Best accurate lever gun

Teapot

Teapot

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Which lever gun is best at maintaining its' accuracy even when the barrel heats up?
Which lever gun is best in both RIFLE and PISTOL cartridges?

I've shot a Win 94 made in 1971 that strings with just eight rounds put through it in rapid fire.
I am thinking a 357 Mag Marlin wouldn't do this or a 30-30 Marlin.
 
My Browning model 92 in 44mag will cough out 12 cast bullets as quick as you can cycle the action and not be that hot. I've done 24 shots within 3 minutes. That's when you want to let it cool down a bit, but even at that, it's nowhere near as bad as my Win 94 in 30-30. If you tried that with it, it would be on fire.
 
The Browning BLR will shoot very accurately the front locking lugs and heavy bolt help with accuracy I have hand loaded for a few calibers and shot !'' groups with these rifles.
 
Yes, I forgot the BLR in .308 a friend of mine has one (he is left handed and prefers it over a bolt action) I have seen him shoot a few rapid rounds with it, no problems at getting good groups either.
 
I suggest the people who think the 88 is the most accurate lever never owned a BLR, but I could reasonably be accused of bias in this regard. ;)

I would be hard pressed to come up with an exact count, but have certainly owned and shot over a hundred lever guns:

half a dozen Winchester 88s in .308 and .243

several Marlin 1894s/1895s (.44 Mag and .45-70)

many dozens of BLRs in pretty much all of the chamberings

several dozen Marlin 336s/30ASs/etc mostly .30-30 and .35 Rem

many dozens of Winchester 94s and 1894s in pretty much all of the modern chamberings and a bunch of the obsolete ones

many dozens of Savage 99s and 1899s in all of their chamberings (I think)

miscellaneous lever guns in rimfire chamberings

probably others that I am not remembering right now......

ON AVERAGE, the BLRs are the most accurate of the bunch. But of course, individual rifles can be excellent shooters even though the model is not noted for accuracy. Example: I have a Savage 99EG in .250 Savage that does shoot three into less than an inch at a hundred yards. :dancingbanana: But for Savage lever guns, that is basically unheard of.

I have no opinion about lever guns chambered in pistol cartridges, since I have only owned a few of them and basically considered them to be toys - I did not load for them, for example, nor take them out for serious range work. Barrel heating will be a function of many factors including (most importantly) WHAT LOAD is being fired. Max loads in a .44 Mag will very quickly produce a barrel that is too hot to hold, and BTW is not conducive to long throat life..........:rolleyes:

Doug
 
I've seen both Winchester '94s and Marlin 336s shoot MOA with skillfully made handloads. My first generation of the modern manufactured 1895 Marlins was equally good. Come to think of it, the only really poor accuracy from lever guns that I've seen have come from very old rifles which had given up their former glory to the debilitating effects of black powder and corrosive priming. One was a nickel plated '94 in .32 Special and the other was a .38-55 Marlin. The multitude of lever guns that I've seen ruined from laying in water in the bottom of open boats I don't count.

Doug, that 99 Savage in .250-3000 while very good, I don't know if it was that far outside the normal accuracy obtained by really good riflemen shooting very good ammunition in those rifles. Some combinations are special, and the .250 Savage in the 99 is one.
 
My .250 Savage 1899 would shoot MOA reliably, and it was a takedown! Wish I'd never sold it, that's for sure.
But it was my impression that the OP was really asking about traditional exposed-hammer, tube-fed levers. I'd give Marlin the nod for that. I love the Win 94 for hunting, and right now it's the only lever rifle I have, but the Marlins I've owned were a bit more accurate.
 
Kilo Charlie said:
My .250 Savage 1899 would shoot MOA reliably, and it was a takedown! Wish I'd never sold it, that's for sure.
But it was my impression that the OP was really asking about traditional exposed-hammer, tube-fed levers. I'd give Marlin the nod for that. I love the Win 94 for hunting, and right now it's the only lever rifle I have, but the Marlins I've owned were a bit more accurate.
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with my reloads, i get moa in the savage 99 308- there was once a "rifleman's special" in the 99- off hand , i'd say half the formula was the CARTRIDGE, the other half the rifle- some of the 99s, with the proper ammo, can shoot right alongside the bolts
 
Age and abuse can kill accuracy, and that was the problem with most working lever guns. The Savage 99 was fairly respectable, but i've seen so many put through hard use, it would be impossible to expect them to be a precision rifle. My 1894c Marlin is used in cowboy action shooting with .38 specials. We crank out ten rounds pretty fast, and it holds it's centre really well, never had a problem with it. I do miss my old 336 30-30. I had to trade it to buy a Ruger Blackhawk :-( Champagne tastes and draft beer income. sigh..
 
While the 88s and the savages may be tops in accuracy, they are made in cals. that don't follow the idea of a quick handling, short range gun for close encounters with big and possibly dangerous game, they also can't be used in Cowboy action comp. So keeping that in mind, I'll go with the Marlin '94, in the pistol cals. and the '95 in 45/70, some Win '94AEs are also deadly, like mine in .356 Win.
 
I took a guy to the range that had just bought a brand new Marlin in 30-30, he bought a few boxes of the Win 170gr ammo and I was amazed at how accurate this rifle shot. The same gun did not shoot the Federal 150gr worth a darn. FS
 
Fassteel said:
I took a guy to the range that had just bought a brand new Marlin in 30-30, he bought a few boxes of the Win 170gr ammo and I was amazed at how accurate this rifle shot. The same gun did not shoot the Federal 150gr worth a darn. FS
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It seems almost universally that the Marlin 30-30 like 170gr ammunition in favour to the lighter stuff.

The folks over at MarlinOwners.com produce some very nice targets that really show the accuracy potentional of these rifles, but it often takes load development and rifle tuning to get that kind of superb accuracy.

That being said, the real joy of lever guns comes in their fast handling characteristics. While I like to play with tuning my Marlins, in reality, if it'll put 2 shots within 3" of where I'm aiming at 100 yards, I'm fine with that.

If you're really interested in tuning lever guns for accuracy, check out the articles by Mic McPherson, or better yet, read a copy of "Accurizing the Factory Rifle".

h ttp://www.amazon.com/Accurizing-Factory-Rifle-M-McPherson/dp/0967094836
 
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