First impressions of lever action rifles

C

Caspain Canuck

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Location
London, Ontario
I own a Henry .22 lever action rifle with an upgraded bullseye rear sight and it's a lot of fun to shoot. So recently I decided to up my lever action game to a bigger caliber and checked out four budget-friendly .357 Mag/.38 Special rifles at Bulls Eye North here in London. I didn't shoot any of them, just held them and cycled them with dummy rounds. Here are my first impressions:
  • The Heritage 92 16.6" barrel
    • PROS: Very smooth action and nice wood finish, feels great in hands, smooth trigger, doesn't feel heavy.
    • CONS: The rear iron sights was a bit fuzzy to my eyes, no Picattiny rail or an easy/cheap way to attach one if needed.
  • Canuck Wrangler Blackout Tactical 16.5" barrel
    • PROS: Smooth action, tacticool M-LOK handguard with a Picattiny rail, holders for extra rounds and lots of room for accessories, bright fiber optic front sight that's low enough to be visible through the groove in the rail with a mounted red dot or laser.
    • CONS: Feels heavy, much heavier than the 7.5lbs weight in the specs.
  • Morrison Lever Action Ironwolf Tactical Rifle 12" barrel
    • PROS: Tacticool M-LOK handguard with a Picattiny rail, short enough to be carried in a backpack.
    • CONS: Where do I begin? The action was super stiff, the trigger guard loop had to be squeezed really hard to unlock the trigger, sights didn't work for my eyes at all, and the weight (6.5lbs) is too high for its size.
  • Citadel LEVTAC-92 16.5" barrel
    • PROS: Very smooth action and decent trigger pull, tacticool M-LOK handguard gives lots of room for attachments, light (6.8lbs per the specs but feels the lightest of the four) and perfectly balanced, the peep sight is perfect and helps acquire an instant lock on the target, the loop is extra large for shooting while wearing winter gloves. It was also the cheapest option at only 797.39 on sale.
    • CONS: The sights sit high and would be unusable with a red dot or laser mounted directly on the rail without a riser.
I fell in love with the Citadel and bought it on the spot. :love: I have yet to shoot it and will update my review once I put a bunch of rounds through it.
 
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good info, tfs . I suspect they are all alloy frames and levers?

did you find one in the mix that had a shorter lever stroke than an other?
makes sense to me a pc lever-gun should come with a short stroke, something suited to the cartridge size
 
boxhitch said:
good info, tfs . I suspect they are all alloy frames and levers?

did you find one in the mix that had a shorter lever stroke than an other?
makes sense to me a pc lever-gun should come with a short stroke, something suited to the cartridge size
Click to expand...
The Citadel's frame is definitely alloy, not sure about the lever. The heavier guns of the four I tried may have had more steel in them.

I didn't notice a lot of variation in terms of the lever stroke between those guns, only the weird stiffness of the Morrison gun.
 
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