First Lever Action?

[6string]

Hi guys,

I've never owned a lever action, in over 40 yrs of shooting.
Here's the thing: I'm a lefty, shoot virtually only cast boolits, and once sighted in, prefer to shoot offhand.
And, I like accuracy!
So, what are the pros/cons in using a lever action vs. a bolt action, given my likes?

I can tell you my preference in lever actions would be an older Winchester or Marlin.
Cartridges? .....well, 38-55 is catching my eye!

Thanks for your opinions and help,

Jim

[Tazlaw]

My first lever action is a Marlin 30-30. I was so young I couldn’t work the action! 40+ years later, and it’s a dang nice little shooter!

[Greg S]

Cheap shooting, +1 for an 1892 in 357 mag. It's a top eject. Every once in awhile you see a new production winouko in 38-55 on GB or find a cheap 30-30 and have it reborn to 38-55. Store them seperately, they tend to multiply.

[bmortell]

pros are they usually feel more youth sized since the profile is basically a red ryder bb gun and easy to carry around and they usually hold more rounds then a bolt action. cons whoever designed these things seems to have had no concerns for minimizing the number of screws.

[Wheelguns 1961]

Do you intend to hunt with it? Reason I ask is in my state, you can only use straight walled pistol cartridges for deer hunting. The only other thing you can use a rifle for is small game with a .22lr. A nice bolt action .308, or a 30-30 lever gun wouldn’t do me any good.

[2A-Jay]

I bought my first lever gun at sears back in the early '70s it was a Ted Williams Winchester model '94 .30-30. Long gone now, Current is a 1947 Marlin Model 336c 30-30. I would buy another one.

[444ttd]

winchester m94 top eject with a william fp peep sight and JES rebored it to 35/30-30.

shooting it in. two shots each number

[MrWolf]

My first lever was a Marlin 45/70. I had a grin from ear to ear and was hooked on levers. To me a bolt action was more of a serious shooter vs a lever that was fun. I am not talking about accuracy or anything just the fact I really enjoy a lever action.

[northmn]

I shoot left handed and use levers a bit. I have an old 35R, 3 30-30's, a 38-55 and a 357 Rossi as well as a Henry 22 mag. The 30-30 is probably the most useful for someone just getting into them unless, like mentioned you want to hunt with it in a straight case state. I have had several 30-30's and have shot cast out of them and they are about the most cast friendly cartridges made. I prefer Winchester or Ballard rifles Marlins over the Micro Groove Marlins. Some will get their feathers ruffled on that statement, but the standard rifled barrels are a little more versatile to alloys and bullet diameters. Shot deer with cast out of the 30-30 as well as Jacketed. Cases are cheap.

In a straight case State I would find cheaper doner rifle and have someone like JES re-bore it to 38-55. The 38-55 is an excellent cast bullet cartridge also and fun to shoot. Those that have the JES re-bores seem to like them.

DEP

[Speedo66]

You could try for either an inexpensive Marlin or Winchester in 30-30 and have it bored to .38-55. John Taylor on this site does it, and rather well from the reviews.

[dverna]

I always thought they were not as good a bott actions and in some ways they are not. Not as accurate and some are tougher to scope. Some are a pain to take down and clean.

But they sure are fun. I went over 25 years without one. Now I have eight. Any decent lever action is a lot more accurate that any shooter I know if shooting from standing position.

I prefer Marlins as they are easy to dissemble and put back together and easy to tune.

For most hunting, the .30/30, .32 Spl., and .35 Remington get the job done and are easier to find than .38/55, .375 or .444. The .45/70 is fun with factory loads (Trapdoor level), but a bit much if loaded hot.

My most used lever actions are .38/.357 (three of them) but I do not hunt with them. Cheap, fun to shoot, and easy to reload. Cases last a long time. OK for deer at 100 yards but not a great choice IMHO.

[gumbo333]

I shoot left handed also. First lever was a Marlin 30/30. Had a couple of those plus 45/70 and a 338mx. Never a 357. An inexpensive 30/30 that could be rebored to 38/55 would get you there. I have moved on to Henry, love them. Have fun.

[6string]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and efforts to share,
I did, in fact, enjoy a 10" TC Contender in 30-30, exclusively as a cast boolit silhouette gun.
Easy to load for success!
Honestly, this would be for a fun way to practice standing offhand rifle shooting, while using cast boolits in a long gun.
About the only other important qualification to add would be the ability to get a nice trigger pull.

Thanks very much everyone,
Jim

[dverna]

Most people do not shoot a lot off hand past 100 yards.

