Modern Lever Action Rifles: Have We Gone Too Far?

Of great irony, the single most read article on this blog, “ReflexHandgun,” is one of several articles I have written on lever action rifles.  I suppose I should have made this blog “ReflexLeverGun,” and I would have much higher readership.  So, I have been a long-time proponent of the lever rifle as an alternate defensive weapon, one that is 50-state legal.  A pump shotgun can do this as well, but since I am more a rifle guy than a shotgun guy I prefer a lever gun for this use, my preference being those chambered in 357 Magnum.  

Lever action rifles are the current hotness for one simple reason: shooters are now bored with the AR15.  We have now found a new platform for our adult version of Legos; lever guns.  It is simply that, nothing more.  Sure, some of the “influencers” are making YouTube videos with their space cowboy guns, but that is a symptom, not the disease.   The current craze for revolvers is, essentially, the same.  Shooters are now bored with striker-fired plastic guns.  There are only so many ways to stipple a Glock or customize an M&P.  So, what’s new?  Oh, yeah, wheel guns.  And, just like that, we all love 150+ year old technology again, in the case of revolvers and the lever action. 

So, there are some advantages to a lever action rifle as compared to an AR15, even though it pales in capacity and rate of fire to the AR or any such auto loading rifle.  I find that there are several reasons that I, personally, prefer a lever action as my go-to rifle currently, while society is mostly stable.  Once the collapse happens and the meth-smoking-biker-cannibals hit the road, I will be putting the lever guns away and keeping the ARs close, but until then, the lever rifle does anything that is realistically needed.  Here are several advantages to the lever gun:

1.      Lever action rifles are 50 state legal, and can go anywhere except the most draconian, gun-controlled places, like New York City.  In fact, if I lived in a restricted state where I could not have a regular AR with regular capacity magazines, I would not even bother with one and would just stick with my 357 Magnum lever guns for rifle needs.

2.      Lever guns are lower profile; they are less scrutinized by others you may pass in the woods while hiking or hunting with a rifle as compared to an AR, and they are less glaring in the minds of anti-gunners who might be prosecuting you for a justified use of defensive force just because. 

3.      For those who keep “truck guns,” there is always the possibility of theft, no matter how well you secure it.  Legally, it would be better to have a lever rifle walk away, to only get pawned off by a scumbag, rather than show up smoking in an ally after a gang fight, which is a more likely outcome if your AR or AK walks away.  The average gang banger is probably not cognitively capable of, or culturally inclined towards, whacking street corner competition with a John Wayne gun. 

4.    The lever action is my preference for traveling, even if going to places where an AR is perfectly legal, because it is much easier to transport.  Smaller, sleeker, and needing no magazines, it is simply a smaller and easier package to take anywhere.

5.    Lever actions carry much easier in the woods and field.  It is perfectly balanced and actually carries much easier in the hand and on a sling than does an AR.

6.    Lever rifles are extremely fast into action.  I configure my lever guns, specifically, to add no width; I mount a light in the 6 o’clock position to avoid adding snag points.  Thus, it is extremely fast to pull from under a bed, from behind a truck seat, or out of a bag.  In standard civilian defensive use this is an asset likely to outweigh capacity or rate of fire.

7.   If using the gun unsuppressed for home defense, even the powerful 357 and 44 Magnum have less concussion and blast out of a rifle-length barrel than the high pressure 556 round does, and if truly a concern they can utilize 38 Special or 44 Special, which are considerably quieter than the magnum loads. 

8.    And, speaking of suppressed, lever rifles are an excellent host for suppressors as the closed action of the gun makes them more silent than any auto loader can be.  If combined with sub sonic loads, it is as quiet as it gets.  Further, the suppressor does not cause reliability issues since the action is manually operated 

So, with these things considered, my lever rifles, chambered in 357 Magnum, are my go-to long guns.  Until the S hits the H, I am perfectly confident with lever rifles while society is relatively stable. These guns are capable of defense against four-legged threats in the woods or two-legged threats invading the home.  If you are competent with running them they are very formidable, and outside of a theater of war and actual combat conditions I can’t think of much that couldn’t be quickly and readily handled with one. The range, accuracy, capacity, and rate of fire is capable of dealing with any realistic criminal threat.

However, understand that a lever gun is not a replacement for an AR or other modern rifle. As a citizen invested in maintaining your security and liberty you should have an AR15 or equivalent, keep it ready, and know how to use it. For actual combat use, the lever rifle does not have the capacity, rate of fire, speed of reload, range, or reliability under high-volume fire. As a free citizen the preservation of your liberty requires modern rifles and the lever gun does not fill that role. However, it certainly fills the role of citizen self-defense.

I believe the lever action is the rifle equivalent to the pump action shotgun. A pump, or any shotgun, is no match for an AR if you need to go into combat against the golden hoards. However, many prefer the pump shotgun for civilian home defense or other defensive applications. Likewise, just as a pump shottie can handle anything in civilian life under normal conditions, so can the lever action rifle. And, like a pump, the lever rifle even proves ideal for certain applications as previously discussed.

Another comparison would be between a modern auto pistol and a revolver. For example, a K-Frame revolver is not as good as a Glock 17 for going into a high threat environment where a gunfight with multiple adversaries may happen as it lacks the capacity and speed of reload, yet a K-Frame is, realistically, capable of dealing with the majority of issues a citizen would encounter in personal protection. Even here, though, despite the similarities of old versus newer technology, equating handguns to rifles is a fallacy, as once a long gun is deployed they prove so decisive in self-defense that the comparison to any handgun is of limited value. Whereas a self-defense scenario in the modern world may call for more gun than a revolver, thinking up something that would require more gun than a good lever action rifle is a stretch.

Thus, despite being older technology, lever guns remain decisive defensive tools. Think about it; the North Hollywood Shootout, which ushered in the widespread adoption of patrol rifles, could have been readily handled by a skilled shooter on scene with a lever rifle. What would you have to do with a rifle that you couldn’t do with a lever action? Not much. So, keep your AR ready, but until full Mad Max the lever rifle is good to go.

Despite my love for the lever, we might have taken this too far.  M-lock rails, skeletonized stocks, and other tactical acutomen are now common on lever guns.  Is it needed?   Not really, but don’t tell me how to spend ma money, yo!  Again, why are we doing this?  Because we already did it for decades on the AR, now we need something else to spend money on. 

Still, since the gun remains so capable some modernization makes sense. You will notice that the Henry X model, which came from the factory with synthetic furniture and M-Lock at the front of the forend, has no changes, just additions. While I have gone back and forth between only irons or a red dot, I believe these guns are in relatively final form and the dot adds capability at distance for little size and weight penalty. And I add a light, a pistol style WML, to the bottom of the stock, as I find the addition of a rifle light at the side adds bulk and a snag point, thus diminishing a major attribute of the lever rifle. When in use the gun also wears a sling.

Notice, though, that the Marlin 1894 now wears a Ranger Point Precision forend and stock. While wood furniture looks great, I simply have no use for it on a working gun. It gets beat up and is heavier than synthetic. Further, I wasn’t able to mount a light in a satisfactory way until I put this forend on it. Now it looks nothing like a traditional lever rifle, but it is all function. It is a rugged tool made for use.

So, has the modernization gone too far?  Yes.  But who cares, it’s fun, and these remain completely viable defensive weapons and excellent field tools. It is cool that the base foundation of these new space aged cowboy guns is 150-year-old American technology.  Rock on.