Handiest Thing Going?

[redlevel42]

Is there a firearm as handy as a "Trapper" length levergun? If there is, I don't know about it. My latest two Trappers are Rossis. I bought the .357 used and the SS .45 Colt new. I have been shooting the .45 lately, and it is just about the handiest thing I have ever seen. Packs a punch with a 250ish bullet with around 9 grains of Unique. I have mostly shot the .357 with factory jacket bullets, 158 grain Federal jacketed soft point. We sighted it in with those bullets when my daughter decided to take up deer hunting at 30 years old. She loves it. I take the .45 with me on the golf cart when I do morning and afternoon patrols around the 70 or so acres. I haven't blooded it yet, but I am confident because I have shot coyotes with good results with the same loads in my Winchester 94 Trapper. So far, both guns have functioned flawlessly, except for one failure to feed with the .45. I first thought I had short stroked the lever, but on subsequent shots, I heard the swish of the magazine tube spring as it hung, then released and fed the round. This only happened once in a couple of hundred rounds so far, but I have heard the spring hesitate and catch up a couple of times since. It seems to be getting better, but this is something I will watch closely. I figure I need to shoot at least 500 rounds to get everything broken in good.

[redlevel42]

Daughter sighting-in the .357 last fall off-hand at about 60 yards at the backyard range.

[AJMD429]

Happy woman and nice guns - looks like perfection to me...

I love the little Rossi 16"ers - I use one in every 'newbie' training session, since they can be loaded to low-recoil status, and are unlike most OTHER rifles, and are not difficult to manage for shooters who are petite or don't have long/strong arms.

[3leggedturtle]

I have the same 16" SS 45C. I have ran a 255gr RNFP at almost 1600 fps, it thumps pretty good on both ends. Lately I have been shooting a 200gr RNFP at 1100fps . The only way it could be handier is if it was already D+T for a peep sight. 3leg

[MrMurphy]

An MP5A3 or a Mini-Uzi are a lot handier, but they also go through a lot of ammo.......

[Old Ironsights]

Trappers are great... but I prefer a 20" unless it's a Bullpup...

It's a balance/center of gravity thing.

[piller]

As far as the spring catching, I have had that happen on one firearm. I used some of the plastic safe bore scrubbing spray and cleaned the magazine tube after taking the tube apart. I then used a dry lubricant with teflon to lubricate the inside of the magazine tube and the spring, put everything together, and have had no trouble since. There is a possibility of you having a place in the tube where it is tighter than the rest of the tube, and that may resolve itself with wear. I don't have a 16 inch barrel on a levergun, but I can see how they would be great for keeping the barrel out of the tree limbs and such when walking in brush.

[2ndovc]

Well as knuckle dragger, I l love the Trappers! Me and long barrels just don't get along, always banging into stuff.

My favorite ( other than my Winchester SRCs) is a Marlin 94P in .44 magnum, followed by my 18" Guide Guns in .450 Marlin and .35 Remington.
I almost forgot my LTD III in 45-70 with an 18" barrel! All of them are super shooters and I've hunted with the .450 and
45-70 with great success! All they need are saddle rings to be perfect!

jb

[Old Ironsights]

My 1895 Guide Gun has the 18.5" (non ported) barrel. Works fine, but I still think I'd prefer it at 20".

And JB... get the Bear Creek saddle ring safety delete. They simply work.

[J Miller]

redlevel42,

Nice rifles. Your wifes looks like she's having a blast shooting hers.

Check 45's cartridge stop. That could be the reason for the failure to feed. Sometimes dirt, grit, debris and gunk from manufacturing will get between the moving parts and cause it to hang up. The stop part on the 92 action is only a spring loaded tab at the lower left front of the receiver. As the bolt is closed it pushes it stop open allowing the rounds to feed from the magazine, then after the round has fed the stop pops out and stops the next round.
So it could be gummed up and not working as intended. If that's the case a good cleaning is in order.

Joe

[Pete44ru]

.

I'm looking at that bolt-top lawyer safety, and all I can think of is to switch it out for a drop-in bolt peep sight (removing the rear barrel sight, of course) - What I did on both my 16" Rossi M92's in .45 Colt & .357 Mag.
They both even zeroed using the issue front sights.




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[Birdman]

I've been trying to get MY Winchester 357 Trapper back from a buddy who I foolishly traded it to. I bought it new in 1994 and I have kicked myself many times for letting it go. I also have two Marlin 1894 357's with the 18.5 inch barrel. That's a pretty nice length. I continue to talk myself out of chopping my 20 inch 44 may down to 16 inches but someday I just may.