Best Lever Action for the UK?

[Smellydog]

I shot a Marlin .444 lever action for red deer in Scotland, with home loads it met all the requirements and stopped the largest red stags very well out to 200 yards, seems like it’s nearly obsolete now with so many new straight wall cartridges.

Always wanted a W94 in 444.
A shop down south listed one for years but I never did go for it. A synthetic stocked Winchester 94. I forget what Winchester called the model ??

 

[alberta boy]

Always wanted a W94 in 444.
A shop down south listed one for years but I never did go for it. A synthetic stocked Winchester 94. I forget what Winchester called the model ??

I believe they were called the 94AE Black Shadow , there was also a wood stocked Timber Carbine . Hard to find these days .

AB

 

[Smellydog]

I believe they were called the 94AE Black Shadow , there was also a wood stocked Timber Carbine . Hard to find these days .

AB

That was it , black shadow. Think the the timber carbines had ported barrels also??
Good day to you or why aren't you asleep?

 

[alberta boy]

That was it , black shadow. Think the the timber carbines had ported barrels also??
Good day to you or why aren't you asleep?

I'm going to bed as we speak , have a good day brother .

AB

 

[Smellydog]

I'm going to bed as we speak , have a good day brother .

AB

Good night John boy.

 

[Stumpy2]

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[cjm1066]

We often comment on absurd aspects of UK firearms law.

However. The Americans are beating us in banning bottle neck cartridges for deer, but allowing straight walled.

I presume they are free to use Berdan or Boxer primers?

 

[Mungo]

Yeah I’m sure it’s a challenge. Just like it’s a challenge here in the USA for me to get many European brands of guns. I’m currently working on getting a Heym SR21 here and basically it’s possible but it will be imported singly as Heyms are brought into the States on a per order basis. So I feel your pain. But I admit that Lever Action rifles are plentiful here and I in fact have several from Savage, Marlin (the original Marlin) and Winchester (the original Winchester). I have a nice Marlin in 30-30 that I would gladly sell but I would have no idea how the export/import process works. But I’m sure it’s possible.

Having had a Heym SR21 in .308 I would warn you not to invest too much time and money in getting one.

They are beautiful and well made, but have some critical design flaws that will drive you nuts. There is a reasonable chance that you’ll end up with incurable accuracy problems.

 

[UpNorthMI]

We often comment on absurd aspects of UK firearms law.

However. The Americans are beating us in banning bottle neck cartridges for deer, but allowing straight walled.

I presume they are free to use Berdan or Boxer primers?

It’s not a ban on bottle neck cartridges, it’s a move to allow “lower powered” rifles in zones that were previously shotgun only zones. These zones are typically semi rural areas which see a large amount of hunters during the firearm deer season.

This removal of the prior restriction of all rifles being banned has provided hunters with a lot better option than just shotgun. I would rather use a 2” max straight wall case rifle than just a shotgun.

 

[Smellydog]

It’s not a ban on bottle neck cartridges, it’s a move to allow “lower powered” rifles in zones that were previously shotgun only zones. These zones are typically semi rural areas which see a large amount of hunters during the firearm deer season.

This removal of the prior restriction of all rifles being banned has provided hunters with a lot better option than just shotgun. I would rather use a 2” max straight wall case rifle than just a shotgun.

I wish we could hunt with a revolver like our American cousins!

 

[375win]

.30-06 Lever Action Browning Rifles for sale | Guntrader

Explore our wide range of new and used .30-06 Lever Action Browning Rifles, suitable for all levels. Browse our listings to find the perfect gun.

www.guntrader.uk

I had an BLR, nice gun, but the triggers are bad. I could not find anyone that would work on it, so eventually it was sold.

 

[Smellydog]

I had an BLR, nice gun, but the triggers are bad. I could not find anyone that would work on it, so eventually it was sold.

Yep, pretty much turned me away from any Browning rifle post 90's, dumb heavy triggers.

 

[Andy Mauthe]

Having had a Heym SR21 in .308 I would warn you not to invest too much time and money in getting one.

They are beautiful and well made, but have some critical design flaws that will drive you nuts. There is a reasonable chance that you’ll end up with incurable accuracy problems.

Can you provide me with more details?

 

[kenbro]

No restrictions on bottle necked cartridges or anything like that.

As for energy:
England and Wales.
-Muntjac and Chinese Water deer- minimum .220" 50gr bullet and minimum muzzle energy of 1000ft-lbs.
- For all other species (which of course covers the above also)- minimum .240" and minimum muzzle energy of 1700ft-lbs.

