I watched The Rifleman as a kid. One-hundred-sixty-eight episodes and 120 dead bad guys later I had a permanent case of lever fever. The affliction flares up from time to time; I’m burning through ammo in my recently-arrived Big Horn Armory Model 89 S&W 500 lever gun. Grizzly Custom Guns will soon be sending me the custom-fitted heavily modified Marlin .357 I commissioned in 1979. A couple of years ago, lever guns were all the rage – including “cowboy tactical” models. Lately, I haven’t heard much about them. Maybe it’s because Marlin’s screwed the pooch. [“Please note: Newer ‘MR prefix’ Marlins will incur additional charges to correct issues from the factory.”] Or maybe lever gun guys have slipped into stealth mode. Well, here’s your chance to confess the lever love that dare not speak its name. Who’s got lever fever?

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98 COMMENTS

  1. I used to be a Marlin fan, but then Marlin took a Freedom Group to the knee.

    (I could kick myself for selling my pre-Freedom Group 336)

    • Given their historical usage, wouldn’t it be more accurate to call them “Rural Assault Rifles”?

  4. I have a Henry .22, which I love. It’s a great plinker.

    My wishlist includes both a lever in .357 to match my SAA .375s, as well as something in a more traditional rifle caliber. But so many guns, so little time… and money.

    • I also have a 22 Henry lever gun, love it! The action is very smooth, and the wood is excellent.

      • Ditto. Great fun to shoot off hand. Bit of a pain shooting bench or prone, but loads of fun standing.

      • Great to hear how nice those rifles are. i have an order in for one of those commemorative .22s.

      • Another +1 on the Henry .22. I put a scope on mine, and it’s incredibly fun to shoot. I just wish I could find ammo to feed it.

    • +1 on my Henry .22LR – wonderful gun to shoot, and a lot cheaper to send 17 rounds downrange “Rifleman Style” than with the centerfires. Even at today’s .22 prices 🙂 But +1 to it all: fit, finish, trigger.

      • I forgot to mention the great trigger, in my post above. You can’t beat these little guns for the money.

    • Count me in for the Henry love-fest. They make wonderful guns. I just wish they’d make some with a loading gate, instead of having to remove the mag tube follower to reload.

      I love plinking with it loaded with Aguila Super Colibri ammo (when I can find some). It’s so quiet, the hammer fall is louder than the shot. No ear pro needed, and no tax stamp either. Of course, that makes it about as deadly as a Red Ryder carbine action model with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time, but the tin cans don’t seem to mind.

    • Same here. Love my Henry and want the .38/.357 rifle and revolver combo. Buying the Henry has been some of my most favorite guns. Just wish I could find some .22 ammo. We have a group of guys at my local WallyWorld that know the schedule, take lawn chairs and camp out until the ammo goes on the shelf. Then they buy it all up. Someone posted a picture of them on Armslist a while back.

      • Got rid of my Henry golden boy .22 mag.
        The drop of the stock was just unbearable. I just can’t shoot a rifle without a cheek weld.
        Bummer. It was a pretty rifle.

      • Then do what with it? Shoot it? That’s cool. Hoard it, re-sell it? Totally uncool.

  5. I’ve got a Model 89 on order also. My wife had an old 44-40 lever that sat in the display cabinet for a long time. Just for kicks I took it out about 6 months ago to the range, just loved it. There is just something about the feel and action that makes it a hell of a lot of fun to shoot. More fun than my ak47, scar 16s, scar 17s and ps90.

  6. A good lever gun is on my to buy list. Not sure what it is, but theirs just something dead sexy about them. Tomorrow I’m getting to shoot a friends pre64 1894 in 32 win spc, and I just can’t wait.

  7. lever guns are cool, and are in cartridges that are fun to shoot. my 35 rem marlin( old pre freedom group) is a great woods rifle . only problem is that like all non mil cartridges, ammo is hard to find because the plants are using all their caacity to feed the 223, 308, and 30/06 guys.

