Favorite Lever action rifle 18" and under
- Thread starter Cfmail649
- Start date
Marlin 1894 Trapper in .44 Mag has a 16 inch barrel and a Skinner peep sight. Shoulders nicely, very easy to point and track - just a very handy rifle that is easy to pack around the woods.
Ammo was expensive so that got me into reloading, then casting. It's been fun
Ammo was expensive so that got me into reloading, then casting. It's been fun
Marlin 44mag trapper is my main and only trusted lever. Very smooth, accurate and rock solid reliability. I would recommend lightening the load gate and chamfering/polishing the inner mag tube atleast mine was very very tight to load
Henry WAS my favorite but then this happened ---> Got a Henry 22mag many moons ago and had it out 3 times with good luck and recently went to get it ready for range trip and BOOM can't begin to say how DISAPPOINTED I am.
The gun is smoothest lever I've ever handled I will say that got it previously enjoyed and after a handful of range trips I recently noticed some play in the HG and turns out the soft potmetal receiver has stretched or mushroomed at the breech end were the barrel is pressed (or glued in) causing the barrel to unsafely move Up, Down left and right with potential for our of battery discharge. Very sad.
What a shame. I though Henry's were the SKS/Aks of the lever world but someone thought it was a brilliant idea to mount a hard steel barrel and bolt into a soft zinc/lead like potmetal receiver so every Henry 22 aside from the Golden Boy is a Ticking time bomb waiting to fail........ Fingers crossed warranty will make it right but from what I've heard the warranty center here is miserable and impossible to deal with & has reports of taking over a year.
I also avoid like the plague ANY Rossi levers after EMT $1800 NIB rifle came with a broken potmetal cartridge guide and warranty rather loose a customer for life than send me a $3 part because I won the rifle at a raffle and had no proof of purchase.
Henry WAS my favorite but then this happened ---> Got a Henry 22mag many moons ago and had it out 3 times with good luck and recently went to get it ready for range trip and BOOM can't begin to say how DISAPPOINTED I am.
The gun is smoothest lever I've ever handled I will say that got it previously enjoyed and after a handful of range trips I recently noticed some play in the HG and turns out the soft potmetal receiver has stretched or mushroomed at the breech end were the barrel is pressed (or glued in) causing the barrel to unsafely move Up, Down left and right with potential for our of battery discharge. Very sad.
What a shame. I though Henry's were the SKS/Aks of the lever world but someone thought it was a brilliant idea to mount a hard steel barrel and bolt into a soft zinc/lead like potmetal receiver so every Henry 22 aside from the Golden Boy is a Ticking time bomb waiting to fail........ Fingers crossed warranty will make it right but from what I've heard the warranty center here is miserable and impossible to deal with & has reports of taking over a year.
I also avoid like the plague ANY Rossi levers after EMT $1800 NIB rifle came with a broken potmetal cartridge guide and warranty rather loose a customer for life than send me a $3 part because I won the rifle at a raffle and had no proof of purchase.
Bighorn Armoury SpikeDriver.
Once I worked out the kinks (which were my dumbass fault) it’s been an absolute dream!
Tip for anyone else, don’t stuff 7 straight wall cartridges that are meant for revolvers into a lever action with a tight spring and expect to get any accuracy… filling the mag was pushing my bullets back into the cases causing horrid accuracy.. now that I re crimp all my factory rounds that are meant for handguns and not rifles the accuracy is amazing and the reliability is second to none
Closely followed by;
Ruger Marlin 1895 SBL.
The ruger is the nicest smoothest factory mass produced lever action by far, and I’m pretty sure I’ve tried all the ones we have available up here.
Once I worked out the kinks (which were my dumbass fault) it’s been an absolute dream!
Tip for anyone else, don’t stuff 7 straight wall cartridges that are meant for revolvers into a lever action with a tight spring and expect to get any accuracy… filling the mag was pushing my bullets back into the cases causing horrid accuracy.. now that I re crimp all my factory rounds that are meant for handguns and not rifles the accuracy is amazing and the reliability is second to none
Closely followed by;
Ruger Marlin 1895 SBL.
The ruger is the nicest smoothest factory mass produced lever action by far, and I’m pretty sure I’ve tried all the ones we have available up here.
Big bore dinosaur
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NORT OF COW.TOWN.EH
Thats tuff to answer.. favorite is my 12inch chiappa ridge runner . 50 Alaskan
1886 takedown is nice and heavy
525gr lead cast at 1300 ish for plinking
400gr woodliegh h.s.p. solids 1900ish
44 mag mares leg is a close runner up in the fun factor
1886 takedown is nice and heavy
525gr lead cast at 1300 ish for plinking
400gr woodliegh h.s.p. solids 1900ish
44 mag mares leg is a close runner up in the fun factor
What are you using it for? Cowboy Action matches, hunting, plinking? My personal choice would be either a Uberti or Winchester/Miroku M73 if you are using pistol caliber cartridges.
