What is the classic American rifle other than the Model 70

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Like so many others have said,

Winchester 1873 and 1894 take its for me, uniquely American.

best runner up is the Savage 99 and Marlin 336
 
Went back and re-read the OP's question? He wants to know which is number two after the Model 70 - duh? I have a few thoughts: 1.) the Model 70 is the number two after the 94 and it's cousins. I base this on population and market share within that population at the time. Millions of 94's before there were 1/3 the folks we have now days. 2.) the real "Classic" in what sense? To the American hunter? Or, to a bushman in Africa? Or Australia, or India, or where?

I suspect the world #1 classic is the Mauser 98 followed by a modified Enfield in 303. The totality of the British Commonwealth covers a lot of ground and folks used to hunt all over it.

The Winchester 94 (and its cousins) are very popular in both North and South America, but I doubt they score big marks outside of the Americas?

The AR/M16 platform is a military derivation. So if we want to talk about the actual number one classic of all time from all sources, it's the AK47 hands down and far away. But that is not a "sporting" arm. So what are the criteria?
 
It is a physical impossibility for a boltgun to be operated as quickly as a lever. Period. No amount of wishful thinking will ever change that. Ever.
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Actually the military considered leverguns a little over 100 years ago and found that with proper training there was almost no difference and under battlefield conditions the bolt gun was considerably faster. Think firing prone.

Got a challenge for you. I'm going to the range in the AM if it isn't raining too hard. Taking a Marlin 30-30, 44 mag, and a Winchester 308 along with a stop watch and someone to time me. Going to fire 3 rounds from each rifle just for pure speed, no target.

Next I'm going to put up a 9" paper plate at 50 yards and repeat, but all 3 shots must hit the plate. I use this drill quite often for practice, but have never timed myself. Never noted any real difference in time either. One of the levers may win, but I seriously doubt there will be 1/2 second between 1st and 3rd place. Especially if anyone actually has to aim and hit something. Either action type can be cycled faster than you can get the sights back on target. I actually think the bolt gun will have an advangtage with the target because the better stock design and optics make it easier to get on target quicker.

Here is why. On my 30-30 the lever throw is 9" out, 9" back. The 44 is 6.5" out, 6.5" back. On the 308 the bolt throw is only 4.25" back, 4.25" forward. I do have to lift and lower the bolt handle, but the human body is capable of moving 2 body parts at the same time. i can roll my wrist to lift and lower the bolt at the same time my arm is moving back and forward.

Also on the lever you must overcome a lot more resistance to moving the lever than with a bolt.

I'll report back tomorrow, If I don't get rained out. If I can't get to the range tomorrow it might be next Tuesday before I'll have another chance.
 
Think firing prone.
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Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I'll contend that anyone who thinks a levergun is not measurably faster to operate than a boltgun has never spent enough time with one.


Also on the lever you must overcome a lot more resistance to moving the lever than with a bolt.
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Nonsense.
 
Something designed and built in America, and found in the gun rack of just about every American would be more fitting, so the Winchester 1894 gets my vote.
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Using that criteria, I would have to say the Ruger 10/22, of which more than 5 million have been made.
 
A pump action rifle, like the Remington 760 (7600) will load faster than a lever or bolt action rifle. (I've seen guys fire them so fast you would have thought it was a semi-automatic.)

P1170287.jpg
 
ElectrikKoolAid said:
Using that criteria, I would have to say the Ruger 10/22, of which more than 5 million have been made.
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As much as I like the Ruger 10/22...

The Marlin Model 60 has over 11 Million sold worldwide since the 1960's.

Granted, it's a cheaper, tube-fed gun. But dangit if they haven't sold a lot of them.

I don't know if that makes it a classic American firearm, but it's darn sure a prevalent one.
 
Many excellent choices have been mentioned. I certainly agree with the Win 70, Win 94, Savage 99, Win 95, Springfield 03, M1, M1 carbine, and M16. I would add the Win 52 and the Weatherby Mark V.

What could be more classic and American than the original American made Mark V to symbolize the era of the 1950's and early 1960's? Innovative, fast, flamboyant, and flashy with a high price tag, rich shiny blue job, excellent workmanship, complete with high gloss stock finish along with contrasting grip cap and forend tip with white spacers. (No disrespect intended. It is an excellent high quality rifle.)

