Leverguns - Hunts page
Leverguns - at Home & in the Field
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A couple of years back I went hog hunting in Ga. - took this hog at 192 yrds with my iron-sighted Browning 1873 SRC in 45-70. Did have a slight advantage - they had placed bait at the 200 yard marker of their shooting range and I was shooting off a bench...lol! 300 grain Hornady at 2100 fps. and used the ladder sight. Using that sight I knew the gun shot about 4'' high at 100 yrds. Held right on the lungs and made a great shot. Best shot I'd ever made! Tracy D

My name is June & this my 1980-vintage Marlin 375 Winchester. It has a 2x7 Redfield on it. The small buck was taken with it using the 220 Hornady over RE7 & a Fed. match primer. Soon I will start shooting cast lead. Hubby Mike's photo is posted below with his 444.

Brian Tonnacliff with a small boar taken with a 44 magnum Marlin shooting300 grain WFNGC and Alex Tonnacliff with a big MEAN & ANGRY boar taken with a 44 magnum Marlin shooting 300 grain WFNGC

Virginia whitetail harvested with my Marlin 44 mag, shooting 200 grain XTP @ approximately 2000 FPS @ 70 yards.

Brian Tonnacliff

The attached photo is of my son, 13 year old Russell of Beaver County Pennsylvania with an 8 point whitetail shot with his grandfather's Marlin 336 in 35 Remington. He handloaded a 200 grain roundnose with IMR 4320 to drop the buck in his tracks.
Thanks,
George Pastor

	I live in northern Minnesota, but took this nice buck on my father-in-law's farm in southern Wisconsin in 2000. The rifle is my (then) new Marlin 1895 in 45-70, Lyman peep sight, using Winchester 300gr Partition Gold factory ammo. He was taken at 135 yards on Thanksgiving morning...I just had time to field dress him then get back inside for turkey and all the trimmings! It was my son's first year hunting (12 yrs old) and we each took 2 deer that season, 2 bucks and 2 does. The third pic is the first buck taken with my BLR 308, back in 1986. He was small but corn-fed and tasty! The Marlin is joined in my levergun stable by a BLR in 308 WCF with 4X Burris compact scope, and my BL-22 (made the year I turned 12) . Leverguns are my preference for everything that doesn't require a shotgun!

My name is Michael Garner - this is one of many bucks that's fell to my 1977 444 336 marlin. It has a 2X7 leupold with weaver mount and rings. It will shoot a one hole group with this load at 90 yards.

I shot this fine Maine Whitetail with a 1975 vintage Marlin 336 in 35 rem at 65 yards. 1 shot, over it went. Has an old fixed 4x Bushnell on it and this combo can't be beat!!!!
Thanks....Bill Nowicki

in_the_field_with_donnie.jpg (54334 bytes)

This nice muley buck was taken in western South Dakota after a long stalk in rough country. At the shot, the buck bounded away but toppled after a couple jumps. One shot through the chest from my older Glenfield 30-30 did it again! Distance was about 125 yards or so. This carbine consistently shoots 150 grain Remington core-lockts into a 3 inch circle at 150 yards. 30-30 is a KEEPER!
Paul VL

Another 'shot' of the previously-pictured Marlin 45-70 1895 Limited Edition and Warren Southworth, this time with a 300 lb Russian Boar, which fell to a 430gr lead gas-check slug, propelled by 50gr of H322, at just over 1800 fps. Potent medicine (as the photo shows).

My name is Dan Loerzel. gun used is marlin 336C 30-30 with Williams 5D receiver sight. Deer shot in Minnesota

Hello,
My name is Nevada Fitch, and this is a picture of a buck taken with my Browning BLR steel frame .308. This gun has taken lots of deer and some coyotes. I took this deer at about 150yds. He was dead on his feet after the first shot, but I put another one in just to make sure, because I didn't want him to dive off the side of the mountain and make for a hard drag.

I love leverguns of all types and own several with some of my favorites being a Browning 95 in 30-06, a Pre-64 Winchester model 94 in 30/30, and I have recently accuired an original model 71 made in 1938 which as been converted to 450 Alaskan. I hope to take a bear with the 450 in the future, and maybe some hogs.

Dear Sir,

As a friend of me told you sometimes ago we are not numerous in Europe to hunt with lever guns. I use Winchester 71 in 348, 1886 lightweight in 45-70 with 300 Partition and heavy load of VN133, Big Bore 94 in 356 reloaded with 220 Speer FP and VN135 or Vectan SP9. I send you a picture of a spike red deer of 90kg (about 200lbs) shot with BB94 in 356. Running fast up hill in front of dogs i shot it at 45m (about 50yards). At the impact of the Speer 220fp it turn down hill and fall 6àm away. Heart and lungs were destroyed and the bullet passed a rib on his way out.

Long live lever gun. It's a pity FN closed New Haven.

