Lever-action is a type of
firearm actionIn firearms terminology, an action is the physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term is also used to describe the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. Actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used...
which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the
chamberIn firearms, the chamber is that portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinder and no chamber in their barrel.The act of...
of the barrel when the lever is worked. One of the most famous lever-action firearm is undoubtedly the
Winchester rifleThe term Winchester Rifle is frequently used to describe any of the lever-action rifles manufactured in the United States by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, although the name is usually more specifically used in reference to the Winchester Model 1873 or the Winchester Model 1894...
, but many manufacturers- notably
MarlinThe Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut manufactures Marlin Rifles.Over the company's 130+ years of firearms production, it has been best known for its manufacture of high power, center fire, lever action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles, as well as shotguns, derringers and revolvers...
and
SavageThe Savage Arms Company is a firearms manufacturing company based in Westfield, Massachusetts. The company makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as marketing the Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns...
- also produce lever-action rifles.
MossbergMossberg may refer to:* O.F. Mossberg & Sons, a US firearms manufacturer.* Walter Mossberg, a Wall Street Journal columnist.* Mossberg 500, a model of shotgun....
produces the 464 in centerfire .30-30 and rimfire .22. While the term
lever-action generally implies a repeating firearm, it is also sometimes applied to a variety of single-shot or
falling-blockA falling-block action is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the rifle and actuated by a lever....
actions that use a lever for cycling, such as the
Martini-HenryThe Martini-Henry was a breech-loading lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry. It first entered service in 1871 replacing the Snider-Enfield, and variants were used throughout...
or the
Ruger No. 1The Ruger No. 1 is a single shot rifle, with Farquharson-style internal hammer falling block action, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It was introduced in 1966. An underlever lowers the block allowing loading and cocks the rifle. The design proved to be rather strong, and as Lenard Brownell once said...
.
History
The first significant lever-action (also known as bolt-action) design was the
Spencer repeating rifleThe Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the...
, a magazine-fed lever-operated breech-loading rifle designed by Christopher Spencer in 1860. It was fed from a removable seven-round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another, and which, when emptied, could be exchanged for another. Over 20,000 were made, and it was adopted by the United States and used during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, marking the first adoption of a removable-magazine-fed infantry-and-cavalry rifle by any country.
Unlike later designs, the early Spencer's lever only served to unlock the falling-block action and load a new cartridge from the magazine; it did not cock the hammer, and thus the hammer had to be cocked after the lever was operated to prepare the rifle to fire. The
Henry rifleThe Henry repeating rifle is a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine rifle.-Original Manufacturing:The original Henry repeating rifle was an American .44 caliber rimfire, lever-action, breech-loading rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in the late 1850s. The Henry rifle was an improved...
, invented by Benjamin Tyler Henry, a gunsmith employed by Oliver Winchester in 1860, used a centrally-located hammer rather than the offset hammer typical of muzzleloading rifles, and this hammer was cocked by the rearward movement of the Henry's bolt. The Henry also placed the magazine under the barrel, rather than in the buttstock, a trend followed by most tubular magazines since.
Lever action rifles were used extensively by irregular forces during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Typically, these were Winchester or Winchester copies of Spanish manufacture.
John Marlin, founder of
Marlin FirearmsThe Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut manufactures Marlin Rifles.Over the company's 130+ years of firearms production, it has been best known for its manufacture of high power, center fire, lever action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles, as well as shotguns, derringers and revolvers...
Company, New Haven, Connecticut, introduced Marlin's first lever-action repeating rifle as the Model 1881. Its successor was the
Marlin Model 1894The Marlin Model 1894 is a lever-action repeating rifle introduced in 1894 by the Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut. At its introduction the rifle came with a 24-inch barrel and was chambered for a variety of pistol rounds such as .25-20 Winchester, .32-20 Winchester, .38-40, and...
, which is still in production today.
By the 1890s, lever-actions had evolved into a form that would last for over a century. Both Marlin and Winchester released new model lever-action rifles in 1894. The Marlin rifle is still in production, whereas production of the Winchester 94 ceased in 2006. While externally similar, the Marlin and Winchester rifles are quite different internally; the Marlin has a single-stage lever action, while the Winchester has a double-stage lever. The double-stage action is easily seen when the Winchester's lever is operated, as first the entire trigger group drops down, unlocking the bolt, and then the bolt is moved rearward to eject the fired cartridge.
