More or less accurate?

[beag_nut]

I have had experience in the past only with bolt-action rifles. Nowadays I concentrate on hand guns. However, I am wondering: are the lever-action center-fire rifles, such as Winchesters and Henry's, less accurate than bolt-action, and why? Or, do they have the same potential accuracy, assuming an identical sighting system?
I contemplate getting a lever-action in .357 Mag to be compatible with my revolvers.

 

[rcmodel]

No, lever-actions are not as accurate as a good bolt-action.

They can't be, due to the two-piece stock, and rear locking bolt on most of them, plus the tube magazine hanging off the barrel.

With that said however, lever-actions are consistency more accurate then they need to be considering the short-range cartridges they are chambered for.

And they are consistently more accurate then most people can shoot the.
If you want a pistol caliber lever gun, by all means get one.

They are more fun then a tree full of monkeys!

Rc

 

[Frank44]

Agreed, handgun caliber lever guns are not only fun, but also practical. At short range a 357 or 44mag out of a 20in. barrel provides enough energy to take deer sized game, especially if you handload. Rifles will usually take a heavier charge, although that would have to be verified as to the specific rifle used. A 100 yard accurate and humane kill of a deer can be a reality with the 44mag. out of a lever gun.

 

[tuj]

bolt action particularly single-shot (for stiffness), has been proven to be the most accurate rifle action design.

 

[CraigC]

Depends on how you look at it and what you're comparing. Typically, they are less accurate on average but are usually more accurate than they're given credit for. I have two leverguns that are as accurate or more accurate than any centerfire boltgun I've ever had. That is, about 3/4MOA.

 

[Cee Zee]

Another consideration is the type of bullets you have to use in a lever gun. Because they are put into a tube with the point of a bullet pushed up against the cap of another cartridge the design of the bullet has to be flat so that it won't set off the cartridge it's pushed up against. And flat nosed bullets won't travel through the air like a pointed bullet will. The effect is that the effective accurate range of a lever cartridge will be less than cartridges made for bolt action rifles. The range of most lever action bullets is about 200-300 yards as far as accuracy goes. There are new designs that make lever guns shoot further but they still won't reach the distances a really pointy bullet can reach. As you probably know the range of some rifles can be measured in miles. You won't see a lever action caliber do that or anything like that. Even with the lower powered rounds like a .357 (low power for a rifle) the bullets just won't fly like other bullets will. For example a .223 round is roughly equivalent in terms of muzzle energy to the .357 but at 200 yards the .357 has lost about 10% more of it's energy than a .223 round. That number will get even higher at longer distances because of the drag coefficient of the bullets. The same is true of the velocity of both rounds at 200 yards. The .357 will lose an additional 10% of it's velocity at 200 yards. That means higher holder over and more chance for wind to move the bullet around and this only gets worse the farther down range you go. So at longer distances (like 500 yards or so) the .223 can remain fairly accurate while a .357 round is going to be nearly spent and who knows there it might hit.

 

[1911 guy]

All the posts here have been accurate. However, because they explain some things very well, take the time to re-read the posts by rcmodel and Cee Zee.

 

[BCRider]

You'll never see a lever action gun with a tubular magazine at a Class F competition. But for free standing shooting you also won't be able to see any difference between a lever and a bolt rifle. In this second case the realities of the shooter's skill and stability will be the limiting factor. And I suspect you'd be hard pressed to find any significant difference between shooting a bolt vs lever even using a braced position at the same distance. Again, the realities of the shooter holding the gun is going to count for more than any inherent difference between the guns.

 

[RainDodger]

If you factor in "fun"... a lever wins in my opinion!

 

[K0ZZZ]

If you factor in "fun"... a lever wins in my opinion!

Agreed on the fun factor.

Sure my bolt action is more accurate than my lever, but I'll take the lever out more often because there's something more enjoyable about plinking and just shooting to have fun with it. Out to about 100 yards, it's accurate enough. And I find that using the lever action makes me concentrate more on marksmanship with the iron sights over a scope on the bolt which is sometimes too easy to shoot well with.

