Bolt or lever

Kingofalderwood

Kingofalderwood

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Long time ago my grandfather showed me his bolt action .22 Hornet. Awesome varmit exterminator and all around fun gun. A few years later I had an opportunity to pop off my cousins lever action Winchester. Again, another fun gun to shoot. Here I am 40 years later wondering which action I want to buy. Maybe some feedback from some of the friends here?
Browning and Henry are two manufacturers I'm leaning towards. Both have great products...
 
Kingofalderwood said:
Long time ago my grandfather showed me his bolt action .22 Hornet. Awesome varmit exterminator and all around fun gun. A few years later I had an opportunity to pop off my cousins lever action Winchester. Again, another fun gun to shoot. Here I am 40 years later wondering which action I want to buy. Maybe some feedback from some of the friends here?
Browning and Henry are two manufacturers I'm leaning towards. Both have great products...
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I say both! I own both, depends what mood I'm in, both are fun for their own reasons. I find plinking off cans, cards, reactive targets a lot more enjoyable with a leaver then a bolt. Semi even more;)

Browning....although the Henry is equally as nice...try the 'fit' when you hold them both and decide. Then buy the other later:)
 
Depends on your shooting " wants " or "needs" I remember shooting a friend's Marlin 39 in my teens, pretty nice. Now in my 60's I get a silly grin taking out gophers with my CZ's. Hard to beat a good bolt gun with a decent scope.
 
Good choice lads! Why not get both? My cousin in BC still has granddads .22 hornet. I think its a Winchester 43. I remember my grandfather 'playing' with that gun almost on a daily basis. The action was like silk and the stock glittered like it had flecks of gold in it when it was kissed by the early morning sun... Poetic.:)
 
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I'm with the others on this. To me, it's kind of like trying to choose between an SUV and a sports car, when you have the ability to have both. They are very different, but equally enjoyable to own. To me, it's too difficult (read: "impossible") to choose between them, so I have both (okay, several of both!). I couldn't give up one in preference over the other.
 
Yup. Those CZ's are the best bang for the buck in .22 bolties today. Think of them as an Anschutz without a trigger job. An $85.00 trip to the gunsmith to smooth it up - and for all intents and purposes that gun IS an Anschutz and will shoot head to head with them with the proper ammo.

The levers are sweet shooters too, though, especially in the gopher patch. Popping those little rodents with a super accurate boltie isn't much challenge inside 75 yards; but it becomes the sport of kings with a lever! The Henry shoots as well as anything out there but it is a little too flashy for my tastes - but that is a gripe about esthetics and the only guy whose opinion matters is the bum you see in the mirror when you shave in the morning!

I still remember the magic in the .22 lever gun an old cowboy loaned me when I was a kid. That old .22 and cowpuncher are both long gone...but I still miss them both to this day. He didn't think anything of handing me a box of shells and letting me shoot them all off. Back then if ya went plinking - you drove 20 minutes out of town, found a convenient hillside to shoot against - and went to town...and God help any gophers you saw on the trip out!

I guess it's nostalgia vs fun vs accuracy...
 
I have both a Henry H001T and a Marlin bolt and enjoy shooting them both. That said, the one I seem to most enjoy is my Winchester 1906 pump. When I'm popping ground squirrels that's my go to rifle. I find it much easier to stay on target with a pump as aposed to either a lever or bolt. Any way you go you're sure to have fun.
 
My Henry Frontier lever shoots right around 1moa at 50m. It has the heavy octagonal barrel. My CZ455 varmint shoots better than 1/2moa at the same distance.

Do the bolt!
 
6MT said:
My Henry Frontier lever shoots right around 1moa at 50m. It has the heavy octagonal barrel. My CZ455 varmint shoots better than 1/2moa at the same distance.

Do the bolt!
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These are two really fun and nice guns to shoot with great quality.. congrats
 
Both would be great...I have the henry Frontier and I love it..very smooth and great sights...my friend has the BL-22 and that thing is a thing of beauty...very nice gun
 
Well, I'll go for both. I'm going for the Henry Octagonal barrel .22lr. For a bolt action I'm leaning more towards the CZ 455. Only disappointing thing is the sheer lack of rimfire ammo. I may have to rethink the calibre...
 
Well, I finally got my game together.

Picked up a Henry Frontier .22lr and a Ruger 10/22 semi .22lr.

I found one bolt action that I really enjoyed but will have to be patient. its the Ruger American. That said, if I do find a CZ I may get one.

I tried the Savage MKII and the Marlin XT but they felt like I was wearing my pants backwards. Really uncomfortable. The Browning lever felt the same.

Best advice I got was from Stan at Sail in Etobicoke. You just have to hold them all. See what feels comfortable and keep trying different ones until you find that one...or two...
 
You won't be happy until you have examples of bolt, lever and pump. And to that list I'll add on a good quality single shot along the lines of a BSA Martini. Although a good condition Stevens Favorite can put a smile on my mug as well.

The bolt action, along with a good target single shot, will generally get the nod towards accuracy. But few of us will ever notice that extra accuracy potential unless we shoot from a fixed bench position.

For times when you're plinking at a can or one of those flip and and release steel rimfire targets you just can't beat a lever or pump. And for those that are lazy a semi auto.... :D
 
While you are trying to decide pick up a Henry Pump model - maybe one of the nicest finished pumps on the market today (for the money).

I have a 39A Marlin lever and while it's "cool" there is a whole lot of movement when you are cycling the action - it's near impossible to keep it "on target" while reloading. I also have an old FN Browning Trombone pump 22 - you can empty the tube mag on that while keeping it "sighted".
 
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