Lever Guns,Overlooked By Many But Still Fun.Got One?

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I love this thread!!!..Keep the posts/pictures coming. I'll add a couple of pics since they're handy from other threads.

Savage M99 in .358 Winchester (what I consider my Holy Grail Caliber of the model line). Weaver Peep sight installed by a good family friend and previous owner. Gun given to me as a gift.

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From top down. Henry Big Boy Steel in .44 Mag. .357 Winchester 94AE. 1st Year issue JM Cowboy in .45 Colt.

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Late model Savage 99 in .243 with 18 rounds total to date put through it by previous owner. Looks like it came from the factory this morning.

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Frulk said:
I love this thread!!!..Keep the posts/pictures coming. I'll add a couple of pics since they're handy from other threads.

Savage M99 in .358 Winchester (what I consider my Holy Grail Caliber of the model line). Weaver Peep sight installed by a good family friend and previous owner. Gun given to me as a gift.

View attachment 932389

From top down. Henry Big Boy Steel in .44 Mag. .357 Winchester 94AE. 1st Year issue JM Cowboy in .45 Colt.

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Late model Savage 99 in .243 with 18 rounds total to date put through it by previous owner. Looks like it came from the factory this morning.

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Wow!!

My only issue with the "C" models (aside from the heresy of a detachable magazine, lol), is that I think they are more susceptible to receiver stretch than the rotary models. I had a .308 "C" model which would experience difficult extraction when firing hot loads due to this, though the .243 probably isnt an issue.
 
NightLord...bought it primarily because of the caliber and that it was so pristine. It will more than likely never be shot by me. Previous owner gave me 5 boxes of .243 at the time of sale. One of the 5 boxes had 2 rounds remaining. The 18 were used to sight in the scope. Bought for a daughter he thought would get into hunting. She didn’t.
 
Couple run-of-the-mill Winchester 94's that no amount of money could pry from my hands.

In the back: Model 94 purchased around 2001-02 by my late Father-in-Law for HD. Never shot. Ret USAF SMSgt with a tour at Da Nang, Vietnam as an Air Traffic Controller.

In the foreground: Model 94 purchased circa 66-67 by my father just before shipping out with the 82nd Airborne 'All Americans' to Vietnam. Told me he shot four deer in a week or two to make up for all the hunting seasons he'd never get to participate in. He figured he probably wouldn't make it back alive. Notches in stock carved by him. As luck would have it he did make it back alive and hunted well into his 70's around the hills of Damascus Virginia and is still on this side of the grass as of 0600hrs today.

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There is just something about handling and shooting a quality lever that does it for me. I don’t get that same feeling with bolt guns or sporting rifles. .30-30s, .45-70s, and .44 Mags...... love them!
 
mcb said:
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The Marlin Dark IMHO certainly looks better than the Henry X pictured up thread. The lines are a touch more traditional while still bringing the modern functionality of the long top rail and threaded muzzle. I would get rid of the para-cord sling and lever cover and mount a nice scout-scope forward on that rail and a good Quaker Claw sling would go better than the para-cord sling IMHO. I would then find a lightweight direct thread can to mount on it. The AAC Jaeger-30 would be nice but given the condition of Remington they are unlikely to ever produce that suppressor in anything but 30 cal. Supposedly there was going to be a Jaeger-45 rated for 45/70 and that would have been sweat on a Marlin Dark 1894 in 44 Mag or 1895 in 45/70 but alias...
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I agree with you that the Marlin Dark is the better looking gun.
 
I found this beauty and snapped it up. I think it is a .177 Caliber:

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Actually, something I did not appreciate, there are people who like to dress up or copy various actors and Chris Pratt has a large following of them. So of course they need a rifle. They build entire outfits apparently from movies their preferred actor stared in. Whatever. I have a hard enough time being me much less impersonating some actor. But I did grab three Red Ryders from Walmart on sale, one for me and one each for my nephews. Got to start them somewhere.

