Never been deer hunting before, a bunch of friends bow hunt on a local military base.  This year they are allowing 44mag and 45colt rifles so it's my time!

I went with the Ashley performance mount for the Leupold fx-2 on my 1894 cowboy in 45colt.  I like Leupold and this is the lowest possible scope mounting.  Buddies say 100yd is a serious stretch On base so I think the 2.5x will be plenty.  Unfortunately the rings showed up direct from Leupold missing one of the screws, I trust they'll make it right as soon as the mail can get an envelope of screws to me.  

The factory ammo I have is all low pressure stuff, so elevation could become an issue even at shorter ranges.  So I loaded up some higher pressure ammo that should be Almost 44mag factory ammo strength.  The added velocity will mean no elevation concerns until well past 100yds.  

Also got the NOE rail for my Rossi 92 in 44mag.  Might try a pistol red dot on it if the Leupold setup has any issues.  

Find some high pressure stuff from Grizzly or Underwood?

They push > 1500 fps from my 94AE.

I'm hoping to go deer hunting this fall for the first time, so tagged. I wish they would make that mount for Henry's, I really like the 2.5 I have on an AR.

I have supplies to load many thousands of rounds of 44 and 45, no need to pay $4/round.  


ETA: there was a thread about this earlier this year, search sucks but google found it: https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/recommend-a-scope/47-516995/
There is conflicting information on the interweb about the henry/marlin hole spacing.

yeah, I load, but buy my defense stuff. Sometimes working up a load isn't as good as buying one box, sighting it in, and using it for more than punching paper.

That’s a mount I would have tried if they had them back when I was putting together my elk gun.   The factory marlin version pushed the scope too far back.  The receiver screws sheared off anyway about 30 rounds in from 45-70 recoil.
Ended up using a low, blank rail from Brownells, cut long enough to get the scope, a 2x, where I wanted it.
Yours should work well too.
Of course our pic loader is as fucked up as a two dollar watch.

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Good luck!

A few years ago my daughter expressed an interest in deer hunting and she has pretty much laid claim to my Rossi 92 in .357, but I wanted her to have an optic. I got the NOE rail and put a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot on it, with a Steve's Gunz bolt-mounted peep in case the RDS goes TU. The RDS needs to be removed to use the peep but that's easy enough with an Allen wrench.

I have had good luck deer hunting with .45 LeveRevolution.

What base if you don't mind me asking?

If you do mind me asking, will you IM me?

Ashley performance, in original post.  
I see my pictures don't last very long....

Leupold sent a set of screws since one was missing.... just waiting for them to show up before I can test it out.

3 weeks and 4 days to get everything!   Leupold's website crashed delaying all orders for a week, then a week for shipping, and then seven day shipping for the missing screws.   If you're reading this Leupold, please stop using UPS ground!   I order direct from Leupold For their mil discount.

Anyhoo, the  ashley performance mount is awesome.   It fits perfect everything lines up and it is perfectly machined.  

The fx-ii  is excellent quality,  The glass is far more than clear enough for its use.   It's so light it feels like a plastic toy.

I don't like the DD rings.   I would never use them, but there's no option in this case.   If Ashley performance is reading this, it would be awesome if you redesigned your mount to use a different type of rings.

The scope is incredibly low, barely higher than the iron sights, and requires a perfectly comfortable and normal cheek weld.  


I was able to try the NOE rail on a friend's Rossi 92 with a pistol red dot, it was a bit awkwardly high but not as bad as most other scope setups.  It will be a backup to this for hunting this winter.  

Gun season opens 20 November.  Got to zero the scope today.  Tried some AE soft point and a few different reloads.  All grouped about the same, I'll use a mid-power imr4227 load and a 250gr xtp because I have plenty of both.  It's stronger than factory 45colt but not as strong as 44mag.  No elevation concern to at least 125 yards.  Below is 5 rounds at 100 yds shot sitting but without support to be similar to shooting from a tree stand.  

The fx2 and Ashley mount work great and the scope position is perfect.  The 2.5 power isn't much magnification - could be more accurate with a bit more power but it is good enough.  The scope is so low that you can see the front sight in it.  It's not an issue, but a reminder of how low it is.  

I'm going to load up a few boxes of ammo and get another day of practice shooting from tree-stand like sitting positions.  

I meant what army base

Dang, I forgot that I bought a 92 in .44 mag.  Now I am going to get it out for the range this weekend.

You know you're doing well when you forget you bought a 92 in .44 mag lol.  Unless you're forgetting everything else as well.  Anywho, I really like my Winchester 94 .44 Mag but there's no denying the 92 is better suited for the pistol calibers.  I'd love a Winchester 92 in .45 Colt as well as .44 Mag.

Looking forward to hearing and hopefully seeing the results.  A lever action rifle is a beautiful thing and a .45 Colt 250 grain XTP will definitely do the job.  Good luck!!

Love me some 45 colt. I need a big bore handgun and a lever to match.

In Alabama.  

I really wanted to use my 357 dark, but the XS sights aren't accurate enough at 100yds - the rear peep is so large it's difficult to judge where the center is.  Need an insert to make the hole smaller.  Same thing with my rossi - the iron sights just aren't enough for me to risk missing a shot.  

So 45 colt it is unless I find some good areas that only need shorter range shots.  I wound up with 23gr of imr4227 and 250gr xtp, loaded up a box this weekend.  Anybody got a guess on muzzle velocity from a 20 inch barrel?  Gun season opens on the 20th.

24.0gr IMR 4227, 250gr Hornady XTP gives 1420fps in a Winchester 94. I would say you're around 1360 to 1380 as an estimate.

Opening day today, was in a tree Right at 30 minutes before sunrise.  Never seen the ground in daylight, I targeted a funnel location where a trail and creek converge.  Didn't see a single deer but after I gave up around 2 hours after sunrise and climbed down I saw I was 30m away from a crossing location on the creek where there were dozens of deer prints in the mud.  So location is decent but I don't think deer cross it to go to/from sleeping areas as it leads to a peninsula surrounded by water and there is no green food on the peninsula, only acorns.  Two turkeys and a 4-pack of beavers were all I saw.  

The Leupold 2.5x fx-2 is plenty good enough "light-wise" in the woods.  When it was bright enough to be able to Identify things the scope was plenty bright.  

I learned that my cowboy doesn't have sling eyes.  I knew it didn't have one in the stock but I could've sworn it did in the forearm.  So I had to carry it.  

I wish it was a 16 inch barrel - when I carry a 20 inch barrel hanging by my side the muzzle is too close to the ground for a gun I care about.  A stainless 1894 in 44mag will be my first ruger purchase and I will cut/thread it to 16 inch.

Second time out in a new area was not ideal, only coyotes seen.  But it was late in the day so I was able to check out the fx-2 at sunset without city lights - it is great.  Can see more light/detail with it than naked eye and even more than m24 binoculars.