The fledgling Savage Arms Company became well-known after the development of its popular hammerless
Savage Model 99The Model 99 was a famously innovative, best selling hammerless lever action rifle produced from 1899 until the early 1990s by the Savage Arms Company in Utica, New York...
lever action sporting rifle, also of .30
caliberThe term caliber designates the inside diameter of a tube, the diameter of a solid wire or rod, or a measurement of the length of a gun relative to its diameter....
. The former two models, and various copies of them, make up the bulk of the lever-action rifles made by the company, while the somewhat odd .303 Savage cartridge (not interchangeable with the military
.303 British.303 British, or 7.7mmx56R, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain in the 1880s as a blackpowder round, later adapted to use cordite and then smokeless powder propellant...
cartridge in any way) gradually eroded the Model 99's popularity and production was eventually abandoned.
More recently, Sturm Ruger and Company introduced a number of new lever-action designs in the 1990s, unusual because most lever action designs date from before
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in the period before reliable
semi-automatic rifleA semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...
s became widely available.
Lever-action Shotguns
Early attempts at repeating shotguns invariably centered around either bolt-action or lever-action designs, drawing obvious inspiration from the repeating rifles of the time.
The earliest successful repeating shotgun was the lever-action Winchester M1887, designed by
John BrowningJohn Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...
in 1885 at the behest of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who wanted to market a repeating shotgun. The lever-action design was chosen for reasons of brand recognition, Winchester being best known for manufacturing lever-action firearms at the time, despite the protestations of Browning, who pointed out that a
pump-actionA pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
design would be much better for a shotgun. Initially chambered for black powder shotgun shells (as was standard at the time), the Winchester Model 1901 was a later model chambered for 10ga smokeless powder shotgun shells. Their popularity waned after the introduction of
pump-actionA pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
shotguns such as the
Winchester Model 1897The Winchester Model 1897 is a pump-action shotgunwith an external hammer and tube magazine. It was offered in 12 and 16 gauge, solid frame or takedown. Numerous barrel lengths were offered.-Description:...
, and production was discontinued in 1920. Modern reproductions are (or have been), however, manufactured by
NorincoThe China North Industries Corporation , official English name Norinco, manufactures vehicles , machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, civil and military firearms and ammunition, etc...
in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and ADI Ltd. in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, while Winchester continued to manufacture the .410 gauge Model 9410, effectively a Winchester Model 94 chambered for .410 gauge shotgun shells, until 2006.
Advantages and Disadvantages
While lever-action rifles were (and are) popular with hunters and sporting shooters, they were not widely accepted by the military. One significant reason for this was that it is harder to fire a lever-action from the prone position (compared to a straight-pull or
bolt-actionThe term bolt action refers to a type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with a small handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon...
rifle), and while nominally possessing a greater rate of fire (contemporary Winchester advertisements claimed their rifles could fire 2 shots a second) than bolt-action rifles, lever-action firearms are also generally fed from a tubular magazine, which limits the ammunition that can be used in them. Pointed centerfire
SpitzerA spitzer is an aerodynamic bullet design used in most intermediate and high-powered rifle cartridges. The name derives from the German word Spitzgeschoss, literally pointed bullet. It was first introduced in 1898 by the French in their 8 mm Lebel "Balle D" cartridge...
bullets, for example, can cause explosions in a tubular magazine, as the point of each cartridge's projectile rests on the
primerPrimer can refer to:*Primer , a 1995 music album by the musical group Rockapella*Primer , a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth...
of the next cartridge in the magazine (soft-tipped Hornady ammunition made for tube-fed rifles avoids this problem). The tubular magazine may also have a negative impact on the harmonics of the barrel, which limits the theoretical accuracy of the rifle. A tubular magazine under the barrel also pushes the center of gravity forward, which alters the balance of the rifle in ways that is undesirable to some shooters. Nevertheless, many of the newer lever action rifles are capable of shooting groups smaller than 1 minute of angle, comparable to most modern bolt-action rifles.
Due to the higher rate of fire and shorter overall length than most bolt-action rifles, lever actions have remained popular to this day for sporting use, especially short- and medium-range
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
in forests, scrub, or bushland. Lever-action firearms are also used in some quantity by prison guards in the United States, as well as by wildlife authorities/game wardens in many parts of the world.
An additional advantage over typical bolt-action rifles is the lack of
handednessHandedness is an attribute of humans defined by their unequal distribution of fine motor skill between the left and right hands. An individual who is more dexterous with the right hand is called right-handed, and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed. A minority of people...
