[bigwheel]

I went for a Winchester 94 Trapper in 357/38 as a companion piece for my Ruger Security-6 357mag. I have really enjoyed it and have no regrets. I like lever actions a lot and have a Marlin in 30-30, an older hammerless Winchester 22LR, a Henery 22LR with a big loop, and a Savage 99F in 300 Savage. Actions are good to carry, plenty of power for nearly anything in Eastern North America. Where I live we don't have bears, moose, or elk so even the 357 mag is big enough for our little whitetail deer. I dropped a buck a few years ago with a 357 Blackhawk single-action revolver so I know that the carbine will do the job for brush hunting with shots no longer than 150 yards. Hornady even makes a plastic pointed 357 specifically for hunting use in a lever-action Rifle. The 30-30 has killed more deer in the US than any other round.

I like that lever-action ammo is rimmed. For survival, purposes rimmed ammo is easier to reload with the Leeloader. I have three presses but I can't see carrying one very far. A pound of Unique powder, a few hundred assorted primers, a hundred bullets for each caliber with Leeloaders and a couple of bullet molds is manageable. For its portability I like it and for loading a box of ammo it is easy.

While a lever-action is not an AK in the 7.62x39 (I'm not a fan of the 5.56) but it is a great fast action rifle that offers little in the way of problems and is as portable as an AR.

I snagged a box of the Hornady Lever Evolutions plastic tip in .30 30. My Winni apparently dont have the metal magazine follower it takes to make the last round feed. Would cycle fine till the last round in the magazine. Might check that is anybody wants to snag some. The ballistics looks good but not a whole lot more impressive than 150 Grain Super X's and they feed without changing things up.
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-30-30-ammo/

 

[RubberDuck]

I snagged a box of the Hornady Lever Evolutions plastic tip in .30 30. My Winni apparently dont have the metal magazine follower it takes to make the last round feed. Would cycle fine till the last round in the magazine. Might check that is anybody wants to snag some. The ballistics looks good but not a whole lot more impressive than 150 Grain Super X's and they feed without changing things up.
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-30-30-ammo/

They might be fine and maybe I just had bad experience but I used those in my 44mag and nearly lost a 10 point .
At about 35 yards I shot base of neck dropped like a sack of potatoes so I continued to hunt because it was early 10 minutes later it stood up and trotted off. I stalked over to where it laid looked like a crime scene. Stalked him put another round in it at 100 yards and he kept moving then Mlodell put a 50 cal in it put him on the ground but still didn't want to die so offed him with 45acp.
After skinning my round penetrated the hide only bruised the neck but then ran inside the hide through the shoulder the lung back out the rib cage and stopped in the hide so was kill shot sooner or later. Found the red tip in the hide between neck and shoulder so it came out before actually going in.

I call Hornady and all he said was well that shouldn't have happened...
Since that I no longer trust the Lever evolution ammo

 

[stevekozak]

They might be fine and maybe I just had bad experience but I used those in my 44mag and nearly lost a 10 point .
At about 35 yards I shot base of neck dropped like a sack of potatoes so I continued to hunt because it was early 10 minutes later it stood up and trotted off. I stalked over to where it laid looked like a crime scene. Stalked him put another round in it at 100 yards and he kept moving then Mlodell put a 50 cal in it put him on the ground but still didn't want to die so offed him with 45acp.
After skinning my round penetrated the hide only bruised the neck but then ran inside the hide through the shoulder the lung back out the rib cage and stopped in the hide so was kill shot sooner or later. Found the red tip in the hide between neck and shoulder so it came out before actually going in.

I call Hornady and all he said was well that shouldn't have happened...
Since that I no longer trust the Lever evolution ammo

It is almost as if you had shot it in the chest with a 9mm... :tango_face_wink::vs_laugh:

Just funning ya!!

 

[rice paddy daddy]

My dream rifle has always been a Savage Model 99.
They have a rotary magazine, not a tube, and that way can handle spitzer bullets, like .308, 30-06, etc.
When you find one they will cost more than a Winchester or Marlin, but worth every penny.

 

[SOCOM42]

The 99 even has a round counter built in.

Great rifles but all I have ever seen were in odd calibers.

Never had to fix one, just mounted scopes for customers on them.

Have a beautiful finish on them, would hate to take them into the woods, work of art IMHO.

 

[TexDanm]

I am the third generation to own and take deer with this fine rifle and to the best of my knowledge, it has never failed to fire and hit what you aimed it at. I like the 300 savage a lot. It is a step up from a 30-30 and my reloads are very near to the 308 win. It has a solid lock up and can take more pressure than the other lever actions except maybe the Browning BLR.

 

[StratMaster]

I got an informal appraisal on my old Winni at the LGS. The guy said any old well preserved Marlin or Win should be worth about 400 bucks. So it wont break the bank to snag one. In fact one of my pals sold a mutual chum his well preserved Marlin for three hundred about six months ago. Made me sick. He had quoted it to me for 450. What a jerk. The other guy had cash money in his pocket and was prepared to act. I was the proverbial hour late and three hundred bucks short. lol.