  8. Savage 99. My dad was a Maine Guide, and picked up a used 99A in 250-3000 Savage in 1921; he hunted with that rifle for the rest of his life. My older brother has the gun, still carrying the tang peep sight; I had a 1971 Savage re-issue 99A in the same caliber, but mounting a vintage Weaver steel-tube K2.5 scope. Never could get used to the tang safety (Dad’s gun had the sliding hook beside the lever that locked it). I gave my rifle to my nephew, who is an avid hunter; I travel for work and haven’t hunted in years, and the Model 99 was meant to be carried in the wild.

    • That Savage 99 was an excellent rifle. A buddy’s grandfather gave him a .300 savage 99 and that thing put a lot of racks over the barn door. When he got it it had the standard factory irons on it. He replaced those with a peep and bead type sight and it was a real sweet rifle at the ranges we used it.

      His grandfather also gave him another lever gun. I’m having a senior moment and can’t remember the brand now. But it was in .38-55. We only shot it rarely cause it was old then and the ammo wasn’t common at the stores we shopped.

      Sweet times.

    • I have a Model 99 in .300 Savage that was one of the first full-power rifles I ever shot. I wish I had the iron sights for it, but sadly they’re long gone – need to scour Numrich’s for them.

      I really don’t find the lever action on it very comfortable to shoot, though.

      I only wish that it was in .308 Win rather than .300 Savage.

  9. I bought a Browning BL-22 FLD grade a couple of weeks ago. Finally shot it this morning. It ate shorts, Aguila primer only LRs, and CCI Mini Mags without a stutter one. Every shot made the steel sing. It was too windy to do bullseye, but I have little doubt that it will cut the center out of a target.

    It is a load of fun to fill that tube magazine up with 21 22shorts and go Old School rapid fire.

  10. I have a 1990s-era Marlin 1895, a Miroku Winchester Model 95 .30-06, a USRAC Annie Oakley Commemorative 9422 and a Bullard Model 1886 .50-95 Win. Express. I guess I’ve got the fever.

  11. The first time I ever went shooting on my own — just me and a gun in the sagebrush country of Southern Utah — I took a lever-action .22 with me. I didn’t know it then, but that experience would resonate for decades.

    I thought it was my dad’s gun, but it turned out he only had it on loan from his brother. I was incredibly disappointed when I found out, years later, that a bland bolt-action had taken the place of that beautiful old levergun (I wonder if my uncle still has it…I’ll have to ask him this summer when I make my annual pilgrimage).

    Yes, I have levergun fever. It lay dormant for decades, but when I finally got around to buying my own guns not so long ago, it came back with a vengeance. If this is a sickness, I don’t want to be cured.

  12. bought a M92 Carbine 454 Casull from Rossi a few years ago it’s my favorite gun I can’t afford to shoot

  13. I don’t know what it is about them, but I like lever-actions. I can’t readily explain why. I want one.

    I’ve been thinking of picking up a .22 for plinking. Maybe I’ll make it a lever-action.

  14. I’ve got a Marlin 1894CL in .32-20 that I has a CAS smith put a long magazine tube on and make the action slicker than snot. She’s a beauty.

  15. I really want a stainless 44mag lever gun. I should have bought the Taylors/Chiappa Alaskan Takedown when I had the chance…they seem to be very hard to find these days.

    I guess I *could* get a Rossi and use the rest of the $$ on ammo.

  16. I have Beretta Renegade chambered in .357 Magnum. It’s definitely fun to shoot and .38 Specials turn it into an absolute powder puff.

  17. I love my Rossi 92 carbine in .357. My kids shoot it better than I do. It’s their favorite gun.

  21. Yea, I like levers. I have only one, though, that being a winchester 94AE in .45 LC with a large loop lever.
    Levers are just great, practical, arms. I think what drove the “urban tactical” lever action market was
    the looming possibility of an assault weapons ban. If semiautos are banned, then levers in pistol calibers
    really come in to their own.
    I’d like to acquire one in stainless, in .357 as a companion to my .357 revolver. As lever guns are legal more
    places than not, one would make a great travel gun. Top it with a good fast optic, like a red dot or that new see all, and you are gold.

