Lever Guns Anyone?

[sgtsandman]

I believe Winchester came out with the first reliable lever action but like 85_Ranger4X4 said, they have been around since before the Civil War. They just had to figure out the cartridge and magazine system before they really got good.

Henry and Marlin probably have the best overall design, especially now that Henry finally got around to offering a side loading gate. Marlin took a hit when Freedom Group, turned Remington Group ruined the brand (look for the JM stamp on the side of the barrel for a good one). Now that Ruger has taken over the company, maybe things are looking up. Ruger has some fairly recent lever action experience, so might actually know how to build one. Remington never did or hadn't in a long time, so had no experience and the investment group was more interested in making money than making a quality product.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I've been eye balling this GForce Lever gun... the Huckleberry. 7 plus 1... .410 gauge. If the shells weren't so expensive... would be a pretty cool truck gun.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I actually got my late grandfather's '94 a couple weeks ago. Late 70's 30-30, nothing super special.

Dad was with grandma at the hardware store when she got it for grandpa's birthday. It was between this and a Remington 700 bolt action. Grandpa (and dad) were huge into westerns so when grandma asked for his $.02 dad voted for the 30-30... so that is what grandpa got for his birthday.

Plot twist, you can't hunt deer in Iowa with a rifle. Too much gun for varmints or whatever (grandpa loved his .22) so I don't know if it has had a box of shells thru it. He really didn't have much use for it. I got two partial boxes of ammo with it, one is the box they got with the rifle.

It is filthy, he had an open gun rack in the bedroom and it shows. The receiver has a little of the funky finish going on and the top of the barrel is scuffed up from the gun rack but it looks really nice otherwise. It is in desperate need of a good cleaning... aka a winter project.