I have been an avid Cowboy Action Shooter since 1997 , 28 years, in a good year I will put conservatively a minimum of 2,300+ rds down range through my pistol caliber carbines.
I have owned/or own and competed with the following rifles (not in any order)
In '94 I was looking for a lever in .357 because I was doing alot of .357 shooting out of my S&W M66 and wanted a cheap and easy round that I could reload in abundance. After looking around for about 6-8 months I couldn't find one, I even phoned Winchester! The nice lady said that they didn't have enough calls to start manufacturing them again. Remember this was before Cowboy Action got bigger.
I finally gave up on .357 and found a Winchester M94 Wrangler (Centennial Model) in .44 Magnum. Shades of John Wayne that large loop lever was kewl! Little did I realize that with 2 years, I'd start shooting Cowboy Action. I did lots of testing and came up 7.2 grains of Unique pushing a 240 grain LSWC bullet as an accurate target load.
Within the first 20 rds down range, the pot metal feed ramp broke. Off for warranty work! Eight months later I get the rifle back. After every 50 rds the rear sight elevator would fall off. So we have to install a Williams rear sight! Shooting again after every 50 rds the screws in the receiver would work loose. Locktite!! After 1,500 rds the tubular magazine spring gave up the ghost! Wolfe Gunsprings to the rescue. After this the Lever Link broke, 3 months and 5 nasty letters later, Winchester told me they would sell me the part but without warranty! They wanted me to send the gun to the warranty center again!
That was the last straw, I found a sucker to buy the Winchester and bought a Marlin M1894S, after 8,000 rds through it, it broke the front of the 2 piece firing pin. About 1,500 rds later the rear portion broke and I replaced it with a 1 piece firing pin. I used that Carbine as a main match rifle for 14 years, before I up graded. I love the quality Marlin builds in.
At that time I also tried a 1906 mfg Winchester M92 in .44 mag and M92 clones in .357. The Rossi is an excellent "starter" rifle for Cowboy Action shooting, my wife used both the Browning & Rossi for 3 years before upgrading. Unfortunately as you get more experienced (read as faster) running a M92 clone lever gun, things like stovepipes start to happen. The Rossi will not run smoothly with semi wad cutter ammunition, which is consistent with most Winchester M92 clones. Surprisingly my Chiappa M92 Alaskan in .44 mag runs semi wad cutters perfectly. I love my Chiappa as a bang around rifle, but M92 clones are not meant to be competition rifles. The main problem that I have with M92 Clones is the more experienced you get running the action (read as faster), the better your chances in having a "Stovepipe" are, and these can be a royal pain to clear.
I bought my Chiappa M92 "Alaskan" w/ a 12" barrel 5 years ago as a fun gun. During the first year I tried over 30 different reloads, and developed a nice reload for 25 yd indoor shooting, a great load that gives me a 3rd 2" group at 50 yds and rings an 8" gong at 100 yds and a nice 300 grain hard cast Bear defence load that moves down range at 1,320fps. This is the only M92 clone that I have run that will flawlessly cycle lead semi wad cutter bullets. Because the larger “D” ring lever which takes longer in time to complete a cycle I have never had a stovepipe with it.
I understand that some early Chiappa firearms were problem children, like their copy of the M1 Carbine. The apparently they responded to the bad reviews. The fit and finish on my Alaskan is extremely good, it has never jammed, especially with lead semi wad cutter bullets that still leaves me gobsmacked, I have never had a jam as I do NOT try to run it as a race gun for competition. The Alaskan is a good solid, well built lever action carbine and well worth the $1,600 that I paid for it in February 2020.
Finally about 12 years ago I moved to a Uberti M73, this is a top tier pistol caliber lever action rifle for spitting out lead quickly. If you buy one of these you will never have to upgrade. The difference in quality between Uberti M73’s and Winchester/Miroku M73’s are minimal. The only thing I have noticed changing with our M73’s is after years of hard use the side plate screws require a bit of blue locktite.
A joke at most matches :” How do you known who is coming last in the match” Answer: “The person using the Henry”. It is not built for speed!
As for rifle caliber lever actions, I have owned 9 or 10 Winchester M94 carbines in .32-40, .38-55 & .30-30 for "long range" side matches in Cowboy Action. The vast majority have been manufactured prior to 1927. I find the quality of the older rifles superior to the low quality (tinny) post 64 rifles. Mind you the current carbines by Uberti & Winchester/Miroku are probably one of the best quality levers on the market today.
