The Last Word On Lever Guns?
BY Herschel Smith
4 years ago
Will that time ever come? Should it even come?
Lever guns have (thankfully) become increasingly popular of late. Don’t get me wrong – as readers know my favorite gun is the Stoner pattern rifle. But there’s just something about a lever action gun that makes me want to get it, from the aspect of fun, to the utility of having a carbine and a wheel gun in the same caliber, with the rifle putting that extra zip on it.
TFB published this video about ten months ago (that I embedded before), but it’s worth watching again.
Then this very recent video by Chris Baker at Lucky Gunner (“Are Lever Action Rifles Reliable?), the latest in his series on lever guns, explains a lot of reasons why it can be a temperamental gun to own and operate. So be aware of what you’re purchasing.
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On November 1, 2020 at 11:51 pm, 41mag said:
I can attest as I have 3 lever guns.
Pistol caliber lever guns are an extension of your revolver cartridge in range and capacity.
Pre-1964 Winchester 94’s are worth getting because of the change/lesser quality metallurgical tactics that were taken by the bean counters or what was called “marketing” back then.
Henry makes excellent leverguns that cannot be stopped by my testing, and garners enough idiotic tacti-cool stupidity that one should wonder the IQ level of said commentators.
My personal thoughts aside, lever action rifles met the customer needs and the US GOV passed on it in favor of “muh Sharps”. Continuity of fire has been the constant in the advancement of military firepower and yet the Cavalry weren’t given them. The sunset of the civil war saw some of the Union soldiers fielding Henry rifles but that didn’t translate to full use in the after years of the frontier days.
The public saw the advancement plainly and adopted it rightfully so. Many a ranch would have a lever gun as the homestead protection. Hollywood makes it look like folks on the ranch would go plinking on weekends when in reality they had maybe 100 rounds total. Matt Bracken can elaborate on that but if you were an “Army of One” or two, the advantage of repeating continuity of fire trumps the Sharps rifle any day. You have to wonder what the F was in the FedGov mind when they didn’t think the Lever action was an advancement compared to a single shot. “We’re sending men into unknown danger, let’s give them a modern musket rifle to fend of those savage Indians”. Almost like the anti gun folks really started back then.
On November 2, 2020 at 8:07 am, Mark Matis said:
Except without a droppable magazine, you had better not use any AP ammo…
On November 2, 2020 at 10:20 am, NOG said:
I think much of the lever gun mystique comes from Hollyweird movies (they never run out of ammo, never miss hitting a injun on horseback at a gallop 200 yards away and always instantly stopping the bad guy every time), nostalgia (around the hunting camp) and the fact they are just fun to shoot. Of course they can be used to defend oneself in a pinch, but SHTF, give me my AR (and Glock) every time.
On November 2, 2020 at 11:57 am, joetote said:
All I can say is I love my Winchester 30-30. Got it when I was 18 (I’m 70 now). Accurate and just a hell of a lot of fun to shoot.
And I can still hit a dear with it and eat
On November 2, 2020 at 12:16 pm, Fred said:
The Captain’s Journal: “Fred, your wallet is too fat, you need lever guns, you must have them, they’re calling to you Fred, you have to buy some, it doesn’t matter if there’s any ammo for them or not, buy some anyway, buy one of each, you NEED them.”
On November 2, 2020 at 12:41 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Fred,
Don’t act like you’re the only one who goes through this. TCJ is calling that siren song to me too.
In .357 magnum, .44 magnum and 45-70 Govt.
On November 2, 2020 at 1:07 pm, X said:
“there’s just something about a lever action gun that makes me want to get it”
Lever guns handle well. Lever carbines are useful at close range. But lever guns are needlessly complicated and actions are weak compared to Mauser-pattern bolt guns and modern semi-autos. They’re hard to reload fast. And the ones chambered for pistol cartridges tend to be ridiculously expensive.
They are cool, and they tend to not stampede the non-gun owning liberal sheep the way that an AR-15 does. Someday I might get one myself. But the lever gun is still 19th-century technology that is inferior to 21st century technology, just as the telegraph is inferior to the Internet.
On November 2, 2020 at 4:42 pm, Foot in the Forest said:
SHOOT THE MESSENGER- A HERITIC PUTTING OUT HERESY. Okay and to get real i just sold a pair of 1886 Winchesters and they brought big bucks because they had been in closets for over 100 years. I am a lever gun lover, collector, user and total Winchester snob. That said the man is correct if push comes to shove give me an ar-10 or 15 or even one of my Garands. I love lever guns but also have a brain.
On November 2, 2020 at 5:39 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I’ve never seen such sacrilege in one place before. And to think I’m hosting it.