  22. My first rifle was a Henry Big Boy in .45 Long Colt. I have lever fever now and forever.

    My short want list is one in .357 and a 30-30.

  23. I’ve got a Winchester model ’94 pre-64 that was my Dad’s so it has some sentimental value to me. But although I’m a pretty good shooter, this one just confounds me to shoot well. It looks nice in my display case, though.

  24. I have a Henry “mare’s leg” .22, and it’s lots of fun. I’d love to one day get a full stock lever gun in either .45 long or .357, with a revolver to match.
    I also consider the .22 mare’s leg to be a good apocalypse gun…infinitely reliable, accurate, lightweight, multi-caliber (all the various .22’s), and capable of taking small and maybe medium sized game/threats.

  25. I bought a Rossi M92 .357 24″ Octagon Barrel last month. its case hardened too. I’m absolutely in love with it. It took me 2 years to find one that was in stock, after multiple LGS’s gave me the run around about ordering one, or putting money down on one, they all told me either we can’t get it, or everyone wants one, and we don’t put them on hold.

  26. First gun I ever shot was a Winchester .22 when my Dad took me shooting as a boy. Nearly fifty years later, I still have that rifle. It was recently joined by a new, Japanese made, Winchester .357 model 1876. That rifle is pretty much the most fun a person can have with his clothes on. I am, always have been, and always will be a lever-action aficionado.

  27. Love my preFG 336C. Still needs a lot more ammo to pass through that action to make her run smooth as a ball bearing. I bought a FG Marlin 336c for a relative as a gift not knowing it was a RemMarlin at the time. I felt so guilty for the thing not running right, I took it back and worked on it until it was a runner. I have been sore about Marlins since. It will take time because I surely loved all their stuff until Remington got ahold of them. Still have my .22 LR bolt action with tube feed from when I was a wee one. I have killed a few hundred rabbits with it.

  28. My dad got a Marlin 336w .30-30 for me when I was 10 in 1996. It has the saftey, but it’s still my main white tail rifle.

  30. I picked up an early 2000 model Marlin 336 after my uncle passed away. He’d purchased it for hunting whitetail. To my knowledge, he shot less than 20 rounds through it, and then it went under the bed. He passed away shortly after.

    My aunt didn’t have any interest so I paid her a fair price for the gun. My parents & grandparents were never really “gun” people so it is one of only a precious few guns that are family guns. That elevates it to a very special place.

    I’ve upgraded the rear sight to a Wild West Ghost Ring, and have plans to swap out the front sight to something fiber optic and appropriately tall before whitetail season opens. It doesn’t always feed reliably though, so maybe it spends some time with a gunsmith to get cleaned up.

    /cool story bro

  31. I grew up looking at my grandpa’s lever gun in 303 savage hanging on the wall. He unfortunately sold it so I never got to shoot it. Last month I saw my great grandfather’s lever gun for the first time. My grandpa still has it and showed me his entire gun collection. He’s never done that before so I was excited. I think the lever gun was in .25-30? He also had some other neat guns like an 03A3.

    My short list is a Henry .22 and a .357 so I can pair it with my Ruger GP100. I saw a beautiful Henry in .44 mag two months ago that I wish I could have picked up.

  32. I had lever fever really bad last year and lucked up bigtime. Ran across a local guy on a Facebook gun page who had a Marlin 1894 in .357 (and another rifle) who was wanting to trade for a pistol. I offered him a Sig P220 that I bought a few years back as a police trade in. He was happy and I was REALLY happy!

    It’s a mid-90’s (pre Freedom Group) model with the nice checkering. Just a flat out blast to shoot.

