Lever action that fires semi-auto rounds?

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Hard to do for limited gain. Have rimmed 9mm rounds (.38 and .357) as well as rimmed 45 with the 45LC. I'm not sure they would sell well enough to be worth the cost to make them. Plus, they would have to do something better than the semi auto rifles in those rounds which are out there that take large mags and may appeal to the 9mm people more.

Just my guess. I like lever guns but don't think I would buy one in either 9mm nor 45acp.
 
lysanderxiii said:
What would be the benefit?

.45 ACP is no better than (maybe even slightly inferior) .45 Long Colt and .44-40, and 9mm isn't a big improvement over .38 Spl and less than .357.
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Ammo commonality and cost (in "normal" times.)

Id buy a 9mm, short-throw lever gun. The only lever action chambered for a rimless auto round I can think of was the Marlin Levermatic in .30 Carbine.
 
P5 Guy said:
Would 45 Auto Rim work in a 45 Colt chambered lever gun?
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No.

The rim on the 45AR is as thick as a normal rim PLUS the thickness of a moon clip.

What would work in a lever action chambered for 45 long Colt is the 45 Cowboy Special or the 45 S&W, both may need modifications to the lifter.

Kevin
 
Ed Harris wrote about a lever action in 45 ACP several decades back in American Rifleman -- today I think he might go with the rimmed .45 Cowboy Special to get the same results with less bother:

45Trapper01.jpg 45Trapper02.jpg 45Trapper03.jpg 45Trapper04.jpg EdHarris45ACPMarlin.jpg EdHarris45ACPMarlinResults.jpg

If I actually wanted something along these lines, I think the Ruger 99/44 might make a better platform to adapt a lever-action for rimless pistol cartridges than a gun with a tube magazine. Its rotary mag would take possible crimping issues off the table.

The closest I've come to anything along these lines are bolt action Spanish Destroyer carbines and my little custom .38 Super Handi Rifle single shot. I just took the latter to the range yesterday to shoot alongside my new .38 Super 1911, but when I got there I discovered they were closed two days for maintenance. :(

NEFNickelSuper.jpg
 
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Yoda said:
Why doesn’t someone make a lever action in 9mm or .45 cal?
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Same reason there are not a lot of bolt action, break open, pump or really even semiauto carbines in those calibers. For the most part, people make what they can sell.

I suppose we could ask the opposite question as to why there are not more rimmed case semiauto’s out there, they too have been made, just not popular enough to keep making them.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Ed Harris wrote about a lever action in 45 ACP several decades back in American Rifleman -- today I think he'd go with the rimmed .45 Cowboy Special to get the same results with less bother:

View attachment 1001173 View attachment 1001174 View attachment 1001175 View attachment 1001176View attachment 1001178 View attachment 1001179
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That pic of the increase in mag capacity would be the main reason I can think of that I'd want one. Eleven .45ACPs in the mag tube versus eight .45 Colts in a short gun like that custom trapper sure would make for an appealing home defense carbine for some areas of the USA or perhaps the world, too.
 
chicharrones said:
That pic of the increase in mag capacity would be the main reason I can think of that I'd want one. Eleven .45ACPs in the mag tube versus eight .45 Colts in a short gun like that custom trapper sure would make for an appealing home defense carbine for some areas of the USA or perhaps the world, too.
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Still a pretty thin niche, where rifles are allowed, but not a CX4, and most of those customers are fine with carbines which fire rimmed rounds. Shove a few loose rounds in the pocket to top off and you won't run out regardless of 11 or 8 round magazine.

Revolvers and manually operated rifles are perfect for handloaders. Headspace off the rim, keep the brass close, not picky about reducing or upping the charge. Inexpensive rimless factory ammo is for semis.
 
chicharrones said:
That pic of the increase in mag capacity would be the main reason I can think of that I'd want one. Eleven .45ACPs in the mag tube versus eight .45 Colts in a short gun like that custom trapper sure would make for an appealing home defense carbine for some areas of the USA or perhaps the world, too.
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That was Harris' goal too. In more recent writings he switched allegiance to the .45 Cowboy Special (a .45 Colt case shortened to .45 ACP length) as an alternative, since the OAL is (or can be) the same as the ACP, the rim permits using a heavy crimp without case mouth headspace issues, and the conversion mechanics are simpler. That said, I think he still had his Cowboy II made up for .45 ACP:

https://www.grantcunningham.com/2011/12/ed-harris-using-the-45acp-in-a-rifle/


====
[Aside: I first ran into Ed Harris' .45 ACP/Cowboy musings a few years back, when I was researching the feasibility of counterboring a Ruger Blackhawk conversion cylinder for .45 Auto Rim. I was already reloading light Auto Rim ammo for my shaved cylinder Webley Mk VI and I wanted at least one other gun around that used the same fodder.