The Marlin 45-70 SBL has stared in Wind River, Jurassic Park and the Kingsman sequel, maybe it needs it's own star in the sidewalk and an Academy Award for best supporting actor! I think I am going to have to give that BB gun copy a fail though ;) .
 
Legionnaire said:
I've tried ... really tried to warm up to lever guns. I've had .30-30s, including a nice 336 Texan, and multiple 1894s in .357 and .44 magnum. I've slicked them up and tricked them out. And then they just sit until I sell them to buy something else. After a while without a lever in the safe, I'll find a good deal on another and try again, only to sell it off after as little as a few months.

So no levers for me at this point ... although I will confess to having an unreasonable desire to handle a Henry Long Ranger.
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That Henry Long Ranger bit is not unreasonable. I've had the opportunity to shoot ones in .223/5.56 and .243. They are fantastic shooters. If only they offered it in 7mm-08.

Hey Henry, you listening??
 
mcb said:
Ohh... I think the Marlin Dark are awesome looking. A Marlin Dark in 357 Mag and a good suppressor would be an awesome combination.
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Ehh..
Now a toss a threaded barrel, taller irons and a side gate on an all weather 357 and we'd have somethin goin on.
 
I have five lever actions.

A Marlin 39A, 22LR, from the early 1960's, a Christmas present from my parents at the time.
A Marlin 1894C, 357 Mag, from the early 1980's, bought new.
A Winchester 1873, 32-20, built in the early 1890's and refinished at some time. Looks great but most purists will cringe.
A Winchester 1873, 357 Mag, made in Japan, purchased new 2019.
An Henry Big Boy, 327 Fed Mag, purchased new in 2018.

I'm not a side gate purist but I do enjoy shooting lever actions.
 
My favorite gun to play with is still my Henry 22LR. it may not be powerful but it is still fun, and cheap, to plink with
 
The SBL would be a really neat gun with a straight grip CB thickness stock and a CB thickness forend. Can still be laminate just not so fat.

Drop the lever rail for an island rear sight for some added weight savings as well if one wishes.

All of the sudden and without much effort (for a firearms manufacturer who already makes versions of all of this), you have a very handy and fast lightweight powerhouse that is still visually striking.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
The SBL would be a really neat gun with a straight grip CB thickness stock and a CB thickness forend. Can still be laminate just not so fat.

Drop the lever rail for an island rear sight for some added weight savings as well if one wishes.

All of the sudden and without much effort (for a firearms manufacturer who already makes versions of all of this), you have a very handy and fast lightweight powerhouse that is still visually striking.
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I do not know why Marlin has mostly always had the fat front stock. For people with big hands (and now slightly arthritic) the larger grip is functional but I agree it could be reduced and it would look better. It looks sort of pregnant or something.
 
3Crows said:
I do not know why Marlin has mostly always had the fat front stock. For people with big hands (and now slightly arthritic) the larger grip is functional but I agree it could be reduced and it would look better. It looks sort of pregnant or something.
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The Marlin "fat forend" was why some 30 +- years ago when I bought my first rifle it was a Winchester 1894AE in .30-30. I've seen newer Marlins with nice forends; I recently bought a 1894 Cowboy in .357 magnum with a perfectly nice forend.
 
Pretty sure Marlin uses painted or stained black wood for their stocks.
I know it's blasphemy but I'd like some light weight poly stocks.
 
drobs said:
Pretty sure Marlin uses painted or stained black wood for their stocks.
I know it's blasphemy but I'd like some light weight poly stocks.
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Marlin, now and in the past, uses American walnut unless specified as a laminate (similar to and possibly by Boyds) or a stained "hardwood" as might have been found on the bottom models and Glenfields. No Marlin that I have ever seen has a plastic stock though I would take one depending on details. Pretty sure all of the "Bullseye" Marlins have a walnut stock.
 
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