  33. My wife recently harvested her first whitetail deer with the same lever action 30-30 that used to be my mother’s. I have used the same rifle to good effect on hogs.

    I often take a 30-30 for hogs even when I have the option to take an AR or higher power bolt action rifle. Sometimes something “in the middle” as far as capacity and power is just right. Inside a vehicle, an AR’s dangling magazines and pistol grip tend to snag and bang on everything making them sometimes hard to get into action. A powerful bolt action can be so long it’s hard to get into action and are limited in capacity and speed, which makes it less than ideal engaging multiple running targets. A 30-30 lever action is short and smooth, making it easy to get in the action, has good capacity and follow-up speed, and delivers a more authoritative blow to a target than a .223/5.56.

    I may someday have to try a 300BLK as a 30-30 replacement, but not until the current price and availability issues work themselves out. I’m very happy with the 30-30 for many applications.

  34. I put half down on a Marlin 1895 SBL at my LGS …. and then waited for 6 months.

    It was something of an experiment I guess, knowing Marlin SUCKS now, in manufacturing capability and quality, but I was thinking maybe I’d send it away to Wild West Guns and get them to do their thing on it (as I had seen someone else do successfully with a Pre-FG Marlin).

    After 6 mo’s, my LGS was cool enough to agree to credit me the cache and I put it towards something else instead and all but forgot about my Lever-Fever, until YOU DECIDED TO POST THIS.

    🙂 thanks!

  36. Also a Rifleman fan, with two older borthers and dad, it was a mandatory TV program in our household.
    Have absolutely no need for lever action rifle. But still crave a Henry .22LR, Not likely to get one, husband has a number of long guns, says we don’t need another one. Damn if I know what “need” has to do with buying guns. Thinking it would make a good Christmas present, especially since I buy my own presents and put on his credit card, with his endorsement, he hates X-MAS shopping

  37. Henry 22 and 38/357, both with octagonal barrels plus a Winchester Ranger 30-30, all the most fun to shoot (next to my custom flintlock & Alex Henry 54 cal sporting rifle). Why is it the old style stuff is always the best…also, it’s interesting that Chuck Connors was a 3 sport pro athlete before he baca me an actor..didn’t think there was enough money in pro sports at the time for him to make a decent living. How times have changed…

  38. My favorite gun that I own is easily a pre-safety, pre-checkering Marlin 1894C (.357 mag). It shoots as beautifully as it looks and is the one gun I have that I can always count on someone else at the range begging to shoot. It also happens to be about the perfect HD gun for just about anyone, but certainly for smaller statured women. It combines a tiny package with FIERCE stopping power (for a pistol caliber carbine) all while mitigating flash and recoil.

    Yeah I got the fever… And shooting my levergun is the only cure!

    • If I were a rich man….Of all the Winchesters, this is highest on my list, followed by a 30-30 (the first full power rifle I ever fired. Bullseye on the first shot. After that, not so much). And to cap it off, one in 45LC to go with a SAA Colt.

  42. I had a beautiful Henry .17 hmr. Lovely, but I couldn’t shoot straight with it. I had a Savage Bolt in .22 lr that was like a laser beam, but the Henry was barely on the paper. I feel the problem was me, not the rifle, but it was a disappointment. I sure wanted to enjoy it.

    • Was having similar problems with the .22 WMR Frontier I have, the iron sights are nice looking and “period correct” but they are hard to get repeatable results from. So I gave in and put a scope on it.

      Oddly, my .22LR Frontier pump has similar sights but that gun is a tack driver compared to the lever.

  43. Newer Win 94 here with matching Smith 686. Awesome. Either Millet or Wilson (can’t remember) peeps on top of the 94. After some follower issues (rounds getting trapped under follower above lever) she works fine. Great truck and house bine.

    ….and with the several 100 fps additional out of the .357 rifle barrel I have a perfect black tail gun to 150 yards.