If that is you, get yourself a Marlin 1894 in .38/.357. Cheap to shoot and easy to load for. Can use factory sights, tang sight, dot sight or scope with no gyrations.

[Norske]

My first levergun was a Browning BL22. Accuracy was very good with standard velocity ammo. But t was so light, offhand shooting was iffy. My second was a Marlin 1895 45-70. It's my black bear rifle of choice. My third was a Browning BLR 358Winchester, because I wanted a 358 since high school. It's pleasant to carry and shoot. My latest was a Marlin 1894 44 Magnum. If it had the same bore and twist rate as the 444, it would be perfect.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I started with a Marlin 336C - 30-30 in 1964. I have handled many, many rifles. Most bolt guns feel heavy, awkward and slow. There are a few, very few that feel 'lively' in the hand. Using scopes or young eyes and receiver sights, I never found bolt guns 'out of the box' more accurate than lever-guns, when carry equal sighting equipment, Maybe some of the newer ones are. I have muliple Marlin's and Savage 99's that make 1.5 MOA and on good days go under 1 MOA. A couple Savage 99's in 243 consistently beat 1 MOA. For prone shooting a bolt gun is superior, a bolt gun is easier to shoot accurately from the bench, offhand and kneeling, the lever gun is just as accurate and faster. Most lever guns are stocked too long for proper handling from the shoulder. If you cannot work the lever with rifle shouldered, your stock is probably too long. Marlin's and Savage 99's have triggers than can be easily stoned to 3lbs or less. If time as much time is spent fussing on a lever gun as on a bolt gun, accuracy results can be very pleasing. Calibers like the 308 Win, 358 Win, 45-70, and now Henry's Long Ranger in 6.5 Creedmoor pretty much cover most practical hunting. With boolits, a good 32 Special is hard to beat for accuracy when the wind is quiet (under 10 mph in Wyoming). M.L. McPherson has a book on Amazon that covers many of the things that can be done with Lever Guns.

[robg]

im a lefty too had a marlin 1894cs in 357 mag never got on with it ,have a win 94ae trapper 357mag now for 20 years love it.got a marlin 45-70 slb last year like it too.dont think either are hard to strip down.

[Shawlerbrook]

A good used Marlin or Winchester 30 30 and don’t look back. If you ever get bored( I doubt it), send it with $250 to JES and get a 38 55 back.

[Randy Bohannon]

There’s been some dandy Winchester 94’s in 32 Special on Gun Broker

[357Mag]

6String -

Howdy !

You briefly mentioned bolt actions, in addition to levers.

IF you might be open to use of another action type than a Win or Marlin lever gun, howzabout
a Martini action ?

The .310 Martini has a rim diam a scant couple thou’ larger than the rim on a .25-20.
Would work for a lefty.
Has a lever.

Just a thought.


With regards,
357Mag

[6string]

Hi Y'all!

Thanks again for more "food for thought!".

357MAG: Great idea! 310 Martini!
I have a Hammerli-Widmer Martini action in 7.5 Swiss. It is a great and deliberate target rifle, designed for 300M work. It also weighs 19.5 lbs!
The design of the stock makes it practical for offhand. But, it is not a fast handling "shotgun-like" rifle.
So, hence the lever action rationale. But, yes, a small Martini would be nice.
Plus, there are the many European single shot "Jaeger" or "Stutzen" style rifles...all light handy single shots.

By Father in Law, who's passed away, owned a nice old Marlin 1893 in 30-30. Has a full length octagonal barrel. My brother in law has it, but he never shoots. Of course, the value to him is very precious. But, it would be nice to have it, work up some loads, and take it out!

Jim

[357Mag]

6string -

Howdy, again !

I have been a .35 calibre fan for 45+ yr. Have gravitated towards the idea of using a hyper accurate .358” cal rifle for “ score “ shoots.

I am a fan of Marlin levers, having owned a M-336 XLR .35 Rem, 1894SC .357Mag,
-60s M-336 .35 Rem; and other.

For score use, I tried first an H&R SB-2. .357Max, then a full custom benchrest-grade bolt rifle w/ custom 22” SS barrel chambered in .357AutoMag.... which I expanded out to true .358” cal; for using rifle bullets. Most recent, a lot of range work and experimentation w/ my CT- made XLR .35 Rem.

I decided to try both swaged lead boolits and “ patching “ @ the same time.
I initially tried “Dead Center “ .35 cal 175 SPBTs pulled from .45 cal sabbaths muzzleloader rounds, along w/ nylon “ Dymo “ label maker tape. These boolits feature a rebated boat tail, and polymer tipped hollow cavity.

