State of the Lever Action 2022

[LockedBreech]

The last thread I can find about lever actions using the Search function is about 2 years old. Not long, but long enough for things to change in gun world (look at recent Remington, for instance, which seems to be somewhat less sucky).

For a very nerdy reason (playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on Xbox with my lady) I have been camping and hiking more (because I live in country as pretty as the game if you know where to go) and also having a mean hankering for my first lever-action gun. Something traditionally Western like a .357 repeater or a .30-30 would be ideal.

I know that Marlin and Henry seem to be pretty well regarded. Is either one generally seen as clearly superior? I know Rossi and Winchester have options too.

Much like when I picked out a higher-end Polish AK-47, this isn't like AR-15s or service 9mms, I won't buy a bunch of them, I just one a single excellent example. Is there a current consensus here in September 2022 about the best brand of lever action for plinking/hiking/hunting?

[Totem Polar]

Consensus? Good luck with that.

That said, I am partial to Henrys, now that they’ve added the side loading gate, on top of the tube mag cap that makes an unload dump simple.

A .357 octagon barrel/case hardened carbine is a thing of beauty. JMO. OMMV, soon enough…

[Duelist]

My Marlin 1894 .357 was the first one I came across of the right vintage that I could afford. It is pre-crossbolt, and has clearly hiked, hunted, and been tossed in a pickup enough times that any wear I may do to it won’t give me any heartburn. It has fed any .38 or .357 I’ve bothered to stuff in the tube. I have yet to try wadcutters, though.

The loading gate is stiff and the lip around it is too sharp. I have broken more nails on it than anything else since I got it - and as @Totem Polar can attest, that both hurts and sucks as a guitar player.

That is the only thing I can think of to complain about on it, and it’s probably something I can fix. I will probably have to mount a low powered scope on it sooner or later, since my eyes are 50 years old and not as flexible as they used to be. I’ll put that off as long as I can, though.

[314159]

Personal experiences:

1) Straight wall cases (.357, .38 for me) require a vigorous and deliberate working of the action for reliable feeding.

2) 30-30 is much smoother, may recoil more than you expect due to how light these carbines tend to be, particularly sans scope. Feeds easier through the loading gate.

3) The Miroku (sp?) made Winchester 94 is a VERY accurate rifle, superbly made.

[LockedBreech]

Personal experiences:

1) Straight wall cases (.357, .38 for me) require a vigorous and deliberate working of the action for reliable feeding.

2) 30-30 is much smoother, may recoil more than you expect due to how light these carbines tend to be, particularly sans scope. Feeds easier through the loading gate.

3) The Miroku (sp?) made Winchester 94 is a VERY accurate rifle, superbly made.

Does using a cartridge with a notably narrowed nose (Critical Defense, XTP, etc.) help at all with that, or is it it about the walls of the cartridge case?

[314159]

I've experience with only one .357 (Marlin) carbine. If I tried to rapidly work the action I would often get a bit of a hang up in feeding. In that carbine I shot everything from .38 cast commercial reloads to FMJ FP .38 158 and on through many expensive .357 JHPs (125, 145, 158, and 180). I saw the bobble on everything as I recall. The carbine itself was the pre-block version in very good condition. Sample of one but I have read of others, FWIW.


ps. I never tried the 130 FMJ RN loads because I recalled an old caution against using that load in long barrelled revolvers put out by the USAF back when they used to issue revolvers. My memory may be lying to me but the gist of it was that the anemic issue load (meant for aircrew snubbies and Model 15s) might not make it out of the end of a 6 inch or longer barrel. Doesn't seem likely but I just avoided the issue, particularly with an 18 inch barrel.

[03RN]

Over the years I've had marlins and Winchester's. Currently I have 2 puma 92s in .357 and .45.

For light trail guns they can't be beat. The only bullet that doesn't work are 170gr swc in the .357. 158 wn-swc work great.

For hunting deer in buck only areas I was a scope so for a serious hunting rifle I want a Marlin in .30-30 with a 1.5-5x or 1-3x weaver scope.

[Dov]

My gf prefers muzzle light or neutral balance and generally prefers autos to manually operated firearms.

But she doesn't care for AR, mostly because of the balance with loaded mag, eventually we found a Marlin 336Y (Youth model with 16" barrel and shorter LOP) and she really likes it.

I've got various health issues making me much more sensitive to recoil than I ever used to be, even her 20 gauge 11-87 is barely tolerable for me at this point with Slugs or buck. But her shorter & lighter than standard size Marlin, I believe the 336Y is ~6.5 lbs vs normal ~7 lbs, is completely comfortable to shoot with everything I tried in it up to Federal 170 Nosler Partitions.

It's not as slick as the Henry levers I've handled, and we plan on getting a Henry 357 or 2 eventually.

Planning on changing the loading port and having gunsmith smooth up the action a bit, it works but isn't as smooth as it should be IMO.

The 336Y only holds 5 in the mag tube because of the shorter barrel but it is just as short as 14" Rem 870.

[4RNR]

I've experience with only one .357 (Marlin) carbine. If I tried to rapidly work the action I would often get a bit of a hang up in feeding. In that carbine I shot everything from .38 cast commercial reloads to FMJ FP .38 158 and on through many expensive .357 JHPs (125, 145, 158, and 180). I saw the bobble on everything as I recall. The carbine itself was the pre-block version in very good condition. Sample of one but I have read of others, FWIW.


ps. I never tried the 130 FMJ RN loads because I recalled an old caution against using that load in long barrelled revolvers put out by the USAF back when they used to issue revolvers. My memory may be lying to me but the gist of it was that the anemic issue load (meant for aircrew snubbies and Model 15s) might not make it out of the end of a 6 inch or longer barrel. Doesn't seem likely but I just avoided the issue, particularly with an 18 inch barrel.

From what I remember reading some rifles chambered for 2 cartridges can have issues with the bigger cartridge. The only ones I can think of are 38/357 and 44mag/44spl.

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[camel]

With my broken right hand I cannot adequately manipulate the loading gate with pistol caliber lever actions.
Rifle caliber cartridges make it easier.