Dominique Czermann
Marseille France

Dear sir,

Hi, it's me again from Marseille. As i told you few french or european hunters use leverguns but ther's a smal but loyal following. I found a picture (not too good) of a former hunt in 2000 with my Browning carbine 71 in 348Winchester. The small roe was taken in driven hunt. It's a non typical with only one horn, surely a genetic malformation. Shot at 35meters ( around 40yards) with a reloaded 200grs Hornady FP and a stout load of Vectan 7000 (about the rate of IMR4350). The roe was about 28kg (about 61lbs) a good weight for such a small game.
Fell in his track. For some wild boar and red stag driven hunt where game is hard to fall i use an 1886 lightweight in 45-70 loaded with Nosler Partition 300 in front of 62grs of VN133.
Effective is not enough word to qualify such a rifle.
Other hunters with state of the art Sauer, Blaser, double rifle or semi-auto look at me as i was a Martian but when i connect nobody smile anymore.

Thanks to J.M Browning.
Dominique Czermann

Black bear taken in Idaho, spot and stalk, with .45-70 guide gun, and new leverevolution ammo. Bear was taken at 40 feet.

Mike Cochran


Hi, My name is Bill Tremblay. 3 deer with 3 shots. I love my Marlin 30-30 336c I would take it in any woods in Maine or anywhere.

Taken in east central Missouri with a Winchester 94 Big Bore in 375 caliber. I was using handloads with my own cast bullets from the RCBS 37-250 mould.
Ted Hambach

Dear Sirs,
My name is Maurice Ferretti, I am a southern french hunter, and you can see that I like leverguns. During that morning of September 28th 2005, I was lucky enough to take 2 wildboars running ahead of our dogs with my stainless Rossi 92, in .44 magnum caliber, and my own handloads ( 240gr Fiocchi flat soft point bullets, 24.5gr of Vectan Sp3 ball powder, Winchester large pistol primers, in Remington cases.

The average velocity of this load through that 20 inch barreled rifle is 525 meters per second. ( 525 mps = 1890 fps) The first boar ( 82 kilograms) ( 82 kg = 180 lbs) was shot broadside at 30 meters. It runned about 40 meters and was very dead when I found it. The second (57 kilograms) ( 57kg = 125 lbs) was a close quartering shot (10 meters). It fell on its tracks, but I fired a second shot as it was still moving on the ground.

Since hunters toting leverguns are seldom seen in Europe, I hope you will use my photo, for the glory of leverguns

Best regards,
Maurice.

Wild Boar harvested at 20 yards by 11 year old Russel in Ohio. He used was a Marlin 1894 .357 with a 180 gr. Hornady XTP handload. This is his first big game animal.

	My recent hunt in South Africa. Top: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2005. Checking out the veld for game. Center: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2005. Impala ram,side shot at 50 yards with my 357 Marlin 1894C. Federal AE 158 JSP. Bottom: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The tracker and I came across a small warthog, limping from an injury. I put it down out of mercy. Head shot, 15 yards. Andy Law, England.

I got this beautiful blonde Kodiak brown bear with my custom Marlin 1895 rechambered to 457 Wild West Magnum. I was using a 405gr. Kodiak bonded core bullet made by Alaska Bullet works.

I dropped the bear with one shot. In one rib and out the other, taking both lungs and the heart.

Kevin Martin
Kodiak Alaska
Leverguns.com user name- kodiak457mag

Transvaal, South Africa, 2003. Impala ram, side shot at 35 yards with my sweet 357 Marlin 94C. Load was 158gr Winchester JHP. The bullet exited.
Andy Law
England.

Brian Tonnacliff with GA feral hog shot with Guide Gun and Remington 405 Grain SP at 1700 FPS.
One shot through the shoulders at 20 yards.

A young bull bison taken with M-94 takedown in 38-55 ,dropped with one shot on the run at 40 yards.
Ron Dart

Black bear that scored 20 9/16 Boone & Crockett using an 1895 takedown in .35 WCF. He was taken on a horseback hunt (without dogs) in the Gila Wilderness Area;
Trey Whitley

Trey Whitley shot this 170-class desert mule deer in the Gila Mountains near Mimbres, NM. The rifle is a pistol-gripped deluxe Model 1886 takedown in .33 WCF; the load was 47 grains of H-4350 under a 200-grain Hornady flatpoint in Bertram brass.

The Southworth clan's armament while the boys break for lunch and give those Maine Whitetails a brief rest. Included in the group, from left to right, are a custom 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun, a Browning/Winchester M71 carbine in .348 W., a 45-70 Marlin Limited Edition (pictured in another Levergun image), and a standard Marlin 45-70.

John Lapshinoff (Saskatchewan) 1894 - .30 WCF [ 1904 ] 1895 - .303 British [ 1912 ] They are both shooters used with reduced loads.

