What are the Most Durable, Reliable, Robust Lever Action Rifles?

[HCM]

Bolt vs Lever.

I don't know if its a personal preference kind of issue or something else, but I know I didn't care for my Steyr Scout for anything where rate of fire mattered at all.

A BLR, Marlin 336 (as long as it wasn't a rough action in need of smoothing) or Henry lever was comparable or faster than a pump shotgun for me, the levers were all much faster than bolt guns for me. A military Mauser like my 6.5 Swede was much better for rate of aimed fire for me than the Steyr Scout ever was even though I spent lot more dry and live fire time with the Steyr. But I'd still pick a lever over the Swede for most things.

For me a decent lever, maybe a fit issue for me, like 1886, BLR, or Henry (or I assume 1873 though haven't had chance to try one yet) gave significant performance improvement over the Steyr Scout for anything involving more than 1 shot that it was like performance jump with pocket handguns going from J frame to Glock 26.

The Steyr Scout was certainly more accurate than any lever I have shot, and faster to reload than the levers except for BLR, but at least for me it was never a fast or even smooth action to work no matter how much effort I put into it. That is why after a decade or so of trying to make it work for General Purpose for me rifle I sold it to a buddy that really wanted it.

I would have slung the Scout and used J frame or G26 for anything inside 25 yards if speed and rate of fire mattered, with any of the levers would probably feel better with the lever down to 5 or 6 yards or maybe even closer depending what threat was. While a N frame, 1911, or Glock probably would have had me slinging the Scout at more like 50 yards.

I've handled CZ 527 several times but haven't shot one or the Ruger that's in similar class so IDK where they would fall for me personally.

YMMV

I've found that I prefer levers for what Cooper called General Purpose, or if I have to a semi auto. For things where I feel lever or semi auto is lacking I prefer Ruger No 1 or similar.

Maybe its just some type of bias

As the owner of both a Steyr scout and another Steyr bolt gun the SBS action used in the Steyr Scout doesn’t lend it self to rapid fire due to the bolt throw. Hence my preference for the 527 for the purposes the OP mentioned.

Speaking of confusion, you didn’t start it but this somehow drifted into a Scout / general purpose bolt gun fest which is not what the OP asked about.

The OP asked about pistol cal lever gun as AR/PCC substitutes. As others have mentioned pistol caliber lever guns are fun but reliability challenged. That lead to the recommendation of a 30-30 lever gun. The bolt gun equivalent of a 30-30 lever carbine is a “mini” action bolt gun in an intermediate caliber such as 7.62x39, .300 BO or 5.56.

With the CZ 527 discontinued, that leaves the Ruger American Ranch, the Howa mini Mausers and the new CZ 600 series. These smaller, lighter guns in intermediate calibers are not the “one gun for everything” solution but they are better at close quarters / realistic defense ranges under time pressure than full size “one gun to rule them all” solutions. Just like with semi autos, 308 (and up) are not “intermediate” calibers.

[JonInWA]

Inevitable thread drift....I'm disappointed that 1) CZ discontinued the CZ 527, and 2) never developed and marketed an OEM 10 round magazine for it (and, somewhat surprisingly, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever did, other than some gunsmith specials involving welding and reconfiguring and custom springing 2 of the CZ 5 rounders). (And yeah, I'm aware that the CZ 600 Trail is available in 7.62 x 39 with 10 round magazines)

On mine, I painted the front sight fluorescent orange, and a friend of mine quickly beat my good idea fairy to death when I mentioned that I was considering getting the CZ Weaver rail attachment and throwing a contemporary rifle RDS on it. Not that it's a bad idea, the the CZ has decent irons, and sticking with irons keeps things simple and Murphy at bay...

I'll get back in my lane now...

Best, Jon

[gato naranja]

To add to my earlier thoughts about PCC leverguns, I will add that given the same action the .44's seemed less prone to having a round hang up during the closing of the lever than the .357's. Others may have found the opposite, but that has been my experience.

[Ed L]

Growing up in the late 1970s in New York State, I noticed a number of people who owned lever action guns for home defense and general use. These people would typically buy them at the firearms counter at a local sporting goods store. These firearms were typically not fired very much--as in 10 or 20 rounds shortly after buying, and then 10-20 rounds once in a while. These guns served as hunting firearms, "just-in-case" guns, and "just-to-have-a-gun" guns. The concept of firing a large amount of rounds in practice--or even a moderate amount of rounds--with a centerfire rifle did not seem to exist at that time in my limited exposure. Bring the gun to the range, fire 10 or 20 rounds through it (or whatever was necessary to sight in the scope if the gun had an optic) and the gun was considered good to go.

My family was included in this group. We bought a Marlin 336C in .35 Remington in 1976, I believe. We bought it in .35 Remington, a caliber I wasn't familiar with at the time, at the advice of a family friend who was an NYPD cop. That gun got traded away decades ago. In the last few years I decided it would be nice to have one, and I came across a 1970s vintage Marlin 336C in 30-30 which I bought for around $900. It came with a period correct recoil pad.

[rob_s]

Short answer. None.

Even back in their hey day there was a reason tube fed lever guns never saw any significant military use. The Russians used some 1895 Winchesters (box magazine fed) but only because it was that or nothing.

Holding a lever gun to to modern duty gun standards is unrealistic.

If you are serious about this consider a modern shotgun with wood furniture.

This is correct.

Most of the “society for historic anachronism” types of guns are (a) not built to modern standards because they don’t have to be and (b) really were never as good as the proponents would have you believe.

So you buy today and you’re getting a lesser copy of something that wasn’t that great to begin with.