I have been an avid Cowboy Action Shooter since 1997 , 28 years, in a good year I will put conservatively a minimum of 2,300+ rds down range through my pistol caliber carbines.
I have owned/or own and competed with the following rifles (not in any order)
- Uberti M73 Carbine in .45 Colt (19 inch)
- Uberti M73 Carbine in .357 mag (19 inch)
- Uberti M73 Short Rifle in .45 Colt (20 inch)
- Uberti M73 Short Rifle in .357 mag (20 inch)
- Winchester Model 94 Wrangler in .44 Mag (16 inch)
- 1906 mfg Winchester M92 rebarrelled to .44 mag (20 inch)
- Rossi M92 in .357 mag (20 inch)
- Browning B92 in .357 (20 inch)
- Marlin M1894S in .44 Mag (20 inch)
- Chiappa M92 “Alaskan” in .44 mag (12 inch)
- Winchester/Miroku M73 in .357 mag (20 inch)
- Winchester/Miroku M92 in ,45 Colt (20 inch)
- Marlin M1894C in .357 mag (20 inch)
In '94 I was looking for a lever in .357 because I was doing alot of .357 shooting out of my S&W M66 and wanted a cheap and easy round that I could reload in abundance. After looking around for about 6-8 months I couldn't find one, I even phoned Winchester! The nice lady said that they didn't have enough calls to start manufacturing them again. Remember this was before Cowboy Action got bigger.
I finally gave up on .357 and found a Winchester M94 Wrangler (Centennial Model) in .44 Magnum. Shades of John Wayne that large loop lever was kewl! Little did I realize that with 2 years, I'd start shooting Cowboy Action. I did lots of testing and came up 7.2 grains of Unique pushing a 240 grain LSWC bullet as an accurate target load.
Within the first 20 rds down range, the pot metal feed ramp broke. Off for warranty work! Eight months later I get the rifle back. After every 50 rds the rear sight elevator would fall off. So we have to install a Williams rear sight! Shooting again after every 50 rds the screws in the receiver would work loose. Locktite!! After 1,500 rds the tubular magazine spring gave up the ghost! Wolfe Gunsprings to the rescue. After this the Lever Link broke, 3 months and 5 nasty letters later, Winchester told me they would sell me the part but without warranty! They wanted me to send the gun to the warranty center again!
That was the last straw, I found a sucker to buy the Winchester and bought a Marlin M1894S, after 8,000 rds through it, it broke the front of the 2 piece firing pin. About 1,500 rds later the rear portion broke and I replaced it with a 1 piece firing pin. I used that Carbine as a main match rifle for 14 years, before I up graded. I love the quality Marlin builds in.
At that time I also tried a 1906 mfg Winchester M92 in .44 mag and M92 clones in .357. The Rossi is an excellent "starter" rifle for Cowboy Action shooting, my wife used both the Browning & Rossi for 3 years before upgrading. Unfortunately as you get more experienced (read as faster) running a M92 clone lever gun, things like stovepipes start to happen. The Rossi will not run smoothly with semi wad cutter ammunition, which is consistent with most Winchester M92 clones. Surprisingly my Chiappa M92 Alaskan in .44 mag runs semi wad cutters perfectly. I love my Chiappa as a bang around rifle, but M92 clones are not meant to be competition rifles. The main problem that I have with M92 Clones is the more experienced you get running the action (read as faster), the better your chances in having a "Stovepipe" are, and these can be a royal pain to clear.
I bought my Chiappa M92 "Alaskan" w/ a 12" barrel 5 years ago as a fun gun. During the first year I tried over 30 different reloads, and developed a nice reload for 25 yd indoor shooting, a great load that gives me a 3rd 2" group at 50 yds and rings an 8" gong at 100 yds and a nice 300 grain hard cast Bear defence load that moves down range at 1,320fps. This is the only M92 clone that I have run that will flawlessly cycle lead semi wad cutter bullets. Because the larger “D” ring lever which takes longer in time to complete a cycle I have never had a stovepipe with it.
I understand that some early Chiappa firearms were problem children, like their copy of the M1 Carbine. The apparently they responded to the bad reviews. The fit and finish on my Alaskan is extremely good, it has never jammed, especially with lead semi wad cutter bullets that still leaves me gobsmacked, I have never had a jam as I do NOT try to run it as a race gun for competition. The Alaskan is a good solid, well built lever action carbine and well worth the $1,600 that I paid for it in February 2020.
