MCgunner
Member
Being a right handed left eyed person and shooting lefty most of my life, a lever gun would seem to be the perfect solution for a guy like me. I've got one, a little .357 magnum Rossi that I like, but over the years, I've been a bolt guy. I've taught myself to shoot lefty and reload a right handed bolt, easy enough really, and not as slow as you might think.
Thing I DON'T like about lever guns is their complexity. There's more moving parts, more stuff to maintain, to break. Too, I don't like cleaning the bore from the muzzle, prefer to push through from the breach if possible.
Then, there's the whole accuracy thing. If you get a lever that's picky about accuracy. what are ya gonna do about it? You gonna free float the barrel, bed the action? Right. First place, few levers are capable of MOA accuracy. Most are capable of adequate short range hunting accuracy, but if you have one that won't shoot better than 4 moa, and I've seen some, all the leverlution ammo in the world won't help you 'cause poor accuracy is going to keep you to 150 yards max on deer and hogs. I have fired VERY accurate levers, know they're out there, but I also know the turkeys are out there and if yu get one of those, the only user friendly solution is to get rid of it and buy another. Now, some designs are better than others and I know the old 99 savage and the BLR tend to be accurate guns, but I'm mostly thinking Marlin/Winchester here. I'm a picky guy, perhaps too picky, but I like the gun to shoot 1 moa or better. The better it shoots, the happier I am. I get that sort of accuracy from a bolt gun and if I don't, 9 times out of 10, a little free floating or bedding will fix it. Not much you can do with a gun that has tube mags and barrel bands hanging off the barrel.
I haven't mentioned autos, either. But, autos are usually heavy, bulky guns. I prefer a good lever/bolt guns handy dimensions and weight. Pumps? Well, they are great on shotguns.
Okay, take your shots at me. That's just MHO and what works for me.
I'm not going to say I won't buy another lever gun, but I sincerely doubt one would ever replace my bolt guns as my main hunting arms. I'm a bolt kinda guy.
Thing I DON'T like about lever guns is their complexity. There's more moving parts, more stuff to maintain, to break. Too, I don't like cleaning the bore from the muzzle, prefer to push through from the breach if possible.
Then, there's the whole accuracy thing. If you get a lever that's picky about accuracy. what are ya gonna do about it? You gonna free float the barrel, bed the action? Right. First place, few levers are capable of MOA accuracy. Most are capable of adequate short range hunting accuracy, but if you have one that won't shoot better than 4 moa, and I've seen some, all the leverlution ammo in the world won't help you 'cause poor accuracy is going to keep you to 150 yards max on deer and hogs. I have fired VERY accurate levers, know they're out there, but I also know the turkeys are out there and if yu get one of those, the only user friendly solution is to get rid of it and buy another. Now, some designs are better than others and I know the old 99 savage and the BLR tend to be accurate guns, but I'm mostly thinking Marlin/Winchester here. I'm a picky guy, perhaps too picky, but I like the gun to shoot 1 moa or better. The better it shoots, the happier I am. I get that sort of accuracy from a bolt gun and if I don't, 9 times out of 10, a little free floating or bedding will fix it. Not much you can do with a gun that has tube mags and barrel bands hanging off the barrel.
I haven't mentioned autos, either. But, autos are usually heavy, bulky guns. I prefer a good lever/bolt guns handy dimensions and weight. Pumps? Well, they are great on shotguns.
Okay, take your shots at me. That's just MHO and what works for me.
I'm not going to say I won't buy another lever gun, but I sincerely doubt one would ever replace my bolt guns as my main hunting arms. I'm a bolt kinda guy.
