45 colt in a 'tender?

L Ross

Well-Known Member
I've always been partial to the Marlin m94 in 25/20. my friend's grandfather had one on his farm. he used that rifle for everything, esp. deer.
I'd love one in .25-20. I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have found a Model 94 octagon rifle in .38-40. It sort of begs to be taken deer hunting. I'll bet that made a one rifle do all Ranch and Farm gun also.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I'd love one in .25-20. I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have found a Model 94 octagon rifle in .38-40. It sort of begs to be taken deer hunting. I'll bet that made a one rifle do all Ranch and Farm gun also.
No one here doesn't know this already, but I'll say it anyway.

'Was a day when the tired, old game of "what if you could only have one gun" was a fact of life, not a game. Most folks didn't have a dozen or two (or a hundred or more) guns in a safe (or safes) to choose from. Made life easier, I'd bet - never having to decide which gun to grab when the need arose.

I personally don't think anyone has bettered the idea of a lever-action, chambered for one of the "pistol cartridges" for that legendary "one gun." The "one gun" concept is legend, NOT myth as some will rationalize, because people have done it and have done it to good effect. Adjustments had to be made, like no 500-yard shots at wood chucks and coyotes; you'd actually have to HUNT squirrel and deer. It may not be the pen ultimate weapon for fending off a horde of zombies, but in the hands of a practiced rifleman, it would probably cover 99% of potential defensive scenarios too - depending on your skills, geography and demographics.

I find that whole idea fascinating and it is what finally made me get a Contender. It gives me somewhat more flexibility as a dedicated "homestead gun," but I will not deny that a lever would be much better in certain situations. I transitioned from the 92 lever as a sort-of-one-gun to the Contender, but I could live with a lever for that just as well if I had to.

If I come across a Marlin 94 or Winchester 92 clone, chambered in the right pistol cartridge, and for the right price, which is a tougher challenge, I may still own one of those again too someday.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
That is why all of my Contenders are gone except the 32/20.
I sold off my bbl. I love the caliber but just rarely used it. Today Id buy a 327 and shoot 5-6 different calibers.
BUT thats owning a Marlin '94 32/20, a Savage 23 32/20 and a custom Handi in 32/20.

Haven't owned a 25/20 in a tender but I have a '92 Winchester and Savage 23.

In a Hornet and Bee I have a couple of both but only a Bee in a 'tender. The hornet was just always behind the 222 and not as sexy as the bee. So it went down the road.

CW
 

todd

Well-Known Member
There isn't much bad anyone could possibly say about a Marlin 94!!!

I'd love one in .25-20. I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have found a Model 94 octagon rifle in .38-40. It sort of begs to be taken deer hunting. I'll bet that made a one rifle do all Ranch and Farm gun also.


my friend's grandfather (i called him grandpa) was a short, little Italian boy who emigrated from Sicily back in the early 1920s. he was alone and couldn't speak or read english. he came from New York City and settled here (Windber, Pa) and he took a job mining coal. somewhere along the way he bought single shot 12ga, single shot 22 short and a marlin 94 in 25/20 and the small farm which did chickens and beef cattle. i think in the late '20s or early '30s he married. in the 1920s, he was a moonshiner for the mob, with the farm and the mine. grandpa would show me hidey-holes on his farm buildings. i was impressed, too say the least. he even had his still broken down. his shine (which he still had) was a liquid to the gods. it was like water, no smell but it burned on its way down and there was no hangover. it was a good kicker for coffee, but you would only use 1/2 an ounce. me, being young(13yo or so) and a dumb butt, filled up my mug with about 1/2 coffee and 1/2 shine. i was so sloshed that i can't remember the rest of the day!!! he stayed at the coal mine till the Great Depression hit. he was laid off permanently, so he decided that farming would be his lifestyle.

in the 1960s he bought a rem m700 in '06. he hunted with it and he found that the '06 wasted too much deer meat, h e'd be better off with 25/20. so he took the '06 and put it in his bedroom closet till he died. its now my friend's gun along with the 12ga and 22 short. the 25/20 was sold. i didn't know it at the time, but i should have bought it. i was into 300 magnum-like speed, so i passed on it. DUMB-BUTT (i won't say the curse word) i have been.

No one here doesn't know this already, but I'll say it anyway.

'Was a day when the tired, old game of "what if you could only have one gun" was a fact of life, not a game. Most folks didn't have a dozen or two (or a hundred or more) guns in a safe (or safes) to choose from. Made life easier, I'd bet - never having to decide which gun to grab when the need arose.

I personally don't think anyone has bettered the idea of a lever-action, chambered for one of the "pistol cartridges" for that legendary "one gun." The "one gun" concept is legend, NOT myth as some will rationalize, because people have done it and have done it to good effect. Adjustments had to be made, like no 500-yard shots at wood chucks and coyotes; you'd actually have to HUNT squirrel and deer. It may not be the pen ultimate weapon for fending off a horde of zombies, but in the hands of a practiced rifleman, it would probably cover 99% of potential defensive scenarios too - depending on your skills, geography and demographics.

I find that whole idea fascinating and it is what finally made me get a Contender. It gives me somewhat more flexibility as a dedicated "homestead gun," but I will not deny that a lever would be much better in certain situations. I transitioned from the 92 lever as a sort-of-one-gun to the Contender, but I could live with a lever for that just as well if I had to.

If I come across a Marlin 94 or Winchester 92 clone, chambered in the right pistol cartridge, and for the right price, which is a tougher challenge, I may still own one of those again too someday.


"'Was a day when the tired, old game of "what if you could only have one gun" was a fact of life, not a game. " grandpa did. deer, woodchucks, grouse, pheasants, squirrels and a whole bunch of other things fell to the 25/20. in the '30s, he ate everything. groundhogs, possums, racoons, robins, pigeons and other birds (he killed them with a 22 short), basically if it walked, slithered or flew, it goes in the pot to feed his family.

after WW2, the power company got off its butt and put electric cables in to provide everybody else that wasn't in Windber, electricity. the water and phone company was soon next. they (his granddaughter and her husband have the property) still don't have cable tv, because the cable company says that it's not worth it to run out cable to them.