New Savage Lever 22 - not a looker

[jmorris]

Ruger said early on in an interview that the 39A was not on their agenda.

Are they making any Marlin .22's? I guess I wouldn't expect to see the model 60 being made until the 10/22 beats it in production numbers and that's going to be awhile.

 

[PapaG]

Locally, 39s are bringing $900 and up for “good”. 9422s, $1000 and $1200 for magnum.
I still equate the Henry with the ancestor Erma and Iver Johnson. Sell well, work, but I want STEEL forgings and good machining. We had great service response from Henry.
With Win 94s, 92, Mar 336, 444, Sav 99, and Rossi Rio Grande in the safe, the 39 was the only choice.
I’ve had a dozen since 1955 and have never found a good reason to sell or trade one but I did. At least my two boys and I each have one.

 

[courtgreene]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: I kind of like the dlx version, and honestly, given savage accuracy, I think I would really like one of these in 17. I’m all good on rifles, but if I were looking for a squirrel gun, I’d give it serious consideration.

 

[3Crows]

Are they making any Marlin .22's? I guess I wouldn't expect to see the model 60 being made until the 10/22 beats it in production numbers and that's going to be awhile.

No current Model 60 production. The Model 60 is listed on the Marlin website (Not Currently Available) but the 39A is not listed. This leads me to believe that eventually there may be Model 60 rifles and very doubtful for Model 39A rifles.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

It looks better from some angles than others.
Im already awash in .22s, so no real use for one, but probably wouldn't turn away a used example for $250ish.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I'll just stick with these 3....Browning Bl-22 Gr II.......Marlin 1897T........Winchester 9422


..

 

[Barmcd]

It’s funky for sure. I’m partial to the model 1892 for its svelte profile.

 

[greyling22]

I hate the lever. I hate all large loop levers. everybody is doing it. why is this a thing?

 

[jmorris]

TV

 

[greyling22]

TV

i knew it caused brain rot! that said, I was leaving the nursing home today after seening a patient, and the rifleman was starting. What I cool intro.

 

[Riomouse911]

I hate the lever. I hate all large loop levers. everybody is doing it. why is this a thing?

Same for me. The straight stock 1892-1894 levers were what I was raised on as a kid. Heck, it took me quite a while to appreciate the curved lever/pistol grip of my old Savage 99F or Marlin 336. (Good guns, both!)

The big loop or expanded loop levers just don’t put water under my keel, even if they are said to be easier to use with mittens/gloves in cold weather.

YMMV, variety helps to make the gun world go round.

Stay safe.

 

[Bwana John]

Who ever designed that forearm needs to put the rifle in a scabbard under a saddle fender for a couple of full days riding.

 

[PapaG]

Brother and I caught the Rifleman bug, bought a roaches out 92 38-40, shipped it off to Mr. Koozer for a 357 barrel, big loop and set screw. ($45 for the gun, $100 for the work). Somewhere between the sixties and his death in '09 brother swapped in an original lever. The only problem is that it is a half magazine rifle and not a carbine. I shoot it each April 22 on his birthday.
Still the slickest lever action going.
Again, not buying another 22 but if I "needed" one, I'd look at the Savage but with an eye toward some woodwork and lever reduction. I'm rebuilding a '95 Savage replica that was heavily water and bubba damaged in a safe after a fire.

 

[3Crows]

Not sure what y'all mean by big loop. I cannot get my hands into those reverse curve levers on pistol grips and the straight levers barely work. Not a lot of extra room here even without gloves and this is a big loop SBL:

 

[marksman13]

Savage has always seemed like they were trying to take first place in an ugly contest.

 

[chicharrones]

To clarify, I do not own a Savage Revel. Saw it on Guns America this morning and was not impressed with looks.

I own the elegant Marlin 1892 pictured at the bottom.

I also thought that photo was yours. I was hoping to hear your review of the Revel.

It looks like a decent utilitarian lever gun. While the forend might not be stylish, perhaps it fits the hand well?

 

[chicharrones]

I remember when the 9422 and 39’s were being sold new, those also were meant to be shot, used and abused.

Are these newer guns of the same milled-steel heft of guns like my 39A? No, not even close. (That gun is overkill for a rimfire, IMHO.) But they serve their same utilitarian purposes the others did.

As for the looks of the Revel? It’s ok. Not as fugly as a lever gun can be made (“aka tactical”) but not quite as clean as a 9422, 39 or even a BL-22.

Stay safe.

If I could afford a new Marlin 39 or Winchester 9422 in 1975 dollars, I can afford to buy a new one in 2025 dollars. I understand that $1000 is a lot of money, but $200 was a lot of money in 1975. And the average Joe will have to work fewer hours in 2025 to earn $1000 than it would have taken him to earn $200 in 1975.

I imagine a 39A today is going to run $1,000 plus base model. A 9422 even more or at least as much. I disagree these rifles were ever sold as low end beaters. They were always expensive. I have no idea what a Henry would cost today if it were made out of something other than actual pot metal. In the case of the Henry I would even settle for anodized hard coat aluminum forging. However, I like the Revel and the new aluminum Winchester much more than a Zamak Henry and thus may buy one to toss in my truck behind the seat.

When I bought my Marlin 39AS brand spanking new in February 1994, it set me back $296.86 before tax. I just turned 29* and that Marlin took about 90% of my net weekly income to purchase. That was a chunk of change after mortgage, utilities, and all the other bills associated with living.

