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

[Navin Johnson]

When does the bolt gun thread start?

[SwampDweller]

None of them are going to hold up to levels anywhere approaching what even lower end ARs do. The weakness of the Marlin design is wear in the carrier. The weakness in the Winchester design is the extractor. The later production Marlins had pretty bad metallurgy. I have only seen one of the Ruger produced Marlins. It was mighty slick, but we'll see... I have only had one of the Henrys come through class as we require a side loading gate. It functioned but had a horrid trigger.

My preferences is for older Marlins, but I understand I'll have to replace the carrier at some point.

For a manual action rifle, the Ruger American Ranch rifles are hard to beat.

Thanks jlw, I was hoping you'd chime in. I've been listening to a lot of your podcasts/videos lately, part of what got me thinking about this. What are the weaknesses of the Marlin's carrier? Would replacement carriers require fitting?

I've always liked the Ruger American Ranch, especially the idea of one in 7.62x39 as I have well over 10k rounds stored away of that stuff. I always figured a lever action would be more quick and easy to run in a stressful situation.

[fatdog]

To your original question. Since you have .357 ammo I would pick the Winchester 1892, I have one of the Rossi versions in stainless and once I replaced a few parts, safety plug, follower, ejector spring, it has been flawless with both .357 and .38 special ammo. I have easily 3K rounds down range with it at this point.

[jlw]

Thanks jlw, I was hoping you'd chime in. I've been listening to a lot of your podcasts/videos lately, part of what got me thinking about this. What are the weaknesses of the Marlin's carrier? Would replacement carriers require fitting?

I've always liked the Ruger American Ranch, especially the idea of one in 7.62x39 as I have well over 10k rounds stored away of that stuff. I always figured a lever action would be more quick and easy to run in a stressful situation.

Do a search for “Marlin jam” on Google and YouTube. The lever wears a groove in the carrier and it will eventually lead to two rounds jumping out of the tube and locking up the gun. Th carrier should be a drop in part.

[jlw]

To your original question. Since you have .357 ammo I would pick the Winchester 1892, I have one of the Rossi versions in stainless and once I replaced a few parts, safety plug, follower, ejector spring, it has been flawless with both .357 and .38 special ammo. I have easily 3K rounds down range with it at this point.

Pistol caliber leverguns are MUCH more finicky than rifle calibers.

[SwampDweller]

Pistol caliber leverguns are MUCH more finicky than rifle calibers.

If rifle caliber leverguns are less finicky than pistol caliber ones, what would you say is the most long term trouble-free rifle caliber levergun?

I mean, the more I think about it, maybe a 590A1 with slugs might be a better answer, but I still like the idea of a fast-action true rifle. Perhaps the Ruger American would be a better answer for that, it sounds like?

[jlw]

To me, levergun means .30-30 unless specifically stated otherwise. I prefer the 336 but that’s just because it’s what I had growing up.

I really like the Ruger American Ranch.

[HCM]

Thanks jlw, I was hoping you'd chime in. I've been listening to a lot of your podcasts/videos lately, part of what got me thinking about this. What are the weaknesses of the Marlin's carrier? Would replacement carriers require fitting?

I've always liked the Ruger American Ranch, especially the idea of one in 7.62x39 as I have well over 10k rounds stored away of that stuff. I always figured a lever action would be more quick and easy to run in a stressful situation.

My favorite gun for the niche occupied by the 30-30lever gun is my CZ 527 in 7.62x39. With those out of production, and not yet having direct experience with the CZ 600 series, I’d second the Ruger American Ranch. .300 Blk and 5.56 are viable too. Any of those would be preferable to a pistol caliber long gun.

As for quick and easy to run, I sounds like you’ve never seen someone with the knowledge and ability to run a bolt gun properly. Neither a bolt or a lever is going to match a semi auto but a bolt gun with detachable mags (or to a lesser degree stripper clips) beats a tube mag.

[JonInWA]

I'll echo the vote for the CZ 527 in 7.62x39. Best, Jon

[jlw]

I have one Social Levergun class scheduled for 2023, and it will likely be the only one scheduled for 2023. Right now, it currently has one registration. The levergun stuff generates a lot of conversation, but the class just doesn't sell.

Social Levergun, March 5, 2023. Yadkinville, NC.

Here's a podcast on the topic: