what makes you love lever guns?

V

vince weng

New member
I have shot guns, bolt guns and some semi-auto guns. I don't have any level guns and I am new to this type of rifles. However I'd like to know more about lever guns and maybe I will purchase one for myself. I am wondering why people need a lever gun (as opposed to bolt guns). I checked winchester 94 model. The 94 model rifles chamber .303 win, 357 mag or .44 mag. What are the differences among these choices (besides their physical size in calibers).
 
Starting with the Henry Rifle (which gained fame during the Civil War as the gun you could load on Sunday and shoot all week), the lever action was the first practical repeating rifle (there had been others like the Colt Revolving rifle, Belton repeater (flintlock with sliding lock), revolving flintlocks) to reach widespread production (the Spencer was the second) and acceptance. It's a uniquely American design which was a favorite among sportsmen until the end of WW I when returning doughboys popularized the bolt action.

Today, the concept of having the same caliber rifle and pistol still have the same appeal.
 
The '94's chamber a lot more than just those choices, but IMHO the '94 design is at its best with the .30-30 and other light rifle cartridges. That's what it was designed for. I prefer Marlin's 1894 or the Winchester '92 clones for handgun cartridges and the 1895 (Marlin or Winchester) for big-bore. If you're used to bolt actions, you'll be surprised by the rate of fire you can get from these old boys. The carbines also add a lot of power and accuracy to handgun catridges. A .44 Mag carbine will give you solid control over a 50 or 75 yard radius. It always makes me wonder why bolt actions were considered an improvement over lever guns. Bolt actions are of course better for competition bench shooting, but who needs that kind of accuracy in real life? And who's going to have a bench?
 
"Love" is easy; "need", as always, is a bit tricky to explain.

I love lever guns, the 94 in particular, for the same reason I love the Colt New Service. It's a great old design. Its beauty comes solely from functionality.

Doesn't hurt that the 94 is cheap, either. And of course you can have more power in the same action, the Savage 99 for example.
 
The .30-30 is a great <200 yards cartridge. You can take down just about anything on 2 legs in North America with one. The lever has great historical "feel". The first time I shot my Marlin 336 I got a cloverleaf at 50 yards with open sights. A good lever just feels so right in the hands...
 
Good looking, classic design, and frankly ... a bit more politically correct. Show up at the party with an AR and AK and some people look at you sideways. Show up with a lever action or bolt ... well then, you're just a good 'ol boy.

The Marlin's seem to have an especially dedicated following, so if you think of getting one, check them out.

Regards from AZ
 
There is all kinds of reasons to love leveractions. As an American I grew up in the 60's when there was a western on television almost every night, and after watching leveractions being used by all of my cowboy heros, any other kind of rifle just seamed clunky and awakard to me. Being lefthanded also endeared me to the lever. Nothing carries quite as easily as an iron sighted leveraction. And for close fast shooting at moving game the leveraction is still pretty hard to beat. And as Jeff Cooper noted it makes a pretty good rifle for social ocassions. Also they are just plain fun to shoot. As an experiment try this. Buy a good quality leveraction 22cal. rifle such as a Winchester 9422 or a Marlin39A or a Browning BL22 and also buy a good quality 22cal boltaction rifle, then set out for a day of fun, target shooting, plinking, shooting reaction type targets and see which one you shoot the most and have the most fun with. They will hold their own in accuracy dept. too. at least as far as practical field shooting is concerned in my opinion.
 
How else can I use a rifle to shoot the same 357 Magnum rounds that are in my handgun?
 
It's a short, light rifle with multiple rounds on tap that my fiance feels comfortable manipulating... I couldn't ask for more.

How else can I use a rifle to shoot the same 357 Magnum rounds that are in my handgun?
Click to expand...

Timberline's pumpactions .357 mag or NEF's .357 mag single shot.

I love my .357 lever action. I can take extremely weak 158 grain .38 special handloads and get 350+ ft/lbs of energy from them. That's 9mm +P performance with rifle accuracy for an extremely low cost.

I can also get 1250+ ft/lbs with heavy .357 mag hunting loads with rifle accuracy.
 
John Wayne, even though he used a 94 in movies depicting times usually before that. Shore miss the ole Duke! :(
 
Actually, for military purposes the lever has a couple of drawbacks:

1) Hard to work prone

2) Tube magazine is slow to load (and unload) and you have to carry loose cartridges or a Frito Bandito belt.

3) Complicated mechanism, hard to clean and maintain in a dirty environment. Anybody who has taken a 94 apart and successfully put it back together will attest to this.

Other than that, they are fine weapons as Gary, Nevada, and others have said.
 
Lever actions do have a few other advantages:

1. The actions are very flat which makes them easy to tote, especially when riding a horse.

2. On average, very light and easy to handle in brush.

3. Most shoot intermediate-power cartridges which are easy on the shoulder but can still harvest the game.

Personally, a stock Marlin 336 in .30-30 is still one of the best hunting guns ever made.
 
even back in the late seveties theough the mid eighties there were lots of re-runs of old western movies (especialy on th e "u" channels)...levers were just part of the cowboy immage.

After losing my enthusiasim with a seventies production Winchester that didn't work well, I have found the Marlin ( from Wal-Mart no less) to be an accurate, handy, cheap, pretty, "polliticly correct", low recoil Bang-Stick.

I have no trouble working the lever on my belly, as long as I use ammo with strong brass.

The fact that you can recharge your magazine with out taking the rifle out of battery is the main advantage for a lever. If you have cover, it will allow you to hold your own:cool:
 
Levergun

I have an el-cheapo Henry lever .22 and it is an absolute ball to shoot. I like the feel, the size, the handling, the style. I handled an old Marlin 39 model and fell in love with it. As I had little room left in the safe, and little cash at the time (in fact, I used a WalMart gift card ), I bought the Henry. I was so pleased with my purchase, I e-mailed the company and told them how great their product is. I put around 200 rounds through it on my first outing, and got it sighted in. It loves all types of ammo, and has become my favorite .22 plinking rifle. It is not my most accurate, but it is my favorite.

Sorry I strayed from the original thought here, but I think leverguns are the grooviest.
 
I like the balance and the way that they come to your shoulder so effortlessly. I find them great for hunting at short to moderate ranges. I'd have to say that the Marlin 1895 45-70 is the most practical for me. For foul weather, they even have a stainless Guide Gun version.

swsurgeon.
 
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