first-edition AE Trapper .45 in December '85, saddle ring, case colored?/hardened? receiver, rebounding hammer, and all. Still looks new and works flawlessly. Definitely a keeper.

[JimT]

I remember in the late 1950's or early 1960's seeing a 92 that was converted to .357 Magnum by a Phoenix gunsmith.
And in the late 60's I shot with a guy who had his Flattop Ruger .357 converted to .45 Colt.
So while I never saw one, I am sure there were most likely at least a couple old '92's that were converted to .45 Colt by one or two hardcore gun guys.

[Eddie Southgate]

Marlin Cowboy Limited.

[JOG]

I have the Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited with the octagonal 24-inch barrel in 45 Colt.
No issue whatsoever! Quite a shooter.

[Walt]

I sure like my 24" .45 Colt Cowboy limited. It's a sweet gun. I had to modify the cartridge lifter to solve some feeding issues when I first got it but since then it's worked perfectly.

[Griff]

Winchester 94AE Trapper, 1985 was the first year of the 45 Colt in lever actions.
Joe

And the second was the 1873 Sporting Rifle by Uberti in 1986 imported by EMF. I have one of the 1st 5 rifles imported. I've used it continuously in cowboy action since I bought in in 1987. In querying the web it just sez the "1980s" for the introduction of the Rossi 1892 in 45 Colt. However, I believe I saw the first ones in 1988 or '89, distributed by Interarms.

[ikocher]

Winchester 94 Trapper Post-64, Pre-Safety, AE from the 80's. Case hardened receiver. Fun to shoot. I found it at a consignment shop in GA.

I remember in the late 1950's or early 1960's seeing a 92 that was converted to .357 Magnum by a Phoenix gunsmith.

That sure sounds like Ward Koozer.

[Molasses]

It was the patents that prevented other manufactuers from chambering their guns for the .45 Colt.
The small rim didn't have much to do with it.

I have lots of the old balloon head cases and have run them through my win 94, Marlin 1894, and a Rossi 92 copy with no problems.

The biggest problem I had was when I used the wrong lube on the bullets with the black powder I was shooting. That gummed up the action something fierce. Had I used a proper black powder compatible lube there wouldn't have been any problem.

Joe

Thanks for setting me straight on this. Now I'm thinking that I need to dig through a couple of books over the weekend and see if I got that notion from where I thought I had or if it was all faulty memory on my part.

[JimT]

Winchester 94 Trapper Post-64, Pre-Safety, AE from the 80's. Case hardened receiver. Fun to shoot. I found it at a consignment shop in GA.

I remember in the late 1950's or early 1960's seeing a 92 that was converted to .357 Magnum by a Phoenix gunsmith.

That sure sounds like Ward Koozer.

It probably was ... but I was just a kid and don't remember who it was that did it. Too many years ....

[Lassiter]

I've always assumed it was a combination of the tiny original rim and the straight-sided case that let black powder fouling blow back into the action that kept the .45 Colt from being chambered in leverguns.

That is my understanding as well, Sir