[jh9]

I noticed a number of people who owned lever action guns for home defense and general use. These people would typically buy them at the firearms counter at a local sporting goods store. These firearms were typically not fired very much--as in 10 or 20 rounds shortly after buying, and then 10-20 rounds once in a while. These guns served as hunting firearms, "just-in-case" guns, and "just-to-have-a-gun" guns. The concept of firing a large amount of rounds in practice--or even a moderate amount of rounds--with a centerfire rifle did not seem to exist at that time in my limited exposure. Bring the gun to the range, fire 10 or 20 rounds through it (or whatever was necessary to sight in the scope if the gun had an optic) and the gun was considered good to go.

Yeah. "Let's shoot the piss out of it" is more common now than it was back then but I think it's still the vast minority that will ever have the odometer roll over to four digits in any centerfire gun they own. Going back to the leatherslap and proto-IPSC days the attitude was far less common... but even today I don't think you'd find more than a relative handful.

Brings to mind a range trip a couple months ago where some dude was "zeroing" his Savage Axis or similar, modern commercial 'sporting/hunting rifle'-- by pounding box after box through it like Attila was at the gates. Eventually the gun gave up. I didn't ask for specifics, but he gathered a crowd as people were trying to figure out what happened. Dude was confused. Like he expected some pencil barreled hunting rifle to stand up to a firing schedule that would have been more appropriate for a WWI-issue bolt gun. (Probably would have been more confused had he let the barrel cool down and found out his "zero" was in another zip code but w/e...)

I think the attitude of shoot it fast / a lot / often has permeated the larger gun culture but people doing it still seem to be a tiny fraction. Anecdata... But I've seen a lot more of what you describe than the above (or your average IDPA/USPSA/SCSA competitor). Especially in the years where ammo is expensive.

[gato naranja]

Yeah. "Let's shoot the piss out of it" is more common now than it was back then but I think it's still the vast minority that will ever have the odometer roll over to four digits in any centerfire gun they own. Going back to the leatherslap and proto-IPSC days the attitude was far less common... but even today I don't think you'd find more than a relative handful.

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." My past is certainly a case in point.

There were some people who competed in formal matches but they were few and far between; they were also generally reloaders, but not one of these locals burned through ammunition like one sees being done today. The serious trap/skeet guys probably took the prize for the number of rounds fired in a year, and they tended to be the busiest reloaders of all. The more typical general-interest "gun cranks" of that time/place reloaded not because they shot high volumes of ammo, but because they were frugal and/or were chasing some holy grail load.

And "frugal" was baked right into most of the grownups. Blowing through a box of anything other than .22 rimfire in one session was considered extravagant by those guys, and I had my character impugned more than once for "wasting" ammunition if I shot away a whole box of 50 during a ramble down the tracks and up the hill.

Being specific about lever action rifles, the only leverguns I remember doing much more than annually traveling out of state for antlered game... or being occasionally "sighted in" in some pasture... or collecting dust... were Marlin 39's and the occasional 1897. I doubt if many of the centerfire leverguns I saw in the gun racks of those days ever had a thousand rounds through them.

[SwampDweller]

If one had to choose between a lever action rifle or a handy bolt action like the Ruger American in 5.56 or 7.62x39 for all uses between home defense and out to 50 yards or so, what would seem to be the preferred option?

[4RNR]

The Ruger is probably faster to reload but I would go with a lever.

I don't think they're all that bad for what I'd use it for if I were in your shoes. It's a just in case for certain states. Unless you plan to use it in trench warfare, like the Russians, or stopping human wave attacks.

I consider them in the same category as small 380s or J frames. May not hold up to crazy high round counts but that doesn't mean they're bad.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[whomever]

If one had to choose between a lever action rifle or a handy bolt action like the Ruger American in 5.56 or 7.62x39 for all uses between home defense and out to 50 yards or so, what would seem to be the preferred option?

At one time or another I have owned Marlins in 44, .30-30, and 45/70, and Ruger Americans in 300BLK and 5.56. (as an aside, I'm talking about the Rugers that use AR mags. I wasn't all that happy with the one that had the flush fit mag ... that was pretty cheesy)

My answer: it depends :-). In no particular order:

1)I think the Rugers are generally cheaper
2)But you need to put on a scope or dot (or maybe someone makes irons for the Ruger?)
3)As mentioned, the pistol caliber levers don't always run reliably. If you get one that does, nevermind.
4)In bear country, the lever calibers have some advantages. A Ruger in 7.62x39 might work too, but 5.56/300BLK are a bit small for my taste. If bears aren't an issue, nevermind. Conversely, the bigger calibers are a bit much for home defense; I'd rather have 5.56 (or .357, if you get one that runs well). If you reload, straight wall cartridges are nice.
5)Capacity: AR mags vs. 4 to 10 rounds, (aside: AR mags are a lot cheaper than mini-30 mags)
6)If you're rambling around in the field, nothing carries in the hand like a lever.
7)I know you said close range, but FWIW my 5.56 Ruger will reliably print maybe 1.25 inch 10 shot groups (handloads, 1-4 LPVO, off the bench). That makes for a pretty good effective range. The levers have all been iron sights, and I never shot them for groups, so I dunno how far they would be useful.
8)2 out of 3 of the Ruger Americans I have had were slick as could be right out of the box - the bolt OD might as well have been ground. One had turn marks you could see. It slicked up pretty well with the time honored trick of working the action a zillion times, but it's nice if you can see it as opposed to ordering it. But with the full diameter bolt and 3 lugs, all of them are way faster than any other bolt I've tried, although I sure haven't tried them all :-)

Overall, I think it's like the eternal 'which is better - revolver or semi handgun?' question. There isn't one obvious right answer for all cases. If you can find them in a store, try them and see if one or the other clicks for you.