    I got a kick when the RO tried to shut me down on the pistol steel only range (15-100 yards). A senior RO corrected the situation explaining the gun WAS a pistol caliber.

    • A gun that shoots pistol-caliber ammo at rifle velocities — a bit of a conundrum when it comes to range rules. (But I only shoot out in the boonies: my range, my rules.)

      Man, I REALLY want a lever-action rifle in .357. But should I get that or a .45-70 first? Another conundrum.

  44. I am the proud owner of 2 “JM” marked Marlin lever guns. My first is a Marlin 1895G (45-70) setup to take on big, toothy nasties. My other is my miracle gun. A Marlin 1894P (44 Mag) found in very good condition on the used gun rack. The sales guy didn’t know how rare it was and almost gave it to me.

    I love them so much I am looking constantly for more “JM” rifles. 336Y (30-30), 1894 (357 Mag and 45 Colt) to start.

    • Was this a particular model Marlin .44? or are all .44 mag Marlins rare? I ask because I have a Marlin .44 mag I bought abought 25 years ago (give or take). As to having the fever, yeah, I have 5 lever guns, 4 shooters and one John Wayne commerative Winchester still in the box.

      • The “P” model is rare as it was made for only 3 years. I have never heard anybody that has good numbers but the general guess is 1000-2000 made. In the 1894’s there are some rare ones out there, the 1894P (44 mag), the 1894CP (357 mag), 1894 Limited (something like 500 made per caliber) all with 16 inch barrels. Sometimes called the “Mini-Guide Guns”

  45. Ruger 96/44 I bought in ’97. Still have it and should be picking up it’s companion, a Super Blackhawk stainless 4 5/8″ bbl, today. I’ve been casting the hell out of some 240 gr. gas checked SWC’s in anticipation.

    Over the years I’ve owned a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem. and a Winchester 94 Trapper in .357 Mag. Both were bought in the early 90’s and both I regret parting with.

  46. I still have my mother’s Winchester Model 53 in .44-40 from the 1920’s. I would shoot it more if I could find/afford the ammo.

  47. I was noddling on this question for the last hour or so. What I believe is that there are these major groups within the POTG. Some of them are easily decerned on the net today. Folks who were first introduced via the electronic games are all about shooting handguns and ARs. Talking about defense use. Then there are the handgun guys. Easy to haul to the range. Lots of noise, bang and clang. Then there are rifle folks. Calm rational and analytical. The kind that measure groups with calipers. The shotgun crowd are the caddyshack folks. They need 12 others to have a shoot. The form leagues and build skeet and trap ranges.

    I grew up in a totally different age. Read (like in a paper printed book) Col. Whelan, Jack O ‘Connor, Warren Page and P.O. Ackley. All dead and gone. All unknown to the vast majority of the POTG.

    My goal was not to blast away with an AK. To own a Glock. My childhood goal was to own and shoot all guns. All types and kinds. Each had their story. Most had a history of conflict or struggle for survival. Pioneers. Mountain men and Indian fighters (no offense) . Soliders in major world conflagrations. African safaris and prairie dog shoots. Pronghorn or Elk hunting. Or just damm pretty.

    My safe, after a life of working too damm much, scraping and saving has at least one of everything. I was dead serious in a comment a couple of weeks ago about buying a gun every birthday.

  48. Henry in .22 Magnum, Marlin 1894CSS (before they started sucking wind) in .357, and a ’94 in .32 Winchester Special. Love a lever gun.

    That Marlin .357 is the one I will always have, will always have ammo to feed it (unless SHTF lasts, like, 20 years). My absolute favorite rifle. Simply awesome.

  49. My marlin 1894c (.38/.357) is hands down my favorite gun.

    With hand loads, the .357 can be a pretty hard hitter, too.

  51. .357 lever gun is on my short list. Along with 8 or 9 other guns. How many have a lever gun as a SHTF bugout gun?

