Carbine and Pistol competition?

This Sunday the Illinois State Rifle Association has a combined Carbine and Pistol match. (Carbines at 100 yards)

The rules are any US or foreign military carbines and military pistols qualify. I was planning on using my CMP Inland Carbine and my Mil Spec .45 or Beretta M-9, probably what most everyone else will probably be using as well.

Then, last night, I was cleaning some guns we used in a group shoot a couple of weeks ago and I was telling my wife how much I enjoyed shooting the lever action Puma '92 carbine I picked up in .45 Colt.

Just for the heck of it, I started to wonder if I could use my .45 Colt SAA and a '92 Winchester clone and still meet the criteria. As a former 1st Cav guy, the historical symmetry is appealing as well.

So the question before the THR "Board" is; Was a lever action ever actually an official Army issue rifle (use of Spencers in the Civil War, nonwithstanding)?

Don,
Several thousand Winchester lever action carbines were sold to the Ottoman Empire and used in combat. Outside of the Civil War era Spencer carbines in the hands of the Union Army, no lever action was ever issued to the American Army.

HTH

Jeff

So the question before the THR "Board" is; Was a lever action ever actually an official Army issue rifle (use of Spencers in the Civil War, nonwithstanding)?

Aside from Civil War usage, General Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry was armed with Spencer Carbines from the time the 7th was commissoned (1866) until 1873, when they were replaced by Springfield Trapdoors, much to The Son of the Morning Star's consternation.
I doubt the 7th was the only cavalry regiment with Spencres, though.

Jeff,

Not true, Henry rifles were purchased by the Army Ordnance Department and issued to federalized cavalry units, albiet in very limited quantities:

From the Smithsonian web site: http://www.civilwar.si.edu/weapons_henry.html

Nevertheless, only about 1,731 Henry rifles were purchased by the Ordnance Department between 1862 and 1865. Two organizations, the 1st Maine and 1st District of Columbia cavalry regiments, were known to have been issued Henry rifles.

I would think that the mosre important question would be "was the Model 1892 ever issued".