.22 LR lever action as first gun.

[Positivity]

I've never fired a 30-30.

I've fired one round of 30-6. Just the one. How does the 30-30 stack up to it, or would that be apples to oranges?

 

[TurkeyOak]

The .30-30 is 65% of a .30-06 when it hits so I would guess it would kick 65% less. A heavier gun absorbs more recoil.
I wouldnt start with a .30. I'd go .22.
My .30-30 was my first lever, but i already had a .22 and .410.
The .30-30 is very satisfying but expensive to shoot. I'd rather run a couple hundred through the .22 for a couple of bucks.
I bought a WWII surplus Russian 1939 Mosin-Nagant that shoots a 7.62x54R shell that equals the 7.62 nato/.308 or is 95% of the .30-06. Its ammo is $5 per 20, a third of the .30-30 so I'll take that if I want a cheap boom. It kicks some but I never notice cause Im grinning too much.

 

[BCRider]

30-30 from a lever rifle like a Winchester 94 is less recoil than that 30-06 you shot. Enough kick to give you a grin when it moves your shoulder back. But not enough to leave you feeling like you got kicked by a mule at the end of the day.

It's one of my favourite center fire rifle plinking rounds. As such I reload them to help keep the cost down. The next batch I do will be cast lead bullets to cut the costs even more. They are a really fun round from a really fun gun. But then I really like lever guns.

Getting back to your .22 lever option. I got my own Henry H001 less than a year ago. I've only got around 500'ish rounds through it due to having a lot of other guns and not getting out as often as I'd like due to some house renos I'm doing just now. But that hasn't stopped it being one of my favourite .22's. The darn thing is as smooth as a knife through warm butter and it shoots very accurately and consistently even with basic cheap Blazer ammo. It's so nice that I'm sorry I didn't go for the Frontier model with the slightly nicer wood, octagonal barrel and all metal bands and sights. The H001 basic model uses plastic barrel bands and a plastic forward band and integral sight. Mind you it sure doesn't seem to affect how it aims and shoots. If you do your part the gun will make you look good.

Over at Rimfire Central or on the Henry forums there's folks that are still enjoying their Henrys after many years of shooting with round counts way up in the multiple ten's of thousands of rounds shot. So it's not a short term sort of gun either.

 

[Clipper]

The Browning has some features none of the others do, like a 33-degree lever throw that lets me cycle the lever without moving my trigger hand from the stock, the unique magazine cap and the one and only Browning fit and finish. Handle one and you'll throw rocks at the others, and accuracy is second to none. Yeah, it's spendy, but in this case you really do get what you pay for, a rifle your grandkids will be using long after you're gone...

 

[az_imuth]

The Henry rifles, including the basic H001 models, haven't had any plastic sights/barrel bands for some time now. If I were on a budget and looking at a NEW lever action today, I would look at the Henry Frontier model. It is priced about $70 higher than the basic model, but has the heavier octagon barrel and front sights that can be upgraded without difficulty. It has a grooved receiver which allows it to be easily scoped, and I feel it is a good compromise between the basic H001 and the Golden Boy.

Best of luck in whatever you choose, and remember to just be safe and have lots of fun!

 

[Picher]

Lever guns shoot cleaner than semi-autos, but faster than bolt actions. Triggers and extraction are not quite as good, but they're really fun. Kids like them almost as much as semi-autos with 25-round magazines.

The Marlin 39A can be a bit heavy for some smaller folks. New ones are more trouble-prone than older ones, due to Marlin buy-out and lower quality control.

My fairly-new 39A was probably made early on a Monday morning, by a hung-over newbee factory worker, during his mentor's coffee break. After a bit of remediation work on my part, it shoots fine, but the bore is rough as heck, the iron sights are not quite top-center, and the facory scope-base holes point left of center. The extractor works most of the time now, and after the firing pin nose was reshaped, it doesn't misfire anymore.

 

[bergmen]

I have never shot a gun that didn't have a wood design. None of them were lever actions, but I still have a special place in my heart for wood designs.

I bought my 20 year old daughter a Henry H-001 lever action .22 for Christmas 2010. She absolutely loves it, accurate, fun, easy to load, shoot and take care of. I would highly recommend it.

Dan

 

[mortablunt]

A 22 lever action is a perfectly fine introductory rifle. Just get used to having to reload the magazine one round at a time.

 

[CaliCoastie]

levers are great but remember they can be addicting.
I can load my 19 rounds quicker than someone loading 20 rounds into a detachable mag, that is by hand and not some machine, any magazine is loaded one at a time.
Heard nothing but good about henry(i have shot them but not owned them), but marlins now..... i have 3 39a's and if you shop around you or your dad should be able to find them under 300, maybe under 200(i turned my friend on to two that he got for 350otd for both) i havent spend over 300 on any of my three including a mountie.
what ever you end up with you will have a bunch of fun with. My sugestion is to go somewhere and see what fits you the best. good luck.