I know this sounds crazy, but I have NEVER shot a lever action gun before. As you can see from my recent threads, I'm looking at getting a Marlin Guide Gun. I live just north of Houston. Does anybody know of a place where I could go and shoot a Marlin Lever Action gun?

If you had posted in May, you'd be welcome to shoot mine. Champion Fireamrms in College Station rents various guns at their range, but I don't know if they allow rifle shooting/rent rifles. If you get stuck, I'll be back in Town sometime in August.

elandslayer...wrong attribution to that quote.

One does not hunt in order to kill
by Jose Ortega Y Gasset

One does not hunt in order to kill;


on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted.


If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job.


In all of this, the moral problem of hunting has not been resolved. We have not reached ethical perfection in hunting. One never achieves perfection in anything, and perhaps it exists precisely so that one can never achieve it. Its purpose is to orient our conduct and to allow us to measure the progress accomplished. In this sense, the advancement achieved in the ethics of hunting is undeniable. Therefore it is necessary to oppose photographic hunting, which is not progress but rather a digression and a prudery of hideous moral style.


Every authentic refinement must leave intact the authenticity of the hunt, its essential structure, which is a matter of a confrontation between two unequal species. The real care that man must exercise is not in pretending to make the beast equal to him, because that is a stupid utopian, beatific farce, but rather in avoiding more and more the excess of his superiority. Hunting is the free play of an inferior species in the face of a superior species. That is where one must make some refinement. Man must give the animal a "handicap," in order to place him as close as possible to his own level. The essence of sportive hunting is not raising the animal to the level of man, but something much more spiritual than that: a conscious and almost religious humbling of man which limits his superiority and lowers him toward the animal.


I have said "religious," and the word does not seem excessive to me. A fascinating mystery of nature is manifested in the universal fact of hunting: the inexorable hierarchy among living beings. Every animal is in a relationship of superiority or inferiority with regard to every other. Strict equality is exceedingly improbable and anomalous.


Life is a terrible conflict, a grandiose and atrocious confluence. Hunting submerges man deliberately in that formidable mystery and therefore contains something of religious rite and emotion in which homage is paid to what is divine, transcendent, in the laws of nature.



" From Meditations on Hunting by José Ortega y Gasset. His classic work was first published in 1972 by Charles Scribner & Sons.

boom stick,

No, I didn't have the wrong attribution to my quote. I did, however, have it worded slightly wrong. I got the quote from a hunting video by Safari Video called "Tracking Trophies: A Traditional African Safari". It is a video of a guy's safari in Botswana and Peter Capstick has a little segment on it where he talks about conservation and ethical hunting. He never mentioned Jose Ortega Y Gasset. Capstick states that HE has always felt that "One doesn't hunt to kill...but rather, one kills to have hunted". So I changed my signature up a little bit, but it was definitely Peter Capstick that said these words. If you don't believe me, buy the video and watch it yourself. I got my copy from Outdoor Visions but I don't think they carry it anymore, it's an older video.

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
I know this sounds crazy, but I have NEVER shot a lever action gun before. As you can see from my recent threads, I'm looking at getting a Marlin Guide Gun. I live just north of Houston. Does anybody know of a place where I could go and shoot a Marlin Lever Action gun?

Being in Texas I would think that about any truck stop would have any number of pick up's with levers hanging.
A good location to find a lot of levers would be at the next Cowboy action shoot in your area. These guys are very serious about lever guns and generous about who shoots them. They are always looking to recruit someone for the posse. We have a shoot for the locals once a month and two big shoots a year. If you check on the website I believe you can find a local club or Posse in your area.
Do it now. You do not want to go another day without getting your turn on the lever. Enjoy.
I have quite a few from .218's to 450 Alaskans and am working on making a 40-82 shoot now and I still take at least one everytime I go out.
Frank
The link: http://www.sassnet.com/

