Why the Lack of Lever Action Shotguns?

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Dragline45

New member
Recently I have been interested in picking up a lever action shotgun and searched all the reputable manufacturers and oddly enough no one offers one except Chiappa and I have yet to see one in person. Lever action rifles have maintained their popularity, so much so that Hornady came out with specialized line of ammunition specifically for lever actions. So I really cant understand why no one offers one in 12g or 20g.
 
No demand for them, in my opinion.....they're just a novelty these days.

The pump action shotgun - as a solid breech, repeating action...has all kinds of advantages over lever or bolt action shotguns - in terms of efficiency of movement in the same plane....vs a sweeping motion of a lever, etc...

same thing on bolt action shotguns.../ there used to a few around - not anymore.

I still have a bolt action 16ga that I've had since I was a kid....and there were a few lever action shotguns in my family ( Winchester and Marlin as I recall ) ....but none of them were special / and all were replaced in the field over the years in my family...by pump guns, semi-autos and Over-Unders - and they each have their pros and cons as well.

I shoot skeet with my bolt action 16ga once a yr or so ....for giggles..../ its not my best choice if I cared about my scores !
 
Lever action shotguns weren't popular even when they were new. J.M. Browning didn't want to design one but Winchester insisted on it and it was pretty much a flop. I grew up hunting with an original 1887 Winchester and still have it.

 
I agree that a lever action shotgun is not the most practical, but regardless I still want one! Maybe it's because when I was a kid and Terminator 2 came out he just made it look so damn cool. There are alot of guns out there that are not practical or don't make a whole lot of sense, but they still sell and make for great range toys. The same can be said about lever action rifles not being the most practical choice, but they sure are alot of fun and there is something oddly satisfying about pulling down that lever to eject a spent shell. I may have to pick myself up one of those Chiapa replicas of the 1887 that Hawg Hagen posted above.
 
My guess is that they were seen to be a lot bulkier and unwieldy when compared to Browning's other contemporary repeating shotguns, the Models 1893 and 1897.
 
There used to be a couple of lever action 410's around. Winchester made a 9410, and I think Marlin made one also. They're both out of production. The "cool" factor just isn't enough.
 
I have a bolt action shotgun that my Dad used only a few times for deer - slugged barrel. Nice, but I don't hunt deer.

What do I do with this? Can I change out the barrel? I really just want a nice newer auto loader like a Versa Max so might just sell it and get one of those.

What do you think?
 
I'd keep it. (1) It was your dad's, even if he only used it a few time, but (2) and more importantly, I doubt you'd get enough for it to make much of a dent in the cost of another gun.

I'd rather have a second gun.
 
UnusualleverGun.jpg


How about a 16ga ?

UnusualleverGun2.jpg


That's the ca.1884 Danish Larsen-Winterros - designed by August L. Larsen and C.E. Winterros of Liege, Belgium, with a tube under-bbl mag in the forend.






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T2....

Big Arnold aka; The Governator, used a old Winchester brand lever action pump 12ga that his cyborg character swipes off a biker in Terminator II(1991).
As posted, John M Browning R&D a lever action 12ga meant for military/trench use, but it was not as popular as the regular pump shotguns of the era.

In T2 they had a wierd way of cocking the 12ga lever too. I think it was to be cool.:rolleyes:

CF
www.imfdb.org
 
It never occurred to me - to think about what kind of guns showed up in movies making a difference in this discussion ...:confused:

But, back in the day ....I think it was Winchester ....made some lever action shotguns in 10ga as well. One of my uncles had one ...and used it on geese back in the 50's.../ when we thought you needed a 10ga for geese...
 
Lever actions are pretty nifty. I've never seen a shotgun in lever action. Love to have one. I've got a pump, some single shots, a double barrel, revolving action, and a bolt action.
 
My guess is that the lever is gonna hurt your hand during recoil. I've had the .44 mag hit me pretty hard and recoil is nothing like a 12 Ga. I know it didn't hurt Arnold but he's pretty tough.
 
Recoil from a .44 Magnum in a rifle is almost nonexisistent. Maybe if you're shooting crazy high pressure handloads. My dad has a Rossi 45-70 lever action, very light gun for a repeater. It has some serious recoil, more than most 12 gauges with slugs. It's still managable. I don't see how being a lever adds to the recoil.
 
In T2 they had a wierd way of cocking the 12ga lever too. I think it was to be cool.
Click to expand...

They said during the months filming Arnold would walk around the set all day practicing that one handed cocking of the lever.
 
As far as recoil goes, the Chiappa *is* a bit "frisky" - especially when shooting buckshot. ( I haven't, yet, shot slug out of it.) I don't really notice it but, then again, it *does* have a full stock.

In the videos, it looks a lot worse than it feels.

Oh, yeah - I've got a Decelarator pad on it. It's there not so much to control recoil, but to stop the butt dropping out of my shoulder if I get a hard extraction. (The standard steel butt pad is very slippery.)

The Chiappa is not so easy to shoot as a pump, but it's *great* fun. :)

Regards,

Mark.
 
I should have put two and two together that the guy shooting in those videos was you Chaos. Looks like a fun gun to mess around with at the range and would make a really neat woods gun. I see one in my foreseeable future.
 
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