Commercially available lever actions? (-$500)

I do enjoy the odd hypothetical discussion of the perfect zombie gun as lighthearted entertainment.
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These are not about zombies which will never happen. I do like discussing those types of situations, too, but they are fun and only that. I'm talking about a real survival situation in which society collapses (North Korean Nukes???) and a good rifle is needed to hunt, defend myself and to be able to take a beating (although I will clean it and oil it often).

Thanks
 
I recommend pre-safety lock Marlins. I have found them easy to work on.
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So far as I can tell the ones with the cross bolt safety are no harder to work on than the models without the safety.:confused:
 
Anyone here have experience with the Mossberg lever actions? I just saw a brand new .30-30 for $330.
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I had a Winchester '94 and a Marlin 336 some 35 yrs ago but traded them off to help pay for kids. Fast forward to 2012 and kids are grown and I've rebuilt my firearms collection (and then some). Got to thinking about getting a thudy-thudy just because and looked around at availability and prices.

Winchester's floppy actions and triggers were still there but the quality was down from my pre-64 version and they've got that safety. Marlin's fat stock and forearm and and safety version still turned me off like the '59 version I dumped long ago.

Heard that they'd fixed the issues with the extractor on the Mossberg 464 so I gave it a look. I liked the heft and shouldering of the walnut pistol grip stock version. The action was a bit tight but it was smooth and the trigger was actually fairly decent for a levergun. Marbles sights were a plus and the fit and finish was great. For the price, under $350 NIB then, I decided to give one a try.

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I was pleasantly surprised that it only took a couple hundred cyclings to ease up the action before I took it to the range. There, I let go with a couple boxes of some 150grn Winchester Power Point ammo and was pleasantly surprised at how well it cycled, balanced, and shot. (I handload but my kids gave me 2 boxes of ammo for a present as I hadn't gotten my handloading components in yet.)

Now, 5 years later and close to 500 rds later (all but 40 my handloads), I couldn't be happier with it. It's absolutely stock, as the Marbles sights are great, and has had zero issues. It's surprisingly accurate at 200yds with my handloads as I go after bowling pins with it (my favorite reactive targets).

While it's not a hunting rifle as our typical shots are longer range, it's actually a fun plinker. I've even worked up some plinking loads using X-Treme's 150grn plated bullets at about 2,000fps and with them it's a blast to shoot. The recoil pad, combined with the plinking loads makes it a favorite with the younger shooters and women at our club when we host familiarization shoots.
 
Like your gun Steve. Does your barrel have traditional rifling or is it Micro-Groove like Marlins have? I have been looking at these on GB and there are some decent prices on them compared to Marlins and Henry's. I am always up for a new 30-30.
 
What kind of "survival situation"?
Zombia apocalypse, armed looters in a riot, or an encounter with a bear?

Zombie apocalypse, a pre safety Marlin 39a is plenty of power and accuracy out of a round that is compact enough to carry hundreds or thousands of.
I've got one of them. Real nice plinker, good small game gun. Can easily cycle 500+ rounds reliably before cleaning.

Looters, I'd love a 357 lever there.

Bears, maybe a 30-30. Have to research that.
And a clean pair of underwear for afterwards...

Nice thing with a good lever action tends be reliable function with a variety of ammo. Standard or high velocity, cycles the same. Hollow or round nose, cycles the same.
 
I don't even think a lever action is obsolete. It is designed for hunting in heavy woods, places I wouldn't think of taking a bolt rifle. Heck, I own 2 of them, a 94 in .30-30 and a 336 in .35 Rem. They have a purpose.
 
Marlin 336W

The Walmart near where I work has a Marlin 336W for $384. For your $500 limit, you could get the gun and about 6 boxes of ammo.
 
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