The patched boolits were too fat to fit the fired necks of my .35 Rem brass, so I had the idea to try the bullets w/ the boat tail seated into the .35 Rem case’ mouth.... w/ the neck completely cut off.

In this configuration, the 175s were too short to reach the rifling. And, the boolit being able to seat firmly into the rifling is part n’ parcel of the neckless “ cartridge “ being able to generate chamber pressure.

I next tried Dead Center’s .35 cal 195 SPBT. These did reach the rifling, and were patched w/ the same nylon tape; as before.

Using SR4759 I was able to not only get on paper @ 100, but also was able to put the 195 into the inner rings of the bullseye target. I was shooting reduced loads, and stopped further load refinement once recoil became excess for my bench shooting needs.

I mention the above, my use of a lever rifle for accuracy work sounds similar to your post.

I put powder charge in the primed case, added a few folds of tissue paper; and tamped the case full to where the bottom of the boat tail would be located on the assembled cartridge using Puff Lon.

Predatory to firing, I used a 90* T10 “ Torx “ Allen- style wrench fitted w/ a short length of thick plastic soda straw as my breech seating tool. This process reminds strongly of “ Schuetzen “ loading practices. The whole cartridge assembly process in the breech was not the best ergonomically, but did work.

I bought a new CVA Hunter .35 Remington, w/ intent to continue my .35 Remington “ neckless “ experiments, but see that the rifle is set-up where bullets will be located a tad further off the lands. Compared to a Marlin .336 .35 Rem. Haven’t been to the range w/ the rifle, yet.

My point:
A CVA Hunter .35 Rem, or perhaps an H & R Ultra Rifle .35 Rem. Would fit your needs ?
The latter have been made for use in some Southern states’ “ Primitive “ season, and can been seen up for sale every now and again!

IMHO - bolt rifle’s can be configured for change barrel use more readily than can a lever rifle.
That bolt rifle capability give you a great amount of flexibility. My .358AutoMag was just stupid accurate

“ Barrel stubbing “ top break rifle is another option.


With regards,
357Mag

[357Mag]

6string -

Correctionsto previous....

“ Sabbotted “ muzzle loader rounds

“ Prepatory to firing.....”

My computer is apparently doing some sort of auto word fill-in and that leads to typos when not caught

With regards,
357Mag

[smkummer]

I agree with a marlin 1894c. Load light 38 for plinking to be as fun and almost as cheap as 22. Power levels all the way up to full 357 with a 180 gr. Bullet to drop dear size animals. With a levergun, eject your empties where you want them to fall. This is why I like it better than a SKS or 30 Carbine.

[Drm50]

I have used levers for woods deer hunting since I started in 60s. 100yd and less there is no need for BA accuracy. Had a Marlin 1897 22 since I was a kid. I don't do cast for 30/30 but do for 25/20, 32/20, 38/55, 45/70 and pistol cartridges. Most of my levers are originals and they all shoot cast better than jackets. If you are looking at 38/55 it would be a good all purpose cast shooter.

[6string]

Hey Y'all,

Great ideas! Wow, 357 Automag in a bolt gun. That makes a lot of sense. Would be cool to see that in an ultra short action.
35 Remington...that's one I forgot to consider.

Jim

[357Mag]

6String-

Howdy !

Wanna see some pics ?

Do a search for these post’ titles:

- .35 Rem neckless

- Marlin M-336 XLR .35 Rem bench rest rifle


With regards,
357Mag


User name = 357Mag

[357Mag]

6String -

Howdy !

For more .35 calibre fun, go to:
Accurateshooter.com Do a search for post titled “ ream a comparator “.

You’ll see a response by 357Mag, which includes some group pics.


With regards,
357Mag

[6string]

I read up on the 35 Rem neckless. This reminds me of breech seating cast boolits, as per schüetzen, etc. very good idea!

Couldn't find the comparitor article...the host site sent me instead to a page to make a donation!

Thanks for the fascinating info!

Jim

[1006]

Seems like for iron sight shooting, a left handed shooter would benefit from the top eject Winchester 94. If you want to scope it, Marlins make it easy.

The 30-30 is pretty cheap to reload, and the brass will probably be reloadable no matter how many times you reuse it at 357 power levels. The 357 or 30-30 are the cheapest and easiest to shoot and reload. But, the 30-30 Rifle is usually cheaper to buy and has the widest range of ammo choices when reloading for varying power levels and ranges. AND, if desired, the 30-30 can be rebored for the 35/30-30, or the 38-55.

[ELFEGO BACA]

i bought my first lever gun a new Marlin 39A "mountie" in the early 60s. I still have it.
I am left handed so maybe that is why a like a lever action.