LEVER ACTIONS: DUMB QUESTIONS? MAYBE NOT?

[45MAN]

NOT A LOT OF LOVE HERE FOR MOST RIFLES BUT I DO LIKE TO USE, AND LIKE THE LOOKS OF, TRADITIONAL LOOKING LEVER ACTIONS. THE STRONGEST TRADITIONAL LEVER ACTIONS SEEM TO BE THE WINCHESTER 1886 AND 1892 DESIGNS BUT YOU CANNOT PUT REGULAR SCOPES ON 'em. THE BROWNING BLR LEVER ACTION WORKS WITH HIGH PRESSURE ROUNDS, IS SCOPABLE BUT IT SURE ISN'T TRADITIONAL LOOKING.

SO QUESTIONS:

1. WHY AREN'T THE 1886 AND 1892 CLONES MADE WITH ANGLE EJECT SO THAT YOU COULD SCOPE THEM a la WINCHESTER MODEL 94 AE GUNS?

2. CAN A TRADITIONAL LOOKING LEVER ACTION BE MADE WITH A SOLID TOP (FOR SCOPING), SIDE EJECTION/LOADING, AND AS STRONG AS A BLR ACTION AND/OR AS STRONG AS A 1886/1892 ACTION?

[pacecars]

The 94 action is different than the 86/92 design and I am guessing since they were no longer in production by Winchester at the time they were never considered. I don’t think that they would be commercially viable at this point. The Marlins have the scoped traditional levers covered. The tubular mags are another limiting factor cartridge wise.

[wilecoyote]

on my .444 I have had some very interesting experiences, due to recoil, in trying to adjust a regular rifle scope, from the bench_
I can't say if the .444 should be considered a high pressure round, but from there I understood the benefits of intermediate and/or extend eye relief scopes_

[kevshell]

Personally I absolutely love pretty much anything leave her action made by Browning / Winchester. I like the Marlin design. It's just a preference thing. That said I just don't think that design really lends itself to scoping in a traditional sense. Plus if I pick up a lever action I want it to be more traditional therefore not scoped. That said there is one option and maybe two. The big horn armory rifles can be had with a scout scope rail where you could put a red dot or a scout scope. I've got two of their rifles with the scout rail but I've yet to put a scope on them. That's mainly because I just really like the peep sights. But I will end up putting a red dot or a scope on at least one of them and figure out whether I like it or not. I believe I've seen the reproduction 1886 rifles with a scout rail as well. That may have been a Pedersoli .And yet another option is to find an 1886 or 71 rifle with the holes drilled in the action for the peep sight And then purchase one of the mounts offered by Turnbull where you could mount a red dot. Just a few ideas.

[45MAN]

I AM NOT LOOKING FOR RED DOT NOR SCOUT SCOPE SOLUTIONS TO EXISTING RIFLES. WONDERING WHY A BETTER/STRONGER/SCOPEABLE LEVER ACTION CAN'T BE MADE.

INTERESTING TO NOTE: I HAVE READ THAT THE WINCHESTER BIG BORE RIFLES USED A STANDARD MODEL 94 ACTION, THEY JUST MADE THE SIDES OF THE RECEIVER THICKER.

[pacecars]

There is always the side mounted scope.

[pacecars]

I believe I saw a scoped 86 or 71 (it could have been a 95, it is hell getting old) that had the scope positioned over the receiver but was tilted out of the way by operating the action. You had to manually flip it back. All it takes is money and a determined gunsmith

[bradshaw]

Rey.... the Browning Lever Rifle uses a rack & pinion gear between lever and bolt. With rotating bolt head, which lugs engage abutments in the barrel extension. Traditional lever actions lock the rear of the bolt. The BLR is designed for high intensity bottleneck cartridges. Side ejection makes for a more rigid receiver, with simple scope mounting. Although I never experienced failure with a BLR, I consider the rack & pinion arrangement a bit fragile.

No lever action shares the camming leverage of a bolt action to extract. A long lever throw equates to more leverage to extract than a short throw lever. The short throw lever is touted for speed, while extraction leverage is never mentioned.

Winchester was very late to the picnic with a scope-ready laver action, its 19th century designs bought from John Moses Browning. Once deer hunters took to optics, the Marlin Model 336 sued ahead of the Winchester 1894. For the 1964 model year, Winchester substituted cheapness for modernization, ruining its forged & milled 1894 and flagship Model 70 bolt action. Struck me at the time that money-changers in the temple who never had grease under their fingernails thought they could coast on the Winchester logo and no one would notice. Miruko paid homage to John Brownings brilliance. were it not for the Japanese prohibition against manufacture of handguns, there would be some tough Japanese sixguns.

Competitive shooting sports silhouette and cowboy action spurred the resurgence of single actions and lever actions to prove these sound manually operated actions are special because they perform.
David Bradshaw

[bigbrowndog]

The traditional leveractions work well with traditional rounds, the newer modern leveractions were designed around the newer high pressure rounds of the day. The Win 88, Sav 99, BLR, Sako FinnWolf (I believe) are all designed around modern high intensity rounds. The oddest pairing I’d heard was Paco Kelly I believe doing a 250sav. on a Marlin 336, pressure wise I guess it’s possible, but you’d be limited to 2 rounds.

Trapr

[boolitdesigner]

If you cast and have access to to the right mold, the two in the gun is not an obstacle as you can shoot full loads with lead with a fully charged gun. Knowing how to do it properly is another story though.

[bigbrowndog]

Hornady stil offers their flextip .257 bullet I believe as well. I’d still be leery of a RN 117 though. Although if you seat3d the bullet with a flat bullet seat stem it would probably flatten it sufficiently.

Trapr

[pacecars]

There is always the Marlin in the .308 and .338 Marlin cartridges

[needsmostuff]

Oct 7, 2024 15:43:20 GMT -5 45MAN said:

WONDERING WHY A BETTER/STRONGER/SCOPEABLE LEVER ACTION CAN'T BE MADE.

Not all that traditional but the Henry "Long Ranger" may be what you are looking for.
Like the BLR it is available in some of the bottleneck, "hunting calibers".

www.henryusa.com/rifles/the-long-ranger/

[blackmamba]

I don't think "can't be made" has anything to do with it. Most people who want to lug around a scoped rifle want precision, aka a bolt action. I just don't think it is economically feasible.

[needsmostuff]

Oct 8, 2024 11:03:51 GMT -5 blackmamba said:

I don't think "can't be made" has anything to do with it. Most people who want to lug around a scoped rifle want precision, aka a bolt action. le.

Not always. Sometimes us old, blind guys want to scope a lever gun.
Just to stay in the game.