TACTICAL LEVER ACTION

[mward58]

Mr. Bane, I'd just like to say thank you for all your great pod-casts!

The Tactical lever gun topic really caught my eye, I've been useing a Winchester .44Mag trapper for years as a bed side gun and a trunk gun. My thought has always been, If I ever have to use my gun, I will be in court defending myself against anti-gunners. If I defend myself with an "EVIL BLACK RIFLE" then they will call me "RAMBO" but if I use a lever gun.....the worst they could call me was "JOHN WAYNE" and all you need is one John Wayne fan on a jurry!!! Heck you cant call yourself an American if you dont like John Wayne!!!

Lately I've been looking at my 30/30's and maybe buy'n a .357mag lever gun as politically correct defence rifle, and I just bought the 1895 Marlin (45/70) for hunting. I mounted a Williams WGRS rear sight and will be useing Black Powder loads! Heck it was good enough to drop Bison 100 years ago, so It should work on bears today!



Sounds like you have some good lever guns. Can't go wrong with the Marlin 1894C. I love mine. It is good for self defense as well as a fun gun to shoot at the range with 38 specials. i buy them in bulk since my Marlin is my favorite rifle to shoot at the range. Plus it is fun to practice with snap caps in the basement. Rapid firing lever guns is fun and good exercise to boot!

[rjsixgun]

My all time favorite is my original 1895 Winchester in caliber .30 US GOVT.-1906,  Yes sir a lever action .30-06 and I dont need any of those new plastic tip'd bullets. It sure is a tack driver with 220 grain bullets.
But there's no way I'm going to make that into a tactical lever gun, closet it ever came was during the 911 scare in NY when I keeped it close at hand loaded with AP rounds....just in case

[Hazcat]

My all time favorite is my original 1895 Winchester in caliber .30 US GOVT.-1906,  Yes sir a lever action .30-06 and I dont need any of those new plastic tip'd bullets. It sure is a tack driver with 220 grain bullets.
But there's no way I'm going to make that into a tactical lever gun, closet it ever came was during the 911 scare in NY when I keeped it close at hand loaded with AP rounds....just in case

Do you have a rifle or carbine and is it civilian or military style?

[rjsixgun]

Mine is of 1910 vintage Sporting Rifle in VG/Excellent condition.

[Hazcat]

Sweet! Those are some good looking rifles!

Where did ya get it?

I bet with that steel butt plate it kicks a bit.

Oh!  One more thing.....

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

Anybody got one of the lever actions, cut down with XS sights, etc. Im working on one, got the barrel shortened to 16" XS ghost rings, scout mount, and run out of money there

 Anybody got one please post pics.

I just have a 100th anniversary Winchester 94 Trapper Model in .44 Magnum. That kicks hard enough for me since I have arthritis in both shoulders. I cut the magazine tube down from 9 rounds to 5. It looks really nice with the half magazine tube. It sticks out far enough past the forearm to have a sling swivel on it. I put a Williams peep sight on, and had Williams put on a Pachmyr recoil pad. I have a 2.5x Burris scope that I haven't got around to mounting yet. I think the Trapper models look better with peep sights than scopes anyway. Even a compact scope looks big on it, but I already have that scope so I should use it. It has a leather sling in QD swivels and the rest is factory stock. I don't have any pictures, but it's nothing fancy anyway.

[Big Frank]

Anybody got one of the lever actions, cut down with XS sights, etc. Im working on one, got the barrel shortened to 16" XS ghost rings, scout mount, and run out of money there

 Anybody got one please post pics.

I have another idea for a "tactical" lever action. How about a Winchester 94 or a Marlin rechambered to .357 MAXIMUM? I just got a bunch of .357 Max ammo for my Contender pistol from Reed's Ammunition & Research http://www.reedsammo.com/. I haven't shot it yet but it seems to be top quality stuff. I think all it would take to modify a .357 Magnum lever action to fire the .357 Maximum is to ream the chamber .3 inch deeper, and mill a like amount off the cartridge stop portion of the shell lifter if it's made the same way as my .44 Trapper. Then you could shoot .38 S&W, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .357 Maximum. The maximum in a handgun is more powerful than the .44 Magnum, and in a 16 - 20 inch barrel it should outshine the .44 again. It should be pretty close to 30/30 and .35 Remington performance for deer hunting, while still alowing you to hunt small game with .38 wadcutters, and use .357 Mags for self defense. The ammo is available and a few guys have converted Handi-Rifle type single shots. I think a .357 MAX lever gun is the next logical step. The Trapper is already chambered in .44 Magnum and 30/30, so it can handle the pressure, and the action is long enough. What do you guys think?

[rjsixgun]

If you think the 94 Trapper in .44mag is to much recoil, try some 200 gr .44 Smith and Wesson Specials, I have the same 94 as you and mine love's them, no feeding problems. Only thing I dont like about my 100th Aniversary 94 is that dang safty! It's ugly as all heck

[keithm]

I hate to rock the boat, but I have to confess that when I read the title of this thread I started laughing.  I cannot think of a single tactical application that is not better served by something other than a lever-gun.   For CQB, the lever-rifle is severely out-dated by hi-cap semis in various calibers.  (insert long lists of tacticool black-rifles here).  For intermediate ranges, the ARs, AK derivatives (not a big AK fan here) FALs, HK91 clones etc.. seem to have it all over lever guns for any application I can think of.  At longer ranges, I suppose it might be a matter of preference, though, I certainly would favor a bolt-gun over a lever action for anything over 400yds.   

Sure, the lever gun was a tactical rifle back in the day.  But so was the Sharps.  And in my opinion, both have long been outmoded by superior modern designs for tactical or combat applications. 

Now, I am an open minded individual.  And it's possible that someone who's been shooting lever-guns their entire life might be more proficient and effective with a lever-gun than an AR for certain tactical applications.  And, it's also possible that I'm completely missing some value the lever gun provides that a semi-auto combat rifle does not.  And I'm willing to learn. 

[Hazcat]

Keithm,

There is the fact that MANY of us have lever guns and for what ever reasons don't have AR/AK type guns.  We would like to use what we have and and are comfortable with to the best of our and it's ability.