Yep. I bought three Marlins, two with scopes, for around $350 each. Bought them all in parking lots back in the day when the Guv'ment didn't get in the way. Can't do that now in Oregon. Lots of things for a prepper to love about these: pick up a reliable long gun cheap. 30-30 ammo quite common. In a needed scenario, You can hand them out to neighbors / family / compadres, and not cry too hard if it didn't come back in some situation. You can even hand one to someone with little experience, and they are relatively safe and not too hard to figure out. For helping to build an emergency arsenal, they fit the budget nicely. That's what I like about shotguns too... pick them up here and there used for $200, eventually you have a good line of them.

 

[Garand]

New world record lever action rifle - YouTube

You already have 2 rifles in hunting calibers, so you don't need any more in rifle calibers. I'm a Cowboy Action shooter that has put a thousands of rds down range in a Rossi M92, in .357, a Marlin M1894S in .44 Mag, a Chiappa M92 in .44 mag, and 3 Uberti M73 in .357 , & .45Colt in the last 25 years. For speed ie putting multiple rounds down range quickly, dump the Henry, nice gun for plinking and hunting but not self defense. Pick up a Uberti M73 in your choice of caliber, have an cowboy action job done and you will have an excellent 100 yd politically correct self defense rifle. Just a pic on my choices

 

[marineimaging]

.357 magnum will allow .38 as well. Cross over to pistol. Good enough for light skin deer, beaver, hogs, head shot rabbits. Covers all the bases.

 

[marineimaging]

I also have a .44 mag Blackhawk an Rossi 92/ They will work for self defense or hunting, depending on your states allowances for hunting. If SHTF, it won't matter as long as you have a high caliber rifle. I would further suggest to match a pistol with your carbine and singlize the ammo.

 

[Alteredstate]

Please consider, cost of each round, and availability of each round. .357 is a pistol round, which automatically makes it scary and bad. 30/30 is the ubiquitous lever gun round, has about a 200 yard range and will knock um down compared to a pistol cartridge fired from a carbine length barrel....

 

[Garand]

Why Everyone Likes Lever Actions - YouTube

 

[1895gunner]

I know this is an old thread however people are always looking at lever guns. As my handle implies, I prefer the 45-70 round but I like em all. I'm currently performing a "Test & Evaluation" on a Davide Pedersoli "BoarBuster" in 45-70 and have recently done the same on the new Marlin 1895's released by Ruger Firearms (the SBL & the Trapper). I have a Henry All Weather 45-70 coming next month to review.

For ease of finding ammo in hard times the 30-30 would be the easiest to find followed by 38/357 and then 44 magnum. My favorites, the 45-70 and 45 Colt would be harder to find so I take care of that myself. I load almost every day being retired so I keep plenty around. I also shoot a ton and I believe in lever actions and single action revolvers. They won't win a fight in a semi-auto gun battle however for pure simplicity I prefer them for a survival situation.

 

[bigwheel]

I know this is an old thread however people are always looking at lever guns. As my handle implies, I prefer the 45-70 round but I like em all. I'm currently performing a "Test & Evaluation" on a Davide Pedersoli "BoarBuster" in 45-70 and have recently done the same on the new Marlin 1895's released by Ruger Firearms (the SBL & the Trapper). I have a Henry All Weather 45-70 coming next month to review.

For ease of finding ammo in hard times the 30-30 would be the easiest to find followed by 38/357 and then 44 magnum. My favorites, the 45-70 and 45 Colt would be harder to find so I take care of that myself. I load almost every day being retired so I keep plenty around. I also shoot a ton and I believe in lever actions and single action revolvers. They won't win a fight in a semi-auto gun battle however for pure simplicity I prefer them for a survival situation.

View attachment 114825

Mighty handsome specimines.

 

[Spenser]

The only rifles I am familiar with personally is the M16, M1 Garand 30-06, 18 gauge Pump action shotgun, and 22 cal rifles. The M1 Garand was my favorite.

Living in NYC queens, all the above are too hard to obtain a permit for, but that is my 2 cents of choices.

 

[Alteredstate]

Ammo availability is the number one concern.

.357 is considered as pistol ammo, regardless of your intent to fire it through a carbine.

.357, is likely more expensive than 30-30 and has less knock down energy.

Why would you buy a rifle and intend to fire expensive, hard to find, scrutinized by the intentionally unaware leftist, less powerful ammo through the rifle?

 

[Garand]

Why would you buy a rifle and intend to fire expensive, hard to find, scrutinized by the intentionally unaware leftist, less powerful ammo through the rifle?

location, location, location, what suits you in Eastern Montana and downtown New York City are 2 different things. If I'm on a bald arss prairie, I'm thinking a good lever (your choice in manufacturer) in .30/30 or .45-70 would be an appropriate choice, why forging in a New York City apartment building a good Uberti M73 Carbine (slicked up) in .357 would be a better choice if your restricted to lever guns.

 

[Buckman]

Interesting thread as I just bought Model 92 in 45LC and a Cimarron 1873 SA in the same caliber.

 

[Garand]

I see pistol caliber levers as a good effective 0-100 yard cartridge and a rifle caliber lever as a good effective 75-200 yard rifle. These are the standards I made my purchases on. What ever you choose, consider learning and stocking to reload. The costs of factory ammo will only go up and it is easier to become proficient with the lever by putting more rds down range annually. If you plan ahead you could have ammo stockpile for your rifle that lasts years.