Webley MkVI.jpg

Harris argued somewhere (I can't find that article now, darn it!) that the .45 Cowboy Special was a more sensible choice for the Blackhawk than an Auto Rim conversion. Eventually I chose to go with a used Pietta Remington 1858 and a 5-shot Howell .45 ACP conversion cylinder instead, since it required a smaller total cash outlay and no ATF paperwork, plus it featured chambers spaced further apart.

Remington45ARConversionSet.JPG

Offered here merely as another example of another cool firearm project supported by 'no particularly compelling reasons'. BTW, contrary to expectations, this illegitimate DIY offspring of two unrelated manufacturers shoots very accurately to the fixed sights. Purest luck.]
 
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Pudge said:
Still a pretty thin niche, where rifles are allowed, but not a CX4, and most of those customers are fine with carbines which fire rimmed rounds.
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Agree. Lever or pump guns chambered in short .45 cartridges would likely only get made in larger numbers if autoloaders were no longer available.

Pudge said:
Shove a few loose rounds in the pocket to top off and you won't run out regardless of 11 or 8 round magazine.
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I sleep in my boxers. Now I'm thinking of sewing an ammo pocket on them. Lol. :D
 
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Some of the Cowboy gunsmiths altered Uberti 1873 lever action rifles to .45 ACP to appeal to Wild Bunch Action Shooting competitors. I don’t think the convenience of having one ammo for rifle and pistol justifies the cost of the conversion but it’s an interesting concept.
 
Just in case of any doubts, this is an excellent article on a fantastic pistol.
https://revivaler.com/colt-m1911-gold-cup-national-match-38-special/

Kinda the reverse of the OP, sorry, but still good.
And of course who doesn’t love a Coonan 357?


I do like the idea of shooting 45 Auto “shorts” in a 450 lever gun.:)
But the case heads are too far different.:(
 
The idea of an ACP chambered Winchester Model 1892 has always intrigued me. I believe John Taylor can make them. The Uberti copy of the Henry rifle chambered for ACP or the 45 Cowboy Special would very much duplicate the idea of the original chambering.

But, then I think a properly sized bolt action chambered for the 30 Carbine would be pretty nifty also.

Kevin
 
Surprised nobody mentioned the 35 Remington yet. It's rimless, got it's start in 1908 (?) in the semi auto Remington Model 8 rifle and has since been chambered in an awful lot of lever guns. Both the 9mm and 35 Remington are very close in bullet diameter, 9x19 uses .355" and 35 Rem. has .358" bullets so they are both in 35 cal. territory. Or approximately 9mm if you look at it metrically. Right now you can get a Henry lever action in 35 Remington. That would be a very cool proposition. A modern lever gun with a rifle round of approximately 9mm that began its career as a semi auto rifle cartridge. Is the 35 Remington really a rimless cartridge like it's listed as? Or is it actually semi-rimmed? Either way it's a great woods round. Back in the 80's one of my buddies had a Contender in 35 Remington that was the proverbial "Hammer Of Thor" on whitetails. I'd love to have a lever gun so chambered..... A 9mm semi auto rifle cartridge lever gun.
 
The reason is, as previously stated, they wouldn't sell. Not enough fire power for the run and gun crowd, an not traditional enough for the purists.

Personally, I like rimmed cartridges.

There was mention made of having it for the availability of ammo during a drought. When you reload, that becomes moot. 9mm vs 38/357 reload for the (nearly) same amount of powder and a single primer per round costs the same, and the same amount of lead. Once you get into reloading, you count bricks of primers, not boxes of bullets.
 
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