Carefully place it into the trunk of your huge DeSoto or Caddie cruise-mobile with tail fins and wide stripe white sidewall tires. Drive to the range wearing a classic Eddie Bauer safari jacket and wide brimmed felt hat. Note the envious looks on the faces of the other shooters.
 
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Pre 1964 Win 94 ( A true classic)

Pre million Savage 99 ( A lever but a true classic)

Pre 1964 Win model 71 (another lever but a true classic)
 
Pump action is definately faster than a bolt or a lever action and can be sometimes faster than a semi auto in the right hands. But nonetheless a bolt is smoother and faster than any lever action.
 
The current world record for aimed bolt-action fire was set in 1914 by a musketry instructor in the British Army—Sergeant Instructor Snoxall—who placed 38 rounds into a 12-inch-wide (300 mm) target at 300 yards (270 m) in one minute, the fastest lever action that i can find is 29 rnds in one minute with not any where close to that accuracy a steel plate of unknown size at 100 yards with 27 hits.
 
Classic American rifles, probably already been mentioned:

- Garand
- AR-15
- Winchester Lever Action
- Springfield M1903-A3
- Browning Automatic Rifle

Not a rifle, but truly an American classic: Thompson Machine Gun
 
Pure nonsense.
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is it ? or is it that your an old man stuck in his ways of horse drawn carrages and telegrams who just cant come to accept what years of changes have then made new better products then that which you have always used and had. I mean this all in no offense to you ,but Look at what everyone buys nowadays and you can see what is clearly better. Lever actions were good but better things are around now and they are becomeing the way of the muzzleloader more and more outdated but still usefull.
 
Ok. I've said it before but here goes (again). Leverguns are not outdated any more than any other action type. Something is only outdated if it is no longer being made, like 8 track tapes.
And pumps are faster then levers? I don't know about faster. I have and hunt with a Rem 760 and a Marlin 336. They about the same to me. You can reasonable "fast" with anything if you shoot it enough.
 
OK it took 115 years to sell 7 million 94's

Do you realize that by the best figures I can come up with over A MILLION ar variants were sold in 2009 alone. Think for a moment about the levet of market saturation that requires.

I'm actually not that big an ar fan. I own the same number of ar's as I do Winchester 94

I'm just floored by the assertion that the lever (more specificly the 30/30) is still Americas no 1 or 2

To believe that you have to pretty much ignore the past 7 or 8 years even happened
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The question was... "What is the CLASSIC American rifle" not what is currently used most ....
 
There are a lot of contenders, but for a rifle that embodies the *spirit* of America there can be only one--the Pennsylvania/Kentucky long rifle. It served well in peace and war, and more than any other firearm it defined part of what it is to be American. The long hunter, the frontiersman, the militia rifleman. In legend at least these iconic types always defeated the mass men of European armies, the great bears, and the native warriors. And these icons served to bolster the idea that Americans go it alone in military and business ventures. No other mere firearm did so much to shape who we became. Heck look at the big to-do over Steve Job's passing. Jobs is just the latest in a very long line of icons going back to the first long hunters who went off into the woods with a rifle and mule and came back wealthy men with land and pelts. Xerox Park wasn't the Cumberland Gap, but it has become that in modern myth and legend.

And as far as the long rifle itself, I believe it is the American equivalent of the Katana. A merging of high art and lethality that says a great deal about the nation and its people. And here's one of the men who revived its traditions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDoRG2Mmac4
 
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is it ? or is it that your an old man stuck in his ways of horse drawn carrages and telegrams who just cant come to accept what years of changes have then made new better products then that which you have always used and had. I mean this all in no offense to you ,but Look at what everyone buys nowadays and you can see what is clearly better. Lever actions were good but better things are around now and they are becomeing the way of the muzzleloader more and more outdated but still usefull.
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I just turned 37yrs old. :rolleyes:

I could care less what everybody else is using. What's popular is rarely what is best. Is Justin Bieber the best singer??? Disregard what the herd is doing and think for yourself.

You boltgun nuts make me chuckle. Let's not pretend for one second like the bolt action is state of the art. Or that the AR platform is not nearing 60yrs old.
 
But when you ask the question "what's the most classic xxxxx"

In essence all you're doing is asking who won the popularly contest.

posted via tapatalk using android.
 
Classic American Cartridge Rifles...I vote for:

Sharps
Hawken
Win 70
Weatherby
Win lever
Springfield 03
Garand / M14
Glenfield / Marlin 22 bolt
Ruger 10/22
Rem 700
 
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