Finally about 12 years ago I moved to a Uberti M73, this is a top tier pistol caliber lever action rifle for spitting out lead quickly. If you buy one of these you will never have to upgrade. The difference in quality between Uberti M73’s and Winchester/Miroku M73’s are minimal. The only thing I have noticed changing with our M73’s is after years of hard use the side plate screws require a bit of blue locktite.
A joke at most matches :” How do you known who is coming last in the match” Answer: “The person using the Henry”. It is not built for speed!
As for rifle caliber lever actions, I have owned 9 or 10 Winchester M94 carbines in .32-40, .38-55 & .30-30 for "long range" side matches in Cowboy Action. The vast majority have been manufactured prior to 1927. I find the quality of the older rifles superior to the low quality (tinny) post 64 rifles. Mind you the current carbines by Uberti & Winchester/Miroku are probably one of the best quality levers on the market today.
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I am continuing my long-term love affair with an original JM 1895SBL that I got shortly after they brought the model out. It was a barely-used gun; you know, the kind that comes with a box of factory ammo that has only 3 rounds fired. 
I looked at the laminate stock, the scout mount, shiny stainless steel...and thought it was about the stupidest looking thing I'd ever seen. But it was so cheap that the plan was to flip it shortly after I got done playing with it.
But I never did! Still have it, love hunting with it, no plans to move it down the road. Don't recall if it's 18 inches or 18.5, so if it doesn't fit the criteria of this thread...oh, well...
I also thoroughly enjoy plinking with a Henry Big Boy .44mag, a 13-inch-barrel Mare's Leg that now has a full-length buttstock on it. Haven't done any serious hunting with it, maybe someday soon. I've experimented with a couple of different aperture sights on it, think I may end up with a Skinner. The brass receiver and hardware is finally starting to show some tarnish and character, improving the look immeasurably IMHO.
Finally...and a bit surprisingly...a Chiappa LA322 Bandit Boot Leg .22lr rounds out the list of short levers. The name is longer than the rifle; it's a 12-inch barrel, and the stock is an actual pistol grip, without the bulbous lump at the rear end seen on so many other Mare's Leg style guns. It's a cheap-ass little POS toy, but it's been completely reliable for several hundred rounds so far, has fairly smooth functioning that gets better the more I use it and very decent accuracy and trigger feel...especially for a cheap-ass POS toy. But, like every other Mare's Leg I've owned, I'm probably going to look into getting a full-length buttstock for it.
I looked at the laminate stock, the scout mount, shiny stainless steel...and thought it was about the stupidest looking thing I'd ever seen. But it was so cheap that the plan was to flip it shortly after I got done playing with it.But I never did! Still have it, love hunting with it, no plans to move it down the road.
Don't recall if it's 18 inches or 18.5, so if it doesn't fit the criteria of this thread...oh, well...I also thoroughly enjoy plinking with a Henry Big Boy .44mag, a 13-inch-barrel Mare's Leg that now has a full-length buttstock on it. Haven't done any serious hunting with it, maybe someday soon. I've experimented with a couple of different aperture sights on it, think I may end up with a Skinner. The brass receiver and hardware is finally starting to show some tarnish and character, improving the look immeasurably IMHO.
Finally...and a bit surprisingly...a Chiappa LA322 Bandit Boot Leg .22lr rounds out the list of short levers. The name is longer than the rifle; it's a 12-inch barrel, and the stock is an actual pistol grip, without the bulbous lump at the rear end seen on so many other Mare's Leg style guns. It's a cheap-ass little POS toy, but it's been completely reliable for several hundred rounds so far, has fairly smooth functioning that gets better the more I use it and very decent accuracy and trigger feel...especially for a cheap-ass POS toy. But, like every other Mare's Leg I've owned, I'm probably going to look into getting a full-length buttstock for it.
Thunderhog
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootneys
It is my understanding that Grech Outdoors in New Brunswick still looks after Henry warranty concerns. John can be both really good, and sometimes a challenge to deal with......
https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=http://grechoutdoors.ca/&source=serp-local&h=cIridImNRSr6o4KfagMX7nE5463kF1gETfPEptFgIUM=&p=lw_magsmlt&ig=26F1E0A544614DFDB27BF896B2B4D486&ypid=YN6C0065693973851
However, Henry USA has a promise that if you spend your hard earned money on a Henry, the President and owner Anthony Imperato will guarantee your purchase. Contact Henry USA, they will address your warranty issues. Do not accept a comment stating it will take one year to fix this. Anthony Imperato will not allow this crap to happen!
- Location
- Brant County, Ontario
