Lever actions as hunting guns

Lever action firearms are perfectly safe!
I teach Firearms Safety and the hardest firearm to teach inexperienced (most) people is the lever action.
This is not a mystery and more time is spent in practical training with levers than the other actions.
I don't scare the students with exaggerated tales of exploding magazines and accidental discharges!
But every student learns how to #### and lower a hammer safely, load through a side port using the finger trap method and unload without having to chamber each round!
Fear mongering is not a good training technique!:mad:
 
Why doesn't the factory manual explain how to unload a model 94 without chambering each round? Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall that.

Edit: I just rechecked the Win 94 manual. It says to work the lever moving each cartridge from the magazine to the chamber to ejection. No mention of an alternate technique.
 
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'Boo said:
Obviously you too have little experience with a '94.

Right from the initial bolt opening NONE of the rounds in the mag - be they 10 or more - need to be chambered in order to unload the magazine. The lever just has to be brought forward enough to pop the cartridge up on the elevator at which point they can be rolled out of the action by gravity.

Unloading a rifle by chambering every round as it pops from the magazine make no more sense with a lever action rifle than it does with a bolt action.
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Eggs actually just like unloading an 870 ,pump it roll the shell out of breach,do it till empty! No need to ever ativate the hammer!

If your instructor wanted to talk about dangerious tube loaders he might check out Henry Rifles (droping a shell onto another)!

And you would learn how to tip your rifle as to make it not even that bad!

Get a new instructer!

Bob:rolleyes:
 
What is wrong with the BLR a fine rifle in .308. Love mine. Great Deer rifle for the kid, get out there and enjoy it with him.

a gun is either loaded or not, safeties are not to be relied upon....ever
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Great point safeties are mechanical devices and are subject to failure just like all things mechanical.


Eggs actually just like unloading an 870 ,pump it roll the shell out of breach,do it till empty! No need to ever ativate the hammer!
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Actually if you roll the 870 over you can manipulate the shell catches and empty it that way!
Does the '94 have "shell" catchers, what enables the next cartridge to leave the mag in order to fed into the cartridge?
 
What is wrong with the BLR a fine rifle in .308. Love mine. Great Deer rifle for the kid, get out there and enjoy it with him.
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..................looks like a pregnant guppy. Ugly as hell and the mechanics are very complicated if you ever have to time it to cycle properly. I had one in 308 and got a wolf with it but it didn't last long as i couldn't bear to look at it anymore.:D
 
I've had the BLR apart, and it went together just fine. However, I've had my share of levers apart, and, I had a manual to help with the timing.
I wouldn't recommend just tearing into it.
On the looks side, No, I'm not used to it yet. Besides, it's my wife's rifle.

There are others, the 99 Savage, the 88 Winchester, the Sako Finwolf...

And, no, you don't have to work each round through the action on a Savage either Just pop it loose from the rotary mag.
 
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Lever actions are trickier for newbies. They take practice to lower the hammer saflely, most newbies will let the hammer slip off their thumb at least once before they get the hang of it. Of course these guns can be unloaded without having a live round chambered and a hammer cocked, but that has to be taught and it amazes me how many "old timers" jack all the cartridges through the action. closing it all the way and then picking them off the ground. You are required to teach the "no pointed bullets in tubular magazines", but some instructors go overboard on this, as it is only a reloading issue. The most dangerous magazine is probably .22 tubular magazines. I have found rounds in thse on stored firearms. I would not recommend a hammer style lever gun myself for a newbie, but if you disagree, make sure they get lots of practice unloading and lowering the hammer.
 
I had a hunting partner slip his thumb off of a 94 hammer. He was frozen from a late season hunt and it just happended when he was putting the rifle to half ####. Nothing wrong with the gun it did what it was supposed to do. He did maintain the muzzle control and a sand beach area on a lake shore took the hit. Made some of us jump but did not hurt our faith in the old 94. PEOPLE make the 94 or any other gun unsafe.

cheers Darryl
 
For absolutely silent cocking of the gun when hunting, I prefer the Marlin lever 444s. Pull the trigger, thumb back the hammer, no sound at all if practiced. I've done it many times. My Win 94 Trapper and BLR 308 can also do it, but it is just a bit more tricky with them. I find it more difficult to release the safety silently with the Win model 70 and Enfield bolt guns. With the Enfield, it can be done by holding a considerable bit of back pressure on the bolt end while releasing the safety with the other hand, but is a two-handed operation. With the Swedish M96, releasing the safety silently is two-handed, and pretty tricky for me, so I've never taken it hunting in a bear or deer stand situation. Those who always hunt with a bolt or lever gun unchambered, probably either don't hunt from stands in close-in situations or still-hunt in thick woods in close-in situations, or else don't have much success. (Okay, I'm ducking and running) :):)
 
The folks at Rifle Magazine actually did a test to try to set off the primer of the bullet(s) in a tube magazine, by using SPITZER bullets and they were not able to make it happen.

All standard ammo for rifles such as the M-94 Winchester, Marlin 1895 etc, use FLAT POINT bullets.

There is zero chance in hell of it ever happening!

Sounds to me like your firearms instructor is a twit. :rolleyes:
 
Actually, I think the article referred to a test done in an article in Gun Digest a short while ago.
The author did fairly extensive testing, and was unable to detonate a primer with any sort of lead pointed bullet.
Even when he purposely detonated a bullet in the mag, no chain fire resulted, in fact, the magazine was undamaged. The cartridge split it's casing, and didn't even burn properly.
Still, it's not impossible, so, the recommendation remains, do not use pointed bullets in tube magazines.
 
If I read the same article, it also goes on to say that a mag fire would be more common in a straight walled case such as a 45-70 than a more slender and sloped 30-30. The straight walled cases would have a larger chance of contacting the primer whereas the tapered cased ones would have the leads laying down against the side of the tube and not on the primer. How true this is, I can't say but it seems logical enough.
I've seen what my Dad called 30-30 Pneumatics. Not quite a spitzer bullet, it had a shallow broad hollow point to it. Has anyone ever used these, and if so, what where they like? If I look hard enough at home I should be able to find it.
 
Barnes and PMC have, or had such a bullet.
The original Barnes 160 grain? in this design was not a good hunting bullet, In my usage I found that the petals broke off, and the bullet penciled through leaving a 30 cal exit hole.
I understand this has been corrected in the new 150 grain version, but have not tested it myself.
 
nothing wrong with leaver guns the BLR is in my opinion the nicest leaver gun you can own saying that the win 94 is real nice aswell dont personally care for the marlin but the price is good and most people seem to enjoy them
 
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