[dobby]

I've shot a few lever actions but only for fun.

Are they commonly used for hunting or mainly just for target shooting?

[chorlton]

Originally Posted by dobby

I've shot a few lever actions but only for fun.

Are they commonly used for hunting or mainly just for target shooting?

I guess it would depend on the caliber, but lot of folks will tell you the 30/30 has taken more deer than any other round - often in a Winchester or Marlin. There is a lever action for just about any civilian purpose (there are even a few military examples).

[allmons]

Lots of deer, perhaps more than a few wild hogs and even some coyotes.

Besides, levers are fun and dependable and kind of a tradition. So, I gues hunting and fun! Plenty of reason to own one.

[DWARREN123]

Lever guns are mostly used for hunting in areas where shots are 150 yards or less. There are some heavy duty calibers used as bear guns in Alaska and any place where a short heavy duty rifle/round is needed.

[BrassMonkey]

Mostly hunting medium sized game at short range. They are also popular for "cowboy action" shooting events, or just general plinking.

[ScotZ]

My trusty 22 Marlin 39A Golden Mountie. Is one of the most popular guns at our family get togethers. Accurate as hell with just iron sights. It is fun simply because of how accurate it is and how cheap it is to shoot. So everyone has to "out do" the next guy with his own "impossible shot"

[lionslayer]

Lever guns are for the most part limited by their design to relatively low pressure rifle rounds like the .30-30 (a 19th century blackpowder cartridge), handgun cartridges, and of course .22 rimfire. There are some exceptions, notably the Browning BLR, which essentialy adapts a modern semi-auto action design to be manually operated by an underlever, and similarly the now out of production Winchester Model 88, both of which could handle modern, high-pressure rifle rounds. Tubular magazines common to most older lever gun designs also limit bullet design, requiring flat nosed projectiles that won't set off a bullet/primer impact chain reaction in the magazine. (Hornady has some polymer tipped bullets that get around this problem, and allow more ballistically efficient bullet designs.) There are also inherent accuracy challenges with most designs, owing to structural integrity, trigger complexity, scope mounting problems, and other issues too lengthy to discuss in this post. On the other hand, the handy little traditional carbines like the Winchester 94, Marlin 336, and such are delightful to carry, fun to shoot, and have an intangible nostalgic value. And there's no denying that the little carbines, while obsolete by modern standards, still account for truckloads of deer and other medium size game in the 21st century.

[coxhw]

Anyone a member of the NRA? The May addition pg.42 has a fine write up on the new Marlin Express .308. Hornady has rewritten the book when it comes to lever guns.

[WILDCATT]

Originally Posted by lionslayer

Lever guns are for the most part limited by their design to relatively low pressure rifle rounds like the .30-30 (a 19th century blackpowder cartridge), handgun cartridges, and of course .22 rimfire. There are some exceptions, notably the Browning BLR, which essentialy adapts a modern semi-auto action design to be manually operated by an underlever, and similarly the now out of production Winchester Model 88, both of which could handle modern, high-pressure rifle rounds. Tubular magazines common to most older lever gun designs also limit bullet design, requiring flat nosed projectiles that won't set off a bullet/primer impact chain reaction in the magazine. (Hornady has some polymer tipped bullets that get around this problem, and allow more ballistically efficient bullet designs.) There are also inherent accuracy challenges with most designs, owing to structural integrity, trigger complexity, scope mounting problems, and other issues too lengthy to discuss in this post. On the other hand, the handy little traditional carbines like the Winchester 94, Marlin 336, and such are delightful to carry, fun to shoot, and have an intangible nostalgic value. And there's no denying that the little carbines, while obsolete by modern standards, still account for truckloads of deer and other medium size game in the 21st century.

30/30=30 gr smokeless powder not black powder.

[WILDCATT]

Originally Posted by dobby

I've shot a few lever actions but only for fun.

Are they commonly used for hunting or mainly just for target shooting?

the title is not accurate but where have you been most guns after the civil war were lever acton(not all)the henry/73/76/86/93/94/win plus marlin and spencer and others.there were few bolt guns and not popular.the 88 german started the bolt guns.(1888).short history not complete.