Suggestions for easily scopable lever action?

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emerson

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I will be looking for something relatively short and handy. 270 or larger, 22" barrel max. A datachable mag would be nice, but not a requirement. I'm not concerned with reaching out past 200yds or so. I realize 30-30 to 450Marlin covers a lot of ground but I will be reloading, so caliber isn't that important. I have a 30-06 and a 375 so the next one would be fine smaller or larger. What have you settled on as your lever action of choice?
 
Browning BLR chambered in 308 would be a great choice,..short action, 20" bbl, = 40"oal...308 ammo is everywhere,...........you say you will be reloading?...if so you may consider a BLR chambered in 358win also.
 
I handled a BLR today at WSS. Not a big fan of the varnished stock look, but not a deal breaker. 7mm08,308,358 would probably be my first choices. A Marlin 1895 in 45-70 would meet my needs too.
 
emerson said:
I handled a BLR today at WSS. Not a big fan of the varnished stock look, but not a deal breaker. 7mm08,308,358 would probably be my first choices. A Marlin 1895 in 45-70 would meet my needs too.
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Yup, I agree with ya on the shiny varnish, ... I like it to look at but it's not the most practical, ...I wish Browning would make more guns with a nice oil finish.
 
Marlins are easy to scope; but they are traditional leverguns, meaning that putting a scope on one borders on sacrilege. I actually have a scoped SBL, but that's just a handy, versatile scoped hunting rifle that happens to be lever-operated. Nothing traditional there...

Savages? They were butt-ugly hammerless leverguns; now, they're obsolete butt-ugly hammerless leverguns. :)

To my mind, the BLR is the answer, one of the great unsung hunting rifles. As easy to scope as a bolt gun, and usually as accurate; pleasing to the eye (admittedly a subjective judgement, but you were asking for opinions...) and excellent ergonomics (again, IMHO). If I had to pick a nit, it would be that BLR triggers range from pretty bad to very good, and there are not a lot of smiths who can turn one into the other. I should add that I am referring to short-action BLR's. The long-action guns require just enough more lever throw to be much less pleasant to use.

If you don't want a plain-vanilla .308, you can get one in .325WSM and have what is arguably an ideal North American do-anything rifle. Or, you could luck into a .358, and still be prepared for 99% of the shots that present themselves...plus you will have a gun in one of the great cool-factor cartridges of the world. You can even get one in a take-down version...I just recently landed a TD in .358 and am still grinning like an idiot.

Oh, and if you are a fan of the scout-scope concept, or want to try it out, you can get a barrel-mounted scope mount for the BLR and channel your inner Cooper. :)
 
jjohnwm said:
Marlins are easy to scope; but they are traditional leverguns, meaning that putting a scope on one borders on sacrilege. I actually have a scoped SBL, but that's just a handy, versatile scoped hunting rifle that happens to be lever-operated. Nothing traditional there...

Savages? They were butt-ugly hammerless leverguns; now, they're obsolete butt-ugly hammerless leverguns. :)

To my mind, the BLR is the answer, one of the great unsung hunting rifles. As easy to scope as a bolt gun, and usually as accurate; pleasing to the eye (admittedly a subjective judgement, but you were asking for opinions...) and excellent ergonomics (again, IMHO). If I had to pick a nit, it would be that BLR triggers range from pretty bad to very good, and there are not a lot of smiths who can turn one into the other. I should add that I am referring to short-action BLR's. The long-action guns require just enough more lever throw to be much less pleasant to use.

If you don't want a plain-vanilla .308, you can get one in .325WSM and have what is arguably an ideal North American do-anything rifle. Or, you could luck into a .358, and still be prepared for 99% of the shots that present themselves...plus you will have a gun in one of the great cool-factor cartridges of the world. You can even get one in a take-down version...I just recently landed a TD in .358 and am still grinning like an idiot.

Oh, and if you are a fan of the scout-scope concept, or want to try it out, you can get a barrel-mounted scope mount for the BLR and channel your inner Cooper. :)
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I have a difficult time liking the Savage look too. Not interested in the "scout" concept either. The 358 is cool, but I've got 100s of 30 cal projectiles on the bench.
 
Love lever guns, I have 8. Detachable box magazines pretty much leaves you with a choice between Savage and Browning. You don't state what you wish to hunt or distances you want to hunt at. there are a myriad of choices if you look

Browning BLR in 243, take down, stainless, with laminate stock, scoped
Savage 99 in 250-3000 internal magazine with round counter, scoped
Savage 99 in 308 detachable magazine, scoped
Browning BLR pre 81 in 308, Belgium parts assembled in Spain I think, detachable magazine, scoped
Winchester 94 in 30-30, pre 64, tube magazine, Williams Peep Sight
Browning 81 in 325 wsm, take down, detachable magazine, scoped
Browning 81 in 450 marlin, plastic camouflage stock, bought used said it came from the Browning custom shop, scoped
Marlin XLR in 45-70 govt, tube magazine, stainless, scopable, presently iron sights

And that is just my little collection, as you can see the choices are vast and varied
 
jjohnwm said:
To my mind, the BLR is the answer, one of the great unsung hunting rifles. As easy to scope as a bolt gun, and usually as accurate; pleasing to the eye (admittedly a subjective judgement, but you were asking for opinions...) and excellent ergonomics (again, IMHO). If I had to pick a nit, it would be that BLR triggers range from pretty bad to very good, and there are not a lot of smiths who can turn one into the other. I should add that I am referring to short-action BLR's. The long-action guns require just enough more lever throw to be much less pleasant to use.

If you don't want a plain-vanilla .308, you can get one in .325WSM and have what is arguably an ideal North American do-anything rifle. Or, you could luck into a .358, and still be prepared for 99% of the shots that present themselves...plus you will have a gun in one of the great cool-factor cartridges of the world. You can even get one in a take-down version...I just recently landed a TD in .358 and am still grinning like an idiot.
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Here here! Although a couple pieces of personal input I would like to add

I will always have a 444 marlin in my cabinet and as stated earlier in John's post, I would call it sacrilegious to put a scope on one.

I recently acquired a BLR just before Christmas and I am enthralled with its functionality and eye appeal. Stainless takedown dressed with a 2.5 to 8 leupold chambered in 358 win. I look forward to using it this season. Quick to put to the shoulder, smooth cycling, the trigger on mine suits me just fine and available in a wind range of calibers.

However, I would vote against the 325 wsm as the chambering. Although I do own one, unless you are reloading, or have a good source for ammo ( seen some last week at 115$ a box), then there really is no point as it seems everything but bullets for it are becoming pixie dust.
 
Sic Kid said:
However, I would vote against the 325 wsm as the chambering. Although I do own one, unless you are reloading, or have a good source for ammo ( seen some last week at 115$ a box), then there really is no point as it seems everything but bullets for it are becoming pixie dust.
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Quoted for truth and I own one, If you can find ammo you buy it regardless of price because you mnight not see any again for a year. Last box I bought was Nossler for $120.00 + tax and was happy to find it
 
BLR in .308W. 7-08 is very hard to find most of the time and offers few advantages especially if you're going to reload because you could just load some milder .308 instead.
 
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