. A lever-action rifle can be used equally well by a left-handed shooter.
Calibers
Most lever-action designs are not as strong as bolt-action or semi-automatic designs, and as a result lever-action rifles tend to be generally found in low- and medium-pressure cartridges such as
.30-30 WinchesterThe .30-30 Winchester/.30 Winchester Center Fire/7.62x51Rmm cartridge was first marketed in early 1895 for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle. The .30-30, as it is most commonly known, was the USA's first small-bore, sporting rifle cartridge designed for smokeless powder...
or
.44 MagnumThe .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles. Despite the ".44" designation, all guns chambered for the .44 Magnum case, and its parent case, the .44 Special, use...
, although the
Marlin Model 1894The Marlin Model 1894 is a lever-action repeating rifle introduced in 1894 by the Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut. At its introduction the rifle came with a 24-inch barrel and was chambered for a variety of pistol rounds such as .25-20 Winchester, .32-20 Winchester, .38-40, and...
is available in three high-pressure magnum calibers; and the
Winchester Model 1895The Winchester Model 1895 was a lever-action repeating firearm developed and manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in the late 19th century, chambered for a number of full-size military and hunting cartridges such as 7.62x54R, .303 British,.30-06 Springfield,.30-40 Krag, .35...
, which used a box magazine, was chambered for .30-06 and other powerful military cartridges. The most common caliber is by far the .30-30, which was introduced by Winchester with the Model 1894. Other common calibers for Lever-action firearms include
.38 SpecialThe .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
/
.357 MagnumThe .357 S&W Magnum, or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
,
.44 SpecialThe .44 Special or .44 S&W Special is a smokeless powder center fire metallic cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1907 as the standard chambering for their New Century revolver, introduced in 1908.-Development history:...
/
.44 MagnumThe .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles. Despite the ".44" designation, all guns chambered for the .44 Magnum case, and its parent case, the .44 Special, use...
, .41 Magnum,
.444 MarlinThe .444 Marlin is a rifle cartridge designed in 1964 by Marlin Firearms and Remington Arms. It was designed to fill in a gap for the older .45-70 at a time when that cartridge was not currently available in any lever action, making it the largest at the time available lever-action cartridge...
,
.45-70The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government, was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873 .45 caliber rifle, known to collectors as the "Trapdoor Springfield." The new cartridge was a replacement for the stop-gap .50-70 Government...
,
.45 ColtThe .45 Colt cartridge was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Conn. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the U.S. Army in late 1872. The revolver...
,
.32-20 WinchesterThe .32-20 Winchester, also known as the .32 WCF, was the first small-game lever-action cartridge thatWinchester produced. It was initially introduced as a blackpowder cartridge in 1882 for small-game, varmint hunting, and deer...
,
.35 RemingtonThe .35 Remington is the only remaining cartridge from Remington's lineup of medium powder rimless cartridges still in commercial production. Introduced in 1906, it was originally chambered for the Remington Model 8 semi-automatic rifle in 1908.-History:Over the years, the .35 Rem has been...
, and .22 caliber rimfire. Lever-action designs using stronger, rotary locking bolts (such as the Browning BLR) are usually fed from box magazines and are not limited to round nose bullet designs, as well as being able to handle a greater range of calibers than a traditional lever-action design.
Lever-action shotguns such as the Winchester Model 1887 were chambered in 10 or 12-gauge black powder shotgun shells, whereas the Model 1901 was chambered for 10 gauge smokeless shotshells. Modern reproductions are chambered for 12 gauge smokeless shells, while the Winchester Model 9410 shotgun is available in
.410 bore.410 bore, commonly misnamed the .410 gauge, is the smallest gauge of shotgun shell commonly available. It has similar base dimensions to the .45 Colt revolver cartridge, though the .410 is significantly longer, up to in length), allowing many single-shot firearms and some revolvers chambered in...
.
See also
- Spencer repeating rifle
The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the...
- Winchester rifle
The term Winchester Rifle is frequently used to describe any of the lever-action rifles manufactured in the United States by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, although the name is usually more specifically used in reference to the Winchester Model 1873 or the Winchester Model 1894...
- Winchester M1887
- Marlin 336
- Antique guns
An antique firearm is, loosely speaking, a firearm designed and manufactured prior to the beginning of the 20th century. The Boer War is often used as a cut-off event, although the exact definition of what constitutes an "antique firearm" varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction...
External links