How possible would a double lever rifle be?

[tigris115]

So I've seen a double bolt-action rifle which allows you to shoot up to 8 dangerous game rounds (10 if you put 2 up the spout)

I also made this thread a while ago asking why lever-action rifles aren't used more in African game fields, especially when there are cartridges capable of handling the local megafauna. I was told that with a double rifle, you aren't reliant on only 1 action so if something goes wrong, you can recover quickly.

So I thought why not include the best of both worlds and design a double rifle that like the double bolt rifle, can be cycled to replace the 2 spent cartridges. Outside of Africa, I'm sure Alaskan guides would give everything to have this rifle in grizzly country.

 

[Red Leg]

On double bolt actions no one has ever figured out selective ejection. Lots of times we do fire just one shot. With a lever action - barring two levers - it would be just as difficult. Silly gimmickry.

 

[Kenneth McMillan]

I would love for it to be possible as I love lever actions but in reality I don't think it could be.

 

[Forrest Halley]

So the Sechsei-Fuchs design is very interesting. Double push feed with the locking lugs at the rear of the action and not on the bolt heads.
As the base rifle was north of $50k when it debuted I think it's out of reach for anyone with a need for it.

I believe a lever action double rifle could be fashioned out of an expanded BLR action or an 1886 action. The problem will be the person over embellishing the design and process and trying to make their fortune off a few rifles. The real thing would be to get a few out for folks to shoot and build a reputation, but who can afford that?

 

[BeeMaa]

When hunting DG...it is not the time to make things MORE complicated.

 

[CTDolan]

A double in anything other than a double (be it bolt action, lever action, falling block, or some other) makes absolutely no sense to me. That said, if the old British cartridges weren't so long they'd be marvelous in a lever action platform. As it is, though, even with a pivoting bottom plate (as with the Winchester Model 94), the lever throw would be excessive.

 

[Newboomer]

It would take some doing to work just one lever at a time. Right hander, right lever. Then how do you get to the left one? Lefty, just opposite. Nice pipe dream but---.

 

[Ryan]

Outside of Africa, I'm sure Alaskan guides would give everything to have this rifle in grizzly country.

One of the gun shops in Anchorage makes it's business on some lever guns in big bores, but honestly it's a small niche thing. I've never heard of them even considering the logistics of a double lever gun.
Basically I see two barrels and two tubes with one lever to keep things as uncomplicated as possible. Then a firing mechanism that fires one barrel at a time and ejection of both at once, presumably out of opposing sides. This is getting complicated fast for situations that don't need complication. Plus the cost will scare all but a rare few.

As an Alaskan who sees a couple/few bears while hunting, fishing, and hiking I doubt it. Heck, doubles are rare as back up for bear. Guides are often known to take 375's or occasionally 416 or 458 bolt actions for bear back up. A friend who hunts Kodiak island and used to live there has a 375 bolt action for back up in case bears show up to a deer kill. A friend who sees tons of bears while fishing and working on the streams for work as a biologist carries a 12 gauge with a few types of rounds. He now owns a 45-70 lever action for moose hunting but seems to prefer the 12 gauge for bears.

 

[mikecatt13]

I bet someone that knows their stuff like Wild West Guns could make it happen. Reliably enough to bet your life on? Probably debatable. More expensive than a very very fine double rifle, or 3? Definitely

 

[tigris115]

Why are all of my ideas so grossly impractical?

 

[BeeMaa]

Why are all of my ideas so grossly impractical?

Awwww...I'm sure you've had some great ideas.
Let's just stay away from putting a kick-start on a weed wacker and we'll be good.

 

[tigris115]

How about a weed whacker with katana blades instead of that sissy plastic

Awwww...I'm sure you've had some great ideas.
Let's just stay away from putting a kick-start on a weed wacker and we'll be good.

 

[Tam Dl]

I think you could make a double lever, and that it could be "practical". I would start with something like the BLR that uses a ratchet, and link the ratchet to the two sides so it reloaded both barrels at the same time, and was not capable of loading them individually. It would load from a double box like the BLR does a single. Then you would have a double trigger so you could shoot either barrel, on maybe a single trigger if that could be arranged with sufficient reliability.

