.416w,

how do they compare with the Marlin 45/70 lever guns I mean what made you go to the trouble of getting one of these ??

Last I tried, last year, Lee will not make a FCD for the .50 Alaskan. I sent them the money, cases...and in three weeks I got it all back. They said that the FCD body is not big enough to handle a .50 cal. Do you know for a fact that Lee is now making a FCD for the .50 AK as I want one badly? Lee still says on their web page that they cannot do larger than .458 bullet diameter.

I have a Win M71 that I would like to convert to 50-110. What do the 'smiths do to hang the forend on these? The little dovetail that is used on the M71 (and 1886?) looks very fragile and I am sure it doesn't do much for accuracy.
Thanks.
C.G.B.

I know that their is quite a following for them here in alaska and wild west guns builds them using marlin,winchesters and browning lever actions? check their web site www.wildwestguns.com.

When I had wild west build my rifle 4-5 years ago, they obtained a batch of lee dies to include the factory crimp; I believe wild west had lee build this batch as wild west builds and sells lots of 50 ak marlins - I bought the rifle, dies, cases, jacketed bullets, the whole enchilada from wild west when I started with this rifle - as far as penetration compared to a 45-70, I had a guide gun in 45-70 and believe it penetrated better than the 50 ak but I had an itch to have a 50 so I sold the 45-70 to a friend for a screaming deal which included dies, brass, bullets, etc. He hammered a bull moose from about 70 yards, he still talks about that shot - if you are looking for dies, check with wild west as they are usually well stocked with all you will need. Take a peek - Hope this helps - KMule

I am giving some thought to building a long throat .500 s&W on a Marlin 1895. With a 26 inch barrel I'm thinking that a 400 gr bullet might hit 2100fps with the right powder and most importantly keeping the pressure in a range the Marlin can tolerate. The 10 inch pistol I have will push a 400 gr bullet easily to 1800 fps but pressures are in the 50KPSI range using Lil-gun powder. I expect this will be achievable with a longer barrel and a slightly slower powder..-Rob

My son and I have 2 .50 Alaskans. Both built on Browning Mod. 71 lever actions. Mine was made by McGowan in 1999. He was in the process of selling his business. I'm not sure he is still doing them. Total cost was $928 for the gunsmith work. 20" matte stainless bbl with a Deccelerator pad on it. Trijicon Acog red dot sight. His has an 18" steel bbl and Deccelerator pad. He had his coated with one of the rustproof finished. He had a Leupold Scout scope on it but the folks who did the gunsmithing screwed the mount holes up and it fell off. I forget who did his work.
I've shot 1 large moose with mine. Using 570 gr. Kodiak Bullets. 1 shot at 50 feet in HEAVY brush. I would have never even tried the shot with any other gun. We fire form our brass with 348 Win cases after running them through the dies. Fun guns.