Does a Lever Action Rifle jam?

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Yes, I can drop the magazine and topload that...though it'd be faster to put another in I can reload a magazine faster into a magwell than I can loose rounds into a tube. Ditto for rounds into a magazine than through a slidegate I can top feed a shotgun, and you can't top feed all levers. The marlin 60's are loaded at the top of a tube and ?sharps? are loaded through the butt. Also the BLR is magazine fed, so no toploading that either.

Either way, I never bashed the lever gun, I own one. I'm not saying lever guns are not good weapons. They are just not BETTER.
 
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Semi Problematic,
The one thing a lever action rifle can do that your Semi Auto magazine fed rifle cant do is to be topped off as you go.
If you have a big pocket full of shells you can just keep loading and shooting.
 
What about the dreaded "Marlin jam"? What causes that to occur?
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Babying it when you cycle it, or using out of spec / incorrect ammo. If you want a 454 Lever Action, but plan on shooting more 45 Colts out of it, you'd be better off getting a 45 Colt Lever Action or sticking with 454 brass for reliabilitys sake.
 
In my experience a lever action is more reliable than a semiautomatic. The only time I personally have seen problem is when people reload out of spec ammo such as too long or too short (which would mess up any gun)
 
if you can tell me something beneficial a lever gun can do that another gun equally priced can't do better, I'd be deeply impressed and even delete my comment.
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Here's one thing a levergun can do that no AR can do, and not many bolt-guns: Be available in nearly every pawnshop and on nearly every LGS consignment rack for less than $400 bucks, without settling for a crappy plastic stock, and a cheap no-name chinese scope that'll break after 1/2 a box of ammo- just long enough to sight in, and then lose zero before opening morning!

....AND it'll most generally do it in a caliber that's legal to hunt deer with in Nebraska..... and has soft point ammo available in every real hardware store in America (I realize most of you have never seen one of those, and many of you don't live there, but I digress......)

Delete away, Mon Frere'.....
 
Wow...you just made up a bunch of nonsense and spouted off as if it were fact. But if there was lever guns in every pawn shop for under $400 in a legal hunting caliber, there's probably a reason for it... And not a good one.

And the argument was not for AR's. another gun. I guess if you'd actually read the post you'd of seen that.

450 marlin, 7mm-08, 325WSM, 243 Win, 260Rem, 7mm-08, 284Win, 308Win "Match", 35Rem, 300Savage, 257Roberts, 358Win, 300SAUM, 325WSM, 6.5 Creedmore... All available in an AR. All legal hunting calibers. And if you don't like plastic, maybe you'd like a SKS. Cheap, reliable, wood furniture, and 7.62
 
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Not going to get into the which is better argument but a lever is every bit as accurate as a semi and don't jam nearly as often. Yeah the Marlin 94 is prone to it as are 94 Winchesters when chambered for pistol cartridges but the 30-30's usually run without a hitch no matter how slow or fast the lever is run. Give me a lever over a semi any day and a bolt gun is practically worthless in heavy brush especially if it's scoped.
 
Is the lever action as dependable as a revolver? Would having a lever action over a semi-automatic be a sensible decision. Of course, an AR has a multitude of high capacity mags available, while the highest capacity lever action will usually be 10 or 12 rounds. But which one can be trusted to always perform when needed?
 
Browning Bar Mk2, remington 7400. For brush guns, semi auto. Or an open sighted AR, red dot, or low powered scope in .

OP still hasn't said better for WHAT though. Just asked if it was better than an AR.
 
Myself I prefer that my firearms have very few moving parts, so I stick with the Controlled Feed Bolt Action, but to each his own.
 
Better for what?

For the call to arms man... the call to arms!

For any reason that a man feels the need to arm himself.

I carry a G21 loaded with Buffalo Bore 45 Super on my right cheek-daily. I keep a P226 in my gun box, 357 Sig, loaded and ready to roll. I do not, presently, have a long gun and I believe, like many, that a handgun is a temporary measure only so I am researching to make an informed decision when I purchase a long gun.
 
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Not nonsense ...

450 marlin, 7mm-08, 325WSM, 243 Win, 260Rem, 7mm-08, 284Win, 308Win "Match", 35Rem, 300Savage, 257Roberts, 358Win, 300SAUM, 325WSM, 6.5 Creedmore... All available in an AR. All legal hunting calibers. And if you don't like plastic, maybe you'd like a SKS. Cheap, reliable, wood furniture, and 7.62
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All available in AR platforms ..... most of them going for over one thousand dollars (some .... $800 might get you a bare bones rifle, but you'd still have to buy sights/optics, and a 5 round magazine....

And the closest you can come to the $400 legal deer gun is the SKS ... if you can find soft pointed ammo for it..... and you still have to buy an aftermarket 5 round mag ..... which may or may not feed....

Wow...you just made up a bunch of nonsense and spouted off as if it were fact.
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I gave you my observations as I see them- disprove them, if you can......

..... if there was lever guns in every pawn shop for under $400 in a legal hunting caliber, there's probably a reason for it... And not a good one.
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Agreed: It is not a good one- People have been convinced by marketing that they need something else, something newer, shinier, more modern, when what is really true is that they need to master the equipment they have.... you can't buy accuracy.... only equipment capable of it. Most often, the weakest link in the system is the shooter.

Jeff Cooper spent years developing his Scout Rifle concept- a 1 meter long, 6 lb rifle capable of taking on anything up to 1,000 lb quadrupeds at up to 300 meters... when the thing he wanted had been around for many years, as the savage 99 .....
 
Personally, I think that they're better for looking at and better (more enjoyable) to shoot. Not every gun needs to be capable of repelling hordes of Nazih zombie communist invaders. I don't feel undergunned with 5 rounds of 00 buck in the tube of my shotgun and sure as heck wouldn't be afraid to replace it with a lever and a dozen rounds of .454.

Semi auto rifles have their place and I owner more than one but they have far more springs and fiddly little parts to wear out also. I have more than one levergun that's outlived more than one previous owner before it got into my hands.
 
The savage 99.... Currently going for $800-$2000 dollars...Unless you get a frankenstein rifle. Good choice. The same price as a custom AR. The sks has an internal mag, the detachable AK mags are after market modifications. And through the CMP you can get a garand for $400. Which shoots 30-06, and could also be found at your hardware store.

And so by your logic of not needing new things, humanity should of stuck with mastering throwing rocks, instead of the path that lead to modern firearms?

And triumphguy, you do know there are more moving parts and little fiddling things in a lever rifle than in an AR, AK, or Garand...


As to "the call to arms" when's the last time any country took a lever gun into battle? I've used select fire, semi-auto, full auto, and pump...but never saw a lever gun issued to anyone. That might be some food for thought in your search for a long gun.
 
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Yeh, I carried the A1 for a couple of years. And then we recieved our A2's, took a couple of days to clean all of the packing grease out of it. Didn't know that an M16 could be so tight, I guess my A1 must have seen time in Viet Nam. If I could get my hands on a semi auto only M60 I would consider it-belt fed madness!
 
My old Marlin 336T in 35 Remington never, that I can remember, jammed. It dated from about 1963 or so. I shot a lot of deer with that rifle and it never let me down. And that was back when I didn't clean a rifle unless I dropped it in mud.

My Marlin 39A and my Winchester 9422 will both hang up once in a while.

And, Semi says that there are more moving parts in a lever action than in an AR. That's far from the truth if you compare the Marlin 336 to the AR. And if somebody would take the time to shoot their AR and their 336 until one fails to work, I'll bet the 336 won't be the first to gum up and hang up. You hardly ever have to clean the gas system in those old Marlin 336's.:)
 
My favorite Marlins are those old Texans, 603. Mine never gave a lick of trouble either and I'd buy another pre-safety T in a heartbeat.

I do like my old pre-64 Wnchester just fine. I've also got a cast bullet load for it that does about 950 fps and shoots to the irons, to about 50 yards. If you are sending me to war, of course I'll take a modern battle rifle. But for any other use out to 200 yards, I'll keep my 30-30.
 
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