My Marlin came with a nice walnut stock, white spacers, and excellent checkering. The fit and finish were steps above a common plinker of the era. While I did take it into the field since I was not a paper puncher back then, I did not consider it a beater gun whatsoever.

*Speaking of that age and mortgages, it sure is harder for regular working stiffs to buy a house these days compared to back then.

 

[Riomouse911]

When I bought my Marlin 39AS brand spanking new in February 1994, it set me back $296.86 before tax. I just turned 29* and that Marlin took about 90% of my net weekly income to purchase. That was a chunk of change after mortgage, utilities, and all the other bills associated with living.

My Marlin came with a nice walnut stock, white spacers, and excellent checkering. The fit and finish were steps above a common plinker of the era. While I did take it into the field since I was not a paper puncher back then, I did not consider it a beater gun whatsoever.

*Speaking of that age and mortgages, it sure is harder for regular working stiffs to buy a house these days compared to back then.

The guns I saw in truck racks (back when folks did that stuff) were working guns; 94’s, 336’s etc. The ranchers in Central Texas, where our family ranch was, bought their 39’s and 9422’s as understudies for their deer rifles, bought them for the kids to learn how to shoot, kids carried them afield in search of rabbits or squirrels, they rode in the truck window racks to put down an injured animal and were even kept behind the door ready to kill the raccoon by the henhouse, etc. These guns were built to be used, and these guys did just that with them.

My Golden 39A Mountie was purchased by my Dad in 1968. It is plain walnut and blued. Those guns weren’t cheap, nor relatively inexpensive, as good stuff never is. But back when they were sold at the gun counters, they weren’t looked at as bespoke rifles, nor were they considered to be very fancy production guns like a Cooper 57 or Kimber 82 (Maybe add in a glossy Browning or Weatherby XXII?) They were just well made, old-fashioned lever .22’s that worked and shot well.

They certainly didn’t carry a nostalgic reverence back then that we all place on them now, especially since they’re decades out of production and pristine examples (or even really nice ones) aren’t super common. (Used, no box 9422’s easily command $1,000-$1,200 and more today).

My Dads old Marlin is sitting in my safe alongside a passel of other .22 rifles. It now wears a Williams peep and is in very good mechanical shape, with a bit of thinning bluing here, a couple stock nicks there, all from use.

Stay safe.

 

[3Crows]

I guess some of this is that once upon a time we took quality for granted and now we are surprised when we get it.

 

[CraigC]

It is weird looking but would probably make a good truck gun.

 

[chicharrones]

I guess some of this is that once upon a time we took quality for granted and now we are surprised when we get it.

I think we also forget the cheap stuff. For those that wouldn't or couldn't plunk down the money on a lever gun made by Marlin, Winchester, or Browning, they bought something else. Like a contemporary bolt gun or autoloader that cost half as much as one of the lever guns.

My dad's rimfire rifle was a basic Marlin 60. The first rimfire rifle I bought was a Ruger 10/22 Carbine. But I really wanted something "better", which was (to me) the Marlin 39AS. And the Marlin set me back twice as much as the Ruger.

 

[chicharrones]

The guns I saw in truck racks (back when folks did that stuff) were working guns; 94’s, 336’s etc. The ranchers in Central Texas, where our family ranch was, bought their 39’s and 9422’s as understudies for their deer rifles, bought them for the kids to learn how to shoot, kids carried them afield in search of rabbits or squirrels, they rode in the truck window racks to put down an injured animal and were even kept behind the door ready to kill the raccoon by the henhouse, etc. These guns were built to be used, and these guys did just that with them.

My Golden 39A Mountie was purchased by my Dad in 1968. It is plain walnut and blued. Those guns weren’t cheap, nor relatively inexpensive, as good stuff never is. But back when they were sold at the gun counters, they weren’t looked at as bespoke rifles, nor were they considered to be very fancy production guns like a Cooper 57 or Kimber 82 (Maybe add in a glossy Browning or Weatherby XXII?) They were just well made, old-fashioned lever .22’s that worked and shot well.

They certainly didn’t carry a nostalgic reverence back then that we all place on them now, especially since they’re decades out of production and pristine examples (or even really nice ones) aren’t super common. (Used, no box 9422’s easily command $1,000-$1,200 and more today).

My Dads old Marlin is sitting in my safe alongside a passel of other .22 rifles. It now wears a Williams peep and is in very good mechanical shape, with a bit of thinning bluing here, a couple stock nicks there, all from use.

Stay safe.

Funny thing is, in my small world in Tejas back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I didn't know a soul that owned a rimfire lever gun made by Winchester, Marlin, or Browning. No relatives, no hunting families, nobody.

All those folks' rimfire rifles were low end bolt guns and autoloaders, or the single shot Ithaca 49 lever replica. All real gun money appeared to go to "deer rifles" or shotguns. Amongst my friends, I was the first and only to have a "name brand" rimfire lever gun for a loooong time. Not until the 2010s did a friend of mine buy a new rimfire lever, and it was a Henry.

Speaking of deer rifles, they were either a .30-30 from Marlin or Winchester for the shooters in their teens and 20s. While the dads and grandads I knew typically had commercially converted milsurps with scopes mounted.

 

[chicharrones]

It is weird looking but would probably make a good truck gun.

I really like the potential all around utility of that Savage. I just don't need to be buying any more guns right now as I need to use what I have.

From - https://shoot-on.com/first-test-savage-revel-classic-takedown-lever-action-rimfire/