  52. If in some hell-on-Earth I could only have one gun, it would be my ’79 vintage Marlin 1894C in .357 Magnum. 38 special wadcutters for squirrels and varmints, up to full house mags for deer and black bear (and apparently now cougars in Missouri). It’s a reloaders dream. And with the XS ghost ring sights, quite fast.

  53. My grandfathers 1886 Winchester in 45-70 is my favorite gun out of a large safe full of guns. Over half of my guns were my fathers and about a quarter of them were also my grandfathers…
    Perhaps that is why I enjoy cowboy action shooting. If you have never tried it go to http://www.sassnet.com And find a shoot near to you.

    If you go to one of the smaller monthly shoots rather than the larger state and regional shoots you will find lots of folks eager to set you up with borrowed guns leather and ammo as soon as you get the “this is my first cowboy shoot” words out of your mouth. And they will continue to support a new shooter with loaners at these small contests for several months as you put together your kit

    Even more so if you make an effort with boots and jeans and a western hat (straw is fine when you start) but don’t show up in a T shirt after your first visit….

    Some clubs are very heavy into total costume themes but fortunately most are much more easy going about this aspect of the sport.

  54. I had a Rossi 44 mag, with the octagon barrel, it was junk.
    Got a replacement from the factory, because the first one was not repairable.
    The replacement was junk too, so my gun dealer gave me a full refund.

    I used the refund money to buy a real gun, the Henry Big Boy 44 mag.

    I also have a Taurus 45LC “pump” rifle. While it technically is not a lever gun it works on the same principal.

  56. My Marlin 336 is a favorite of mine.

    Gee, I have plenty of ammo and it’s spring time.

    Need to go out to the range to play cowboy.

  57. On my 18th birthday, my grandfather handed me his centennial model 336, his only rifle, as a sign of my passage into manhood. It’s chambered in .35 Remington (no scope) and was manufactured early in 1969, long before Marlin went full-retard. He bought it in the early 70’s, put 20 rounds through it, and then carefully wrapped it in lightly oiled wax paper to be stored ’til whenever. Due to commitments with work and a stroke that nearly paralyzed half his body when I was a kid, whenever lasted for decades. I fired another 80 rounds, detail cleaned, and officially put the rifle into retirement as my safe queen after that. I have yet to see a Marlin rifle built within the last 20 years that comes anywhere close to matching the quality of my grandfather’s, and as sad as it is to say, I probably never will.

  58. I love my .22 WMR Henry. Just put a Simmons 3-9 x 32 with the intention to use it solely as a varmint gun due to difficulties finding ammo, but it’s so fun to shoot that I don’t see myself abstaining from some range time in the near future.

  59. Lever guns? Mid 70s vintage Winchester Model 94 in .30-30, Marlin 336 .30-30. Henry Big Boy in .44 magnum/.44 special – great sentimental value as I bought this rifle after surviving a fight with prostate cancer, Rossi Model 92 carbine with the John Wayne lever in .38/.357 – a great rifle that shoots one hole groups at 25 yards with 158 grain .38 semi wadcutter handloads, and even an old Winchester Model 200 .22 which is surprisingly accurate and smooth. So I guess I’m a lever gun guy. I’m looking for a Savage 99 in .300 Savage and a model 95 Winchester Texas Ranger style rifle in .30-40 Krag. I fell in love with the 95 Win when I watched The Rough Riders back in the day.

  61. I’ve been craving a lever gun in 30-30 to match my great-grandfather’s Winchester 54. I’ve been holding off on it, but a Rossi Rio Grande is starting to look mighty tempting…

  62. I recently got to shoot a friend’s Henry Big Boy in .44 Magnum. It is quite accurate at 50 yards. That said, it kicks like a mule because the “shoulder pad” is made out of brass. I got less of a kick out of a S&W model 29 with an 8 and 3/8 barrel. Boy, I loved that gun, it was soooo accurate, all the way to 100 yards.