 

[d2wing]

In a .357 mag it isn't going to matter unless you are competing in precision target shooting. I don't know of a bolt action .357 or why anyone would want one. Get the lever gun and enjoy.

 

[beag_nut]

Thank you, everyone, for your comments and replies. Now I am even more keen to get a lever gun. I especially like the comments from BCRider and RainDodger.

 

[Cee Zee]

If you like the lever guns then that's what you should get. They certainly are functional and fun (for most people). I'm not so sure that there won't be any difference in accuracy given an off hand shooting situation. Of course the skill of the shooter matters as always but that doesn't really contribute much to the discussion IMO. I know people that can shoot off and extremely well. I could do pretty good before back and neck injuries slowed me down. I still do OK with a light rifle. But we grew up shooting off hand only. Anyone attempting to use any kind of a rest was laughed at and harassed by the other 2 brothers if they were around. The 3 of us knew that hunting was about shooting off hand so we did it as a general rule. We weren't into competitions so shooting off a rest wasn't important to us. Now I do it a lot because I like to sit down and shoot. What can I say, I'm old.

Buy your lever gun though and enjoy the heck out of it. Just don't expect it to be accurate at 400 yards with a rest or not.

 

[CraigC]

I don't know of a bolt action .357 or why anyone would want one.

Ruger 77/357.

 

[BCRider]

I gotta say that CeeZee does have a good point about the off hand vs bench accuracy "gap". There's videos of metallic silhouette shooters that shoot off hand without even a sling to steady them doing some amazing things. And in that event there's no doubt that bolt actions are dominant.

A couple of years ago I thought I might try rimfire silhouette so I made up a target for the 17 yard indoor range I had access to at the time which had the various shaped scaled so they would be the correct size for this distance. Each of them ended up being about the size of a quarter at 17 yards. Doing my darndest with a scope equipped bolt action I could only hit them half the time on a good day. To say it was humbling would be an understatement.

Yet me and my H001 Henry can hit the slick little Caldwell flip up rimfire target paddles 2 out of 3 times or on a good day 4 out of 5 times at 25 yards standing with no support.

So as always it still comes down to the shooter rather than the tool. If the shooter is good enough then they should get the better tool to allow them to really shine. For the rest of us let's just go with the fun factor.

I should likely also mention that I can do about the same with the Caldwell 3 paddle handgun target at 50 yards using my Rossi 92 and regular cowboy action ammo. With this same rifle at 200 yards on a 12 inch gong and shooting .357Mag rounds I was able to hit 2 out of 3 from a benched position. The "old guy eyes" were very much to blame in this case as I was barely able to make out the slug sitting inside the big tractor tire. With sharper eyes 3 out of 3 would not have been at all hard.

As Harry Callahan said "A man's gotta know his limits"....

And then there's the fun factor mentioned by Rain Dodger. For me just about any manually operated gun is WAY more fun than any semi auto. I enjoy having to manipulate the gun for each shot in some way. And there's no doubt that running a lever is well up on the grin scale. Slow and accurate or slinging out lead at full on cowboy action speeds it doesn't get much funner than a lever.... .

 

[Badlander]

I bought my first Lever gun A Marlin 1895 GS 45-70 because I wanted A 45-70 and the lever action seemed the way to go.
I now have Lever actions in .22, 357, .45 Colt, 30-30, .356 Win and 45-70. With 2 of some of them. The .45 Colts are favorites. I load plinkers with .250 cast and unique to heavy loads 300 gr cast with full load of H110.
They are fun rifles.

 

[The_Armed_Therapist]

I have a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag. I LOVE it. However, it is nowhere near as accurate as any bolt gun I've ever shot. It is a 3-5MOA gun. Considering the range on the thing is really only 100 yards, the 3-5MOA isn't really a problem, though. A cheap bolt gun will probably get 2MOA, and a great one 0.5MOA.