I got curious.
Here are a few locations in Texas

Plum Creek Carriage & Shooting Society 1st Sat
Lockhart, TX Delta Raider
512-376-2602
Comanche Trail Shootists 1st Sat & 3rd Sun
Midland, TX Hoodoo Brown 432-682-1422
Orange County Regulators 1st Sat & 5th Sat
Orange, TX Nate Kiowa Jones
409-984-5473
South Texas Pistolaros 1st Sat
San Antonio, TX Long John Beard 830-663-4783
Texas Rivera Pistoleros 1st Sat
Corpus Christi, TX Michael McKinney 361-991-7215
Texas Troublemakers 1st Sat
Brownsboro, TX Lefty Tex Larue
903-849-2655
Purgatory Ridge Rough Riders 1st & 4th Sat
Lubbock, TX El Dorado Cole
806-548-0074
El Vaqueros 1st & Last Sun
Breckenridge, TX Tom Doniphan
254-559-9896
Old Fort Parker Patriots 1st Wknd
Groesbeck, TX Slowaz Molasses
254-412-0904
Texas Peacemaker 1st Wknd
Tyler, TX Pecos Red
903-984-1951
Bounty Hunters 2nd Sat
Levelland, TX Cable Lockhart
806-299-1192
Canadian River Regulators 2nd Sat
Clarendon, TX Capshaw
806-335-1660
Texican Rangers 2nd Sat
Fredericksburg, TX Dusty Chambers 830-896-7856
Travis County Regulators 2nd Sat
Smithville, TX Shotgun Sally
512-694-6803
Texas Tenhorns Shooting Club 2nd Sun & Last Sat
Greenville, TX Hoss Jack
903-546-6291
Lone Star Frontier Shooting Club 2nd Wknd
Ormsby Ranch, TX Lamesa Kid
204-802-2595
Oakwood Outlaws 2nd Wknd
Oakwood, TX Texas Alline
903-545-2252
Big Thicket Outlaws 3rd Sat
Beaumont, TX Shynee Graves
409-860-5526
Gruesome Gulch Gang 3rd Sat
Plainview,
(Hale County) TX Eli Blue
806-293-2909
San Antonio Rough Riders 3rd Sat
San Antonio, TX Dusty Lone Star
210-680-8840
Tejas Caballeros 3rd Sat
Austin, TX Texas Heat
512-219-8280
Red River Regulators 3rd Sun
Texarkana, TX El Rio Rojo Ray 903-838-0964
Texas Historical Shootist Society 3rd Sun
Columbus, TX Longhaired Jim 979-373-9938
Comanche Valley Vigilantes 3rd Wknd
Cleburne, TX Nueces Outlaw
817-508-0774
Alamo Area Moderators 4th Sat
San Antonio, TX Tombstone Mary 210-493-9320
Butterfield Trail Regulators 4th Sat
Abilene, TX Cob-Eye Zack
915-698-0685
Badlands Bar 3 4th Wknd
English, TX T-Bone Dooley
903-628-5512
Tejas Pistoleros, Inc. 4th Wknd
Eagle Lake, TX Texas Paladin
713-690-5313
Texas Regulators 4th Wknd
Tomball/Rosehill, TX Shotglass
281-259-0284
Jersey Lilly Shooting and Social Club As Sched
Del Rio, TX Ed Mcgivern
830-775-1983

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
boom stick,

No, I didn't have the wrong attribution to my quote. I did, however, have it worded slightly wrong. I got the quote from a hunting video by Safari Video called "Tracking Trophies: A Traditional African Safari". It is a video of a guy's safari in Botswana and Peter Capstick has a little segment on it where he talks about conservation and ethical hunting. He never mentioned Jose Ortega Y Gasset. Capstick states that HE has always felt that "One doesn't hunt to kill...but rather, one kills to have hunted". So I changed my signature up a little bit, but it was definitely Peter Capstick that said these words. If you don't believe me, buy the video and watch it yourself. I got my copy from Outdoor Visions but I don't think they carry it anymore, it's an older video.

e.s.

i do not mean to offend...

i guess a quote of a quote counts too.

if you were not informed of the original quote i was just trying to be helpful.

Are you looking ofr a place to rent one or for someone with one to go shooting with you?

There may be somone on this board in the Houston area who will let you shoot theirs. If all else fails, go to 2CoolFishing.Com and register. Post on the Hunting board that you are looking for someone to shoot leverguns with. There are lots of Houston-area members there and you may find someone to shoot with.

ElandSlayer

For the ULTIMATE CHOICE in lever guns I give you 4 choices.

The best bang for the buck is a Marlin in 45/70.
Choose either the guide gun or the 22" 1895.

The Browning/Winchester 1886 in 45/70.
Pick the long bbled or the Light Weight, your choice.

The Model 71 in 348, either the rifle, or the carbine.

The Winchester 1895 in 30-40, 30-06,. or 405 WCF.

I used to think [for 35 years] that the 1886/ Model 71 were the best lever guns, but after shooting an 1895 in 405 WCF I realize it is the BEST.

After lots of research and thinking, I'm leaning towards the Marlin 1895GS stainless guide gun in 45-70 right now. I probably won't be getting it for several months, but that's what I think I want. But, that's not in concrete yet.

Eland Slayer
There are no flies on that choice.
My brothers Guide Gun shoots great.

I know this is an old post, but i work in Spring, and there is a range close to my work. If you are still interested let me know. I've got a couple you can shoot.

NE 450 #2,

ever try to put another round in the magazine in a hurry in an 1895? Without taking the front sight off an animal?

The 1895 is a failure as a DGR rifle compared to the others. It's why you don't see them up in Alaska, where they live by the lever rifle.

Rich

I live in College Station and you are welcome to come up and shoot with me.

Aglifter....friends dont let friends shop at champion firearms.

Be careful if you go to college Station..There be Aggies there...

Being in Texas I would think that about any truck stop would have any number of pick up's with levers hanging.[/QUOTE]

There is no stereotype in this statement.LOL! Actually, mine is behind the seat of my truck.

Rich
There is definately a technique to reloading a M 95.
When I first shot one I could not load it quickly with both eyes watching the rifle.

Now that I know the proper technique it is a lot smoother.

It is a disadvantage in the M 95 that you cannot top off, ie load the magazine with the bolt closed and a round in the chamber.

However I like everything else about the M95 after shooting one a bit. Funny I had handled them over the years and did not like them one bit.

In fact I will be hunting deer and pigs with my 405 Takedown this deer season.