Why? Because in some modern operations, according to my betters, they may wait for matters to unfold to the point where the danger is well inside the 10 yard mark, for legal reasons, and also to protect the tender dispositions of their green customers. At that point you really want a double, but you would probably enjoy one you could reload easily if something came up. I guess you are never supposed to be in a situation where things get that out of hand.

I think that it might be necessary to have the lever be somewhat longer than they normally are, to get enough leverage to operate the action. I don't see that being much of a problem though.

Along the same lines I think something like the Lemat might serve. Basically an over and under or a side by side, where one barrel is for something devastating like the 500 Jeffrey. Again, the danger is really close and your first barrel (probably need to have a selector) is going to fire the Jeff, after that you have a lever action repeater and it is going to be something from the 9.3x62 to the 50-110. The Win 1895 fires out of the box magazine and is built rather lightly. A second barrel where the mag tube would go, that rotates sideways for the cartridge, could look rather elegant, and give you two fast shots without any need to manipulate anything other than safeties or triggers.

Just so we are clear, I am always mindful of local customs, and there is the question of whether we should have anything that should it turn out to be better, is actually put in use. We have certain unwritten rules, and if we decide to move past them, it is not that far to a mounted Barret 50 cal. rifle or worse.

 

[baxterb]

I’ve handled that ferlach. It’s a beast.

 

[Red Leg]

I think you could make a double lever, and that it could be "practical". I would start with something like the BLR that uses a ratchet, and link the ratchet to the two sides so it reloaded both barrels at the same time, and was not capable of loading them individually. It would load from a double box like the BLR does a single. Then you would have a double trigger so you could shoot either barrel, on maybe a single trigger if that could be arranged with sufficient reliability.

Why? Because in some modern operations, according to my betters, they may wait for matters to unfold to the point where the danger is well inside the 10 yard mark, for legal reasons, and also to protect the tender dispositions of their green customers. At that point you really want a double, but you would probably enjoy one you could reload easily if something came up. I guess you are never supposed to be in a situation where things get that out of hand.

I think that it might be necessary to have the lever be somewhat longer than they normally are, to get enough leverage to operate the action. I don't see that being much of a problem though.

Along the same lines I think something like the Lemat might serve. Basically an over and under or a side by side, where one barrel is for something devastating like the 500 Jeffrey. Again, the danger is really close and your first barrel (probably need to have a selector) is going to fire the Jeff, after that you have a lever action repeater and it is going to be something from the 9.3x62 to the 50-110. The Win 1895 fires out of the box magazine and is built rather lightly. A second barrel where the mag tube would go, that rotates sideways for the cartridge, could look rather elegant, and give you two fast shots without any need to manipulate anything other than safeties or triggers.

Just so we are clear, I am always mindful of local customs, and there is the question of whether we should have anything that should it turn out to be better, is actually put in use. We have certain unwritten rules, and if we decide to move past them, it is not that far to a mounted Barret 50 cal. rifle or worse.

Just like the existing bolt action doubles (to include the Ferlach), there still would be no way to eject and reload a single round - a basic attribute of any traditional double rifle and a fairly useful and proven basic requirement for any double that will be used for anything in the real world.

 

[Red Leg]

How about a weed whacker with katana blades instead of that sissy plastic

I have one with steel blades - though I would be the first to admit Katana blades would be far more esthetically pleasing.

 

[Ravensview]

I am sure someone could make one, but to me anyways is the question why? That’s just me thoug.

 

[Tam Dl]

Nobody is going to make one. There is no "why" in the real world, but 95% of all talk on guns could be reduced to get a Glock, a 30-06, and a few other things. Oddly, there seems to be a small fetish out there for creating doubles that are impractical. Ever see the 1911 .45 double? Would it have a tactical purpose, sure, the idea I mentioned of two immediate shots and the most rapid reloads one can have short of an automated system is a useful thing. But then, is it a step forward to give hunters a better gun? If so, a local shop seems to have cornered the market of 9.3x62 barrels for the Garand.

 

[C.W. Richter]

I'm thinking triple and eventually a third hand will evolve on hunters... You can operate the single bolt faster if you just sit back and first enjoy some of that excellent African coffee...

 

[C.W. Richter]

That said a firm in Connecticut manufactures a double pump...