  63. I have a 1966 Marlin 39A Golden Mountie and a 1929 Marlin .410, two of my favorite guns.

    I also grew up on the Rifleman and other such shows. The one I would love to have is the Mare’s Leg lever like Steve McQueen’s used on the television show Wanted: Dead or Alive. Unfortunately New York considers them a shorten rifle and illegal instead of a pistol, like the current manufactures sell them.

  65. Lever guns are awesome and one of the, if not the, most sexy types of firearms there is. I want one new, but just can’t get comfortable with what’s out there today, especially in .357/.38spl. I’ll read through every last comment here to get some good advice on a great lever gun option.

  66. About two months ago I managed to find a pre cross bolt safety Marlin 1895 at a pawn shop. At the time I wasn’t too interested and it was priced well below what it should have been. This shop looked up what a modern remlin goes for on gun broker and assumed that should be the price. Trying to help a local buisness I tried to point out their error and could easily sell for an extra 3-4 hundred dollars. The clerk then took their already low price then took 50 off of it, naturally I had to but it. Almost flawless blueing, no checkering, no retarted safety, gold plated trigger. only problem is some stock ware. But other than that it is a flawless rifle. Always have a love for the craftsmanship of a lever gun.

  67. I have a Ruger Vaquero in .45LC and would like to have a lever gun in the same chambering to accompany it. I like the classic overtones such a pair has, the elegance of them, and, sometimes the tacticool stuff just gets old.

  68. 1950s marlin 39a and a fg manufacture 1895 in 4570.
    Got to say that the marlins are the most functional lever guns I’ve encountered, between the side loading gates for nonrimfire, side ejection, and drilled and tapped for scopes. My 4570 works like a charm and the 39a is just a hella fun to shoot.
    I’ve been jonesing for a browning blr in 300 win mag for a while, strength of a bolt action lock up with the speed of a lever gun…and a take down to boot.

  70. My wish list includes a matched pair of stainless take-down straight stocked BLRs — one in .358 and one in 7mm-08.

  71. My dad came up here this weekend for my birthday and brought back my Marlin 336 (30/30), my first deer rifle, they gave it to me in 1980. Just holding it last night brought back good memories, I haven’t shot it in 25 years or so. It’s been sitting in a soft case since then, but looks to be in pretty good shape. Need to break it down to check for rust and give it a good cleaning, and will be taking it out to the range next weekend. It is plain-jane right now, with the hooded front sight, I can remember that being very accurate, but I’ve also bought a rail for it and a scope (mostly because my eyes have aged so). Tempted to pick up that See Thru sight from earlier in the week and trying that out on this baby. I really look forward to shooting it again! Thanks to Larry for posting the link to the Cowboy Action Shooting site, I’ll have to check that out.

    And shooting a lever in 45/70 is something I hope to do sometime, a friend has a Springfield ’84 trapdoor in that caliber that he and I are going to take out soon.

  72. My dad has a .32 caliber Winchester model 1894 that was made in 1908. My grandfather harvested many deer in the woods of Wisconsin with that rifle.

    I recently sighted it in, using the “minute-of-paper-plate” method. To my complete surprise, I was able to hit within 5 inches of the dot at the center of a paper plate from a standing, unsupported position at 100 yards using just the iron sights! There’s no wonder this was my grandfather’s “game-getter”!

    • As a kid this minute of paper plate was the gold standard for hunters that I knew. By far the .30-30 was the go to rifle for deer.

      For the areas that allowed shotguns only, Ohio and quite a few counties in WV the plate was set out at fifty yards.

      Those old timers were no nonsense meat hunters.

  73. I finally went and got me a Browning BL-22 Grade II and have never enjoyed a rifle so much in my entire life!! Cheap ammo, long lasting quality design, I have no doubts it’ll last long after my protege son has passed it down to his children. First hunting rifle my father gave me was a 250 savage lever and that’s when it all began!

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