Large loop levers

I have relatively "big" hands and often wear gloves and I've never experienced difficulties with operating a normal (stock) lever on any lever-action rifle. Imo, the bigger than normal loops not only detract from the handling/packing attributes of a traditional lever-action rifle but they look so "uncool".
 
"Uncool"? :confused:
Uncool???????????? :eek:

The ghost of John Wayne, the ghost of Chuck Connors, and I all conjoin to spit upon your shoe.
Uncool, indeed! :rolleyes:
Denis
 
I can see a need for a larger loop

But, I find the extra large ones to be comic book like.
I've got rather small hands so I'm fine with most anything factory.
 
There are guns that hold immense appeal, regardless of practicality.
Three from my childhood are the Wayne/Connors big-loopers, Steve McQueen's Mare's Leg, and the U.N.C.L.E. Special.

All three have limited utility in the real world, but all three are among THE ABSOLUTE COOLEST GUNS OF ALL TIME!
(For me, anyhoo. :) )
Denis
 
Quote: The ghost of John Wayne, the ghost of Chuck Connors, and I all conjoin to spit upon your shoe.

My shoes have been made wet already many times from the likes of you. But my guess is that John Browning would have kept his saliva to himself. He would know the difference between being "cool" and being real to himself and to what he envisioned his rifle to be-which I doubt would include it being a prop for some Hollywood icon...:)
 
Browning merely made it possible for Hollywood to include leverguns in Westerns.
He had nothing to do with coolifying them.
Denis
 
I have relatively "big" hands and often wear gloves and I've never experienced difficulties with operating a normal (stock) lever on any lever-action rifle.

Then, I guess you'll have to accept that your experience cannot be ubiquitously applied to everyone.

Wearing gloves, I could not get my fingers into the lever opening easily on my Marlin 45-70. If I wiggled my fingers, I could get my little finger and ring finger into the lever opening wearing gloves - that's all that would fit.

If I have to "work at it" to get my fingers into the lever opening, or grab the lever with only my thumb and index finger to work the lever - that just plain unworkable for me.

I modified the lever and have had no problems for the past 31 years in operating the gun's action.

This only has to work for me. You can do anything you want with your guns.

All I'd ask is the same common courtesy of being open minded enough to accept that your experience doesn't represent everyone else's.

I also have a Williams rear peep sight with a ramped front sight on my 45-70 because I thought the stock sights sucked big time...the gun has to work for me and that's how I approach all of my firearms. The larger lever is just part of making the gun work the way I want it to work.
 
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Quote: All I'd ask is the same common courtesy of being open minded enough to accept that your experience doesn't represent everyone else's.

I merely expressed my opinion based on my experience and I don't think that that means I'm close-minded. Nobody is trying to impose their will on someone else. Opinions, especially subjective ones, are nothing more than what they are.

Quote: Wearing gloves, I could not get my fingers into the lever opening easily on my Marlin 45-70. If I wiggled my fingers, I could get my little finger and ring finger into the lever opening wearing gloves - that's all that would fit.

Then I guess you'll have to accept that your experience cannot be ubiquitously applied to everyone...
 
Actually, as I've mentioned before, on my Angle-Eject .30-30 with rebounding hammer, the big loop offers better leverage than a standard lever in overcoming the stiffer action.
There IS a practical benefit, on THAT gun.

I tried the standard lever, I tried the big loop.
It simply requires more effort to cycle the action with the smaller lever, because of the rebounding hammer set-up.

And- it does also accommodate gloves much better. :)
Denis
 
Browning merely made it possible for Hollywood to include leverguns in Westerns.
He had nothing to do with coolifying them.
Not to join into the competitive urination occurring here, but John M Browning made the coolest lever action rifle ever! Have you ever seen the full auto lever gun? Winchester 1892 in 44-40 modified to fire full auto!
 
Lots of the cap gun Winchester toys in the 1960's had a swiveling flange you could rotate to place it under the trigger. You got rapid fire out of your cowboy rifle, quite useful when the entire Apache nation charged your wagon train.
------------------

This happened frequently in the woods in back of my Connecticut neighborhood from about 1962 to about 1967.

There was a branch of that outfit in Hanover County, Virginia about that same time, but John, Page, and I managed to hold them at bay. :D
 
I've never owned any lever guns, but IMO only the cartoonishly large loops look "uncool". I would favor a regular sized loop, though.

Regards,

-Mo.
 
If you look at this rifle, the lever has been modified, the trigger guard has been enlarged, the trigger has been modified, a thumb tab has been added to the hammer, and the sights have been changed. This is a Marlin Model 1895 that I purchased in 1982.

Full Rifle.jpg

Cutout Lever Closeup.jpg
 
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