Best Take Down Lever Action? Chiappa 1892 Alaskan Takedown

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

What a smooth rifle and I still feel as if I am day dreaming about it. I have seen these lever actions in magazines, online for a very long time over for over a decade. Three different versions have been imported by Taylors Co. The early Alaskans had either no optic rail or a Weaver style rail. The current rifles come with a picatinny rail with an integrated Skinner rear aperture sight The lever loop was changed a bit, from a large loop to a D-shaped loop. With the new D-shaped loop profile even large hands with gloves can operate the lever.

The 1892 takedown I shot today was a 44Magnum with four different loads of ammunition. One thing that has seemed to be a constant with lever actions at least the ones I have tried in 38spl/357Magnum and 44spl/44Magnum have all been a little finicky in feeding the specials. The Chiappa Takedown was flawless in feeding specials.

I fired Hornady 44Magnum FTX225gr, Winchester 44 Special, Winchester 44Magnum and some of my own loads. With all of these loads it was a very soft shooter mainly because of the soft rubber butt pad. The 44 Specials felt like 38 Special out of a lever realistically. The one thing I noticed with all loads they shot low at 10 and 20 yards. In the future I will test from 50 and possibly even 100 yards to see where the point of aim may be.

More to come
https://youtu.be/SWcCwLMHT3Y

[Recycled bullet]

Nice video I especially like how sharp and in focused you presented the images of the sights

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Thank you, talk about fun wow this thing.

[Polinese]

I've been wanting one of these since I found out they existed.

[stagpanther]

Nice to have you back--I was wondering what happened to your wonderfully entertaining reviews!

Saw your St Paddy's Day Challenge--I'd like to enter but it's going to be stormy here in Maine for the rest of the month! Do I get a points multiplier if it's raining and blowing over 20 mph?

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

I know what you mean as I observed my first one in a magazine over a decade ago.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Stag that sucks but I know the feeling for sure. Thank you for the nice words man pneumonia did something to me. It was hard to sit straight up at times for some odd reason.

This is one of my favorite forums, not just for posting my crap but overall for the camaraderie, but when posting from your cell phone YUCK.

By the way a new challenge is around the corner stag maybe you can jump on that one.

[stagpanther]

Glad to see you're doing better--that's a tough one. If I see a window of opportunity I may give it a go--I love 22lr challenges.

[taylorce1]

Nice rifle, .44 mag carbines seem to push more than snap during recoil. This makes them very pleasant to shoot IMO. I'll say that I only own the Ruger semi-auto carbine, and that's my only POV to compare.

Taylor's does good work from my POV again, having fired a friends tuned SA revolvers from them. I have no where near the same skill he did, he passed away a little over a year ago. He loved all things cowboy shooting, and was fairly active when I first met him in Civil War reenactment.

[stagpanther]

Not to drag away the topic--but I went out and tried the St Paddy's day challenge target today--as I suspected I had a very hard time in the gusty 20 mph winds and below freezing cold, but some of it I'm sure was my being off. BTW--I noticed there is a gun club that went with your challenge and did and an actual match, and it was timed to 20 minutes! Did they score it the same way using the same target? I noticed a guy scored 122 !!

[Ricklin]

IMO the best lever action takedown? I do believe it has been a minute since they were manufactured, and rather hard to find.
The Savage 99 was manufactured in a takedown version. I let one in 30-30 slip through my fingers.
As I said it's been a minute, that 30-30 was an oldie.

[44caliberkid]

Originally Posted by Ricklin

IMO the best lever action takedown? I do believe it has been a minute since they were manufactured, and rather hard to find.
The Savage 99 was manufactured in a takedown version. I let one in 30-30 slip through my fingers.
As I said it's been a minute, that 30-30 was an oldie.

There are lots of take down rifles still being manufactured. Browning makes a take down BLR. Winchester still makes some, 1894’s and 1892’s and 1886.
Cimarron and Taylor’s have take down Model 86’s, 94’s and 92’s. There is a Marlin 336 type but I don’t know the manufacturer. Wild West Guns Co-Pilot 45-70. That’s just levers and there’s more I don’t know about. Lots more semi auto take downs too.

[105kw]

FWIW, Savage discontinued the takedown when they ended production for WW2. The 30-30 ended at the same time.
They never resumed either after the war.
I love the 99, but I doubt it will ever be produced again. And not with a rotary magazine and takedown option.

[stagpanther]

There are lots of take down rifles still being manufactured. Browning makes a take down BLR. Winchester still makes some, 1894’s and 1892’s and 1886.

I've given a lot of thought to getting one of the BLR take-downs--they seem to be more or less unattainable now. I have a "regular" BLR but it is so darn pretty I'm afraid to shoot it and scratch it. One of their lightweight stainless take-downs looks very attractive.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Honestly they all seem to be unicorns right now. Good luck on your hunt for one.

[stagpanther]

Hey Elijah--I gave the St Paddy's target a go today--it was raining and foggy but the wind wasn't too bad; after a few practice shots I moved on to complete my first target--and shot a lowly 44. Kinda surprised, at first glance I thought it would be a piece of cake (not humble pie).

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

LOL man you made me spit out my coffee this morning LOL. Email me your pictures so I can add you to the leaderboard.
https://dayattherange.com/?p=12156

[stagpanther]

LOL man you made me spit out my coffee this morning LOL. Email me your pictures so I can add you to the leaderboard.

That target was soaked and is long gone--I didn't want to retain incriminating evidence.

Seriously--it was raining hard and everything was wet.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

☹️

[44 AMP]

The one thing I noticed with all loads they shot low at 10 and 20 yards.

If the gun has adjustable sights, shooting low is a simple sight adjustment issue. No one I know of sights a rifle, even in pistol calibers, for 10 or 20 yards distance.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Amp

It was just something I noticed as I had another 44mag lever out there with me at the time that was hitting spot on.

It was not meant to be a sighting in as I did take it over to the 50 yard line to see where it was hitting that day and it was hitting low there also. But like you said a few adjustments and right on it was.

I am looking for some heavy 44 mag loads now but may have to load my own. This lever has a 1/20 twist where my buddy has a 1/38 twist and I want to see if it truly makes a difference in stabilizing the heavy loads.

Whats a good way to test this Amp?

[44caliberkid]

For a test you would want to scope both of them and use the best rest you can put together, like a Caldwell Lead Sled, or just good bags. Then shoot them side by side, same day/ weather at 100 yards. I would load your own ammo as I was just noticing that premium heavy hunting 44 Mag ammo is over $60 a box for 20 rounds. Glad I reload.

[44caliberkid]

In the latest Guns magazine, Tank Hoover tests some over 300 grain loads in a new 1895 Ruger Marlin, which is supposed to have the faster twist. They did well.

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

This is good to know as I believe both new brands have the same rifle twist of 1/20