Marlin 1897 Cowboy .22 Levergun

Hey, Lucas McCain here, the Rifleman. Well, sort of. Oh, let's try another one. Nope, you're not seeing double. Got two of those babies. You could say, uh, I like this gun so much I bought it twice. This is the 1897 Cowboy Marlin, and I'm not Lucas McCain, the Rifleman. Maybe, uh, Lucas McCain wannabe. I'm actually Hickok45, as you know, the strange human that does gun videos on YouTube. Uh, this is another nice .22. Another nice .22 rifle. We're kind of in a .22 mode this weekend, so got out, uh, a few of these babies. This is more of a cowboy gun, isn't it? This is, uh, Marlin's Cowboy version, the 1897. Has the octagonal barrel, and it's, uh, basically the Cowboy version of their famous, uh, 39A, I guess, is the model number. Looks a little different than the classic model 39 they've been making since, I think it's 1889, 1890, way back. Still in production. It's, uh, I believe it's the gun that's been in production the longest period of time without interruption, if I'm not mistaken. They've been making the thing forever. This is the Cowboy version of it. Really a sweet gun. Again, this is another fairly heavy gun, a real rifle. Feels good. Uh, not a lot of punishing recoil because it's got some weight, and it is a .22, uh, caliber gun. This is, uh, a gun, this one is mine. I've not had this gun too long, actually. I think that went about a year, maybe. Uh, speaking of my son and .22 rifles, this one is his. I got him this on his, uh, well, he was 13. Got it for him, uh, at Christmas when he was 13. So, uh, he's got some pretty nice .22s, doesn't he? The one he didn't even know about. He was lying in the nursery and owned it. And then, uh, the Pump .22, if you've seen that video. But, uh, this one he got when he was 13 for Christmas. And, uh, this, this is just a wonderful gun. Fun to shoot, fun to shoot. You'll notice we've changed out a couple of things on them. Well, one thing, actually, I guess, and that's the sights. Uh, put the Skinner Ghost Ring sight on there. He likes to leave the insert in his. And, uh, he can drive nails with it. Uh, these guns are really shootable. Mine has the same sight, uh, the Skinner Ghost Ring. And I don't have the insert in it. I prefer the, more of a ghost ring. But, uh, they, they just make these guns. They really do. You could just pick off, uh, well, about fleas, but you can shoot them much, much better with that, I think. They're takedown guns. You loosen this screw, you know, and pop the barrel against something hard, and the gun breaks in half. Uh, many of you know, are familiar with this particular model. If you know guns, you know, you know what this is, of course, because it's, uh, I think by a lot of people, it's considered to be probably, maybe the best, you know, .22 rifle in terms of quality and, uh, and everything. Just a well-made gun. Marlin, again, doesn't make any junk. You know, anything Marlin makes is, uh, is going to be sturdy, uh, reliable, and long-lasting. They're very durable. Great company. I think they're, uh, more deer have been taken with their, uh, lever guns, and generally .30-30 than, uh, any other gun on the planet. You know, they're just a, uh, a company that knows what they're doing. So, .22 long rifle. Uh, what else can I say about the gun? The thing that makes it a cowboy gun, I guess, is the barrel's plenty long, and of course, it's an octagonal barrel. It doesn't load through a side, uh, a gate like, uh, large caliber, uh, lever guns do, because it's a .22. You know, it loads, uh, through, through a tubular magazine, uh, like a lot of .22s do. Uh, you can shoot .22 shorts, .22 longs, .22 long rifles. Seems to feed all those just fine. I think while we're gabbing here, let me shoot my son. Let's get his dirty. Let's put in some, uh, some of these shorts, demonstrate those again. But, uh, really nice .22. If, uh, if you've never had a lever gun, and you're really stuck on those semi-automatics, I have nothing against them. They're fine. I've got a 10-22 we'll bring out one day. But, uh, the pumps and the lever guns, they can be just as much fun. You know, I think you saw I didn't hit everything I was shooting at, but I think you saw you can pump out the bolts with these things, too. And that's one of the things I know we like to do when we shoot a .22. They're just fun to sling a lot of lead. A lot less expensive to shoot than the centerfire calibers. And, uh, you just want to shoot a lot, generally, when you shoot .22s. I know a lot of guys, they'll go buy a brick of .22s, which is, what, 500 rounds, and they just go out and shoot the whole brick, you know, 500, which you wouldn't necessarily do with the .44 Magnum or 9mm. You might, but, uh, you'd be spending a lot of money. So, I'm going to put some of these little CB shorts in this. We demonstrated these with the Remington, uh, pump gun. And, yeah, let me give you another close-up of those, see how small those little babies are. Little bitty, little bitty bullets. They generally feed fine in both this, uh, the Remington pump and in these, um, Marlins. Not sure as I say that, we'll have them jamming up on us. And I think it only holds about 97 of these things, because they're very short, and the tube holds a lot of them. So, we'll just quit here in a minute, anyway. That won't be enough. There we go. All right, we got her crammed full, almost, of those things. Now, I think these are even quieter out of this gun than they are the Remington. Let's see if we can hit anything. Again, these are, uh, CB shorts, and they make almost no sound. That's why I took my ear protection off. Whoops. Oh, here's something right here close. Let's go for the gong. Takes it a while to get there, doesn't it? Let's see, if I have enough, I'll try to put two in the air before one, or at least before the sound gets back on the person. Probably can't. That's neat. People are always trying, I don't know how many suggestions, of trying to work out a song, a tune on these steel targets. Uh, with these shorts, you could really do that, couldn't you? If you got the, got the notes right, because you can actually hear it, uh, over the gunfire. So, those are fun. Those are fun with whatever .22 you're shooting. But this is neat. If you got a little cowboy in you, uh, you know, you can't hate these guns. You got a Marlin, a really solid gun, and, uh, a great shooter. And especially with the ghost ring sight on it. You can just pick off anything with it. And, uh, like I say, if you got some cowboy in you, this is the .22 for you. It really is. Even if it's not the cowboy model, just a lever gun is just a lot of, lot of fun. I highly recommend it, because you saw me there earlier, I think you can really pump out the rounds. There's no recoil at all, and I know it's not good, you know, snapping a trigger on a, uh, empty chamber with a .22. We don't do that very much. But, uh, I got carried away. But these are just a lot of fun. They're, they just, they just, uh, reek of, of cowboy. And, uh, like I say, whether it's the octagonal barrel or not, uh, I've shot, uh, I have a friend who has one of these without the octagonal barrel, and I've shot others, and they just all have a great feel. So, good old Marlin, 80, or 1897 cowboy model, .22. It'll handle any kind of rounds. They're not easy to find, uh, I'll have to say that. I don't think they're making them right now, but, uh, but you can find them. You spot one every now and then. So if you ever get a chance to own or fire one of these babies, don't pass up the opportunity. Thanks for coming by.