Tactical lever actions - what's the appeal?

[BeeMaa]

We shoot our 45-70’s out to 500 yards on a 30” gong pretty often. My Marlin 1895 Cowboy does not have enough elevation on the Lyman tang sight, so there is some Cowboy hold over. The cool thing is to shoot, cycle the action and send the next one before the first impact.

Cool. Get out and have fun!

 

[Tam Dl]

If you want to bring a lever action to the fight, feel free. Want to hunt DG with it, go ahead...it doesn't bother me in the least. I'm very unlikely to suffer any ill effects as a result of your decision. It's your choice to use what you want. But I would make sure you inform your PH of your decision, because it could have a huge impact on how he decides to hunt with you.

What I'm saying is that there are so many better options for a battle weapon that a "tactical" lever action rifle would not be my first, second or even third choice. Matter of fact, I'd put up a straight pull rifle against a lever gun (equal center fire cartridges) in a course of fire to see which one came out on top for accuracy and time. That would be a fun event.

Whoa, I was just reacting to the 200 yard thing. I would not feel under armed with a properly configured lever, and they do have some advantages over bolts. But I always try to avoid being that guy who shows up in camp having just read one too many articles in the gun press.

If there is a lever that would have advantages in Africa, it would probably cost 5-10K, and possibly breed less confidence than an Mauser that cost $495 unless it was all about wallet size.

The advantage to a lever is the faster second shot. This is the same thing that is bringing back the double. The other advantage to levers is they can be topped off, so they never run dry. And while I am all for the old ways, if we were really after practical, it would be a semi in 9.3x62. That would be the battlefield pick up if there weren't rules against it. They cost about $660 usd, second hand. They seem to show up fairly frequently in Canada.

So far, most of the hype I have seen on tactical lever guns is from people who frankly admit they are just for fun, and like about 70% of the shooting population, currently, have no practical purpose in mind for them at all. In that sense, "tactical" is a misnomer since they don't even have a purpose in mind, let alone a strategy to execute on.

 

[mdwest]

We shoot our 45-70’s out to 500 yards on a 30” gong pretty often. My Marlin 1895 Cowboy does not have enough elevation on the Lyman tang sight, so there is some Cowboy hold over. The cool thing is to shoot, cycle the action and send the next one before the first impact.

that sounds like a ton of fun! now you have me wanting to go out and see if I can bang a gong at 500 with a 45 LC lever lol..

 

[freefall]

I have a Marlin .44 mag for my "bumps in the night" gun. I'm totally cromulent with it.