Left - my father Lloyd Smale
Right - my fiancé Lisa Borchert
Pigs were 190 and 195lb
Dad shot his with a BLR .308 Sierra 165 spitz
Lisa shot hers with her .35 Rem with a RCBS 200gr. rnf
-from Lloyd Smale-

Here's a pic of this year's antelope, taken with a Rossi/Puma Model 92 in 45 Colt.
Pat Eastes
Casper,Wy

I offer these two photos for consideration of two animals I hunted with my beloved 357 Marlin '94 in South Africa, in June this year: [1] impala, stalked and shot just above the eye at 40 paces. [2] warthog, opportunity ambushed at 15 yards, shot through the neck just behind the head. Load in both cases was Winchester 158gr JHP, (factory). A better choice would have been JSP as there is more weight retention at carbine velocities. Scope is a zoom Swarovski set to 2.5x, ample for the thickbushved.
Andy Law
England

This is a 475 lb. feral hog taken in the Ochoco Mountains of Central Orygun. The rifle is a Browning M-71 .348. Ammo used was the classic Winchester Silvertip. Shot twice from 25-30 yrd. distance with both bullets fully expanding in near perfect mushroom shape and both were found lodged under the hide on the off side of the sow. Both bullets broke ribs and destroyed heart and lungs. One would have done the job. Date was Sept. 4, 2004.

This hog was taken by Rusty Frederick Jr. age 15 using a Marlin Texas Carbine

Chris Cheney shot this 5 year old buffalo cow in Montana with a 1863 vintage 56-56 Spencer rifle. 43 grains of 2F Goex, 392 grain heeled bullet at 60 yards. Complete broadside penetration, heart shot she went about 40 yards and collapsed.

Cow bison taken with a Winchester .40-65.

John L. Moore

I shot the 250 lbs Maine black bear at 45 yards using my Marlin 450 Guide gun with Hornadys 350gr FN @ 2180fps - shot behind the shoulder exiting out the other side, .458 going in and a quarter size coming out. A great big game rifle.

Rick A Mouleart, Manchester NH.

Craig DeLong's super-nice Model 1889 Marlin 38-40

1895 Marlin Limited Edition 45-70
50 gr. of H322 behind a 405 gr. Beartooth
Warren Southworth

Old Dan's Winchesters

The short rifle is a 30WCF, 1955 receiver with a Canadian Centennial 20" octagon barrel cut down by Brian Cosby to 16" with all markings removed. It was built to replicate one that is in Renneberg's "The Winchester Model '94: The First Hundred Years"
The full sized Winchester is a standard 1894, 30WCF rifle made in 1911, with the extra cost Lyman No. 4 hunting front sight.

Alan Anderson and a nice fox taken with a Marlin 218 Bee.

Leverguns are great for varmints too, Alan says.

Alan Anderson
Antelope taken with Model 94 30-30
170 gr. Rem. RN handload
One shot- 240+ yards

Jim Taylor
Small 6-point Whitetail taken with
Model 71 .348 ..200 gr. Hornady
handload ..one shot -25+ feet.

The Ultimate Levergun Hunt - Africa
(Vince Lupo's safari's - The Big 6 with a Levergun)

A young Bill Gilson with a
nice 5-point (Western count) taken with his .30-30

Charles Graff with his Model 95
Winchesters.

Gary Reeder - left
Paco Kelly - right

Robert Adams and deer
harvested with his .45-70 levergun

Mike Fletcher's gorgeous Model 95 - It was used in Africa by a doctor from Tennessee
In the background a Deluxe Model 71

Mike Fletcher's Deluxe Model 71

Above - Paco's "son" Rico

Photo to the LEFT - 2 of Paco's 32-20's

Marlin Model 1894 made in 1932
Winchester Model 92 made in 1902

Brian Tonnacliff with NC Whitetail--shot with 45-70 guide gun and Remington 300 gr. HP

Cliff Bickford with hog taken with Winchester 1886 45-70, tang sight, and Remington 405 grain ammo.

Arizona Deputy Sheriff C.H. Farnsworth (L)
with what appears to be a Marlin levergun and
Arizona Ranger W.K. Foster (R) with a Winchester 95
On Patrol in the Arizona Mountains

Tony Beck's great old leverguns:
left to right: Winchester 95, 30-40 Krag (1895, this one was made in 1902) Whitney-Kennedy, 45-60 WCF (1879) Spencer Civil War rifle, 56-56 rimfire (1863)

F.D. Sorianello - Buffalo taken with his Marlin Model 1895 and Buffalo Bore 420 gr. cast bullet load.

G.Balis's fine old Marlin 1889
beneath some of his other leverguns

Alan Anderson & Levergun Trophies
Left - 6x6 Bull Elk taken with .450 Marlin/ Hornady 350 JFN - 60 yard shot
Right - 600 lb. Red Stag taken with .50 Alaskan/ 480 gr. LFN-GC note bulge of bullet on the animal's right shoulder - a raking shot from behind left ribs.