Scotland.
- For roe deer, minimum 50gr bullet AND have a minimum muzzle velocity of 2,450fps AND a minimum muzzle energy of 1000ft-lbs may be used.
- For all other species (which of course covers the above also) minimum 80gr bullet AND have a minimum muzzle velocity of 2,450fps AND a minimum muzzle energy of 1750ft-lbs.

Worth noting that in Scotland there is no minimum calibre for roe deer.
Ken.

 

[kenbro]

Its legal here meets English 1750 ftlb requirement . not 100 % on Scotland but pretty sure as thier legislation is pretty much ours written differently and lacking CWD / Muntjac. Except according to Parliament we need more than 222 / 223 for the Roe in England /Wales

Not quite right.
1700 ft lbs in England, 1750 in Scotland.
Cheers, Ken.

 

[Mungo]

Can you provide me with more details?

They tried to make it a switch barrel, but in an odd way. The barrel and chamber are designed to be lifted out, leaving the tigger unit and bottom part of the action in place. The trigger unit has a little steel nipple that protrudes up and slots into the underside of the barrel/chamber unit.

This makes the whole set up unstable: unless everything is set up absolutely perfectly, with flawless bedding and all the screws torqued up identically, the action cantilevers on this little nipple. I could never get mine to stabilise, even after getting it rebedded twice and then bedded into a carbon fibre stock. It would be fine for a bit, and then something would shift, and the accuracy would fall apart.

Ultimately it meant that I could never completely trust it. It WAS capable of 0.5MOA accuracy, but I never knew when it was going to fail. When it did, it would start double grouping, creating two groups about 2-3 inches apart.

There were other problems. The tolerances on the magazine release catch were just too fine, and it jammed easily. When it did, the only way to get the magazine out was by removing the action from the stock.

The firing pin spring on mine was also problematic, and I had misfires due to light strikes.

I really wanted to like it, and it was a very beautiful gun with a wonderfully crisp trigger. But I spent a huge amount of time and money on it, and never got it shooting consistently.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I wish we could hunt with a revolver like our American cousins!

It's quite nice being given a wide choice of tools that can be used for the task, it's also a big plus about not requiring any form of variation to buy what ever you want but there are many pluses about the UK too, the lack of hunting permits and the ability to hunt deer all year round are just a couple of the great one's. I like getting some of the benefit from both sides. Due to the short US gun seasons, bow hunting has become a big part of our sport and time in the woods.

 

[Smellydog]

It's quite nice being given a wide choice of tools that can be used for the task, it's also a big plus about not requiring any form of variation to buy what ever you want but there are many pluses about the UK too, the lack of hunting permits and the ability to hunt deer all year round are just a couple of the great one's. I like getting some of the benefit from both sides. Due to the short US gun seasons, bow hunting has become a big part of our sport and time in the woods.

I'd love to bow hunt too, stupid country. It's more communistic and controlling than Russia ever was!

 

[Sol]

Lever actions have always interested me always the action that will speak too me the most, bit of a bummer however how unrealistic they are for a person over here.

45-70 Is a common choice since its pretty much deer legal however you see.... I am 5ft and 120lbs plus a lady not the most ideal gun too fire freehand I would reckon, 30-30 would be the obvious choice but again tough to meet the requirements here in Scotland.

I figure a .22 Is probably what I'll actually end up with, would probably see more use than the other two anyways.

 

[Andy Mauthe]

They tried to make it a switch barrel, but in an odd way. The barrel and chamber are designed to be lifted out, leaving the tigger unit and bottom part of the action in place. The trigger unit has a little steel nipple that protrudes up and slots into the underside of the barrel/chamber unit.

This makes the whole set up unstable: unless everything is set up absolutely perfectly, with flawless bedding and all the screws torqued up identically, the action cantilevers on this little nipple. I could never get mine to stabilise, even after getting it rebedded twice and then bedded into a carbon fibre stock. It would be fine for a bit, and then something would shift, and the accuracy would fall apart.

Ultimately it meant that I could never completely trust it. It WAS capable of 0.5MOA accuracy, but I never knew when it was going to fail. When it did, it would start double grouping, creating two groups about 2-3 inches apart.

There were other problems. The tolerances on the magazine release catch were just too fine, and it jammed easily. When it did, the only way to get the magazine out was by removing the action from the stock.

The firing pin spring on mine was also problematic, and I had misfires due to light strikes.

I really wanted to like it, and it was a very beautiful gun with a wonderfully crisp trigger. But I spent a huge amount of time and money on it, and never got it shooting consistently.

Thanks for the details. I had read that you could change calibers but it required a new barrel/action assembly to be dropped in while the trigger stayed with the stock. An interesting approach. We shall see what Heym comes back to me with regards to pricing. It might make it a moot point. I have read many good reviews on this model as well but I think that’s with everything. I’ve got an Anschutz 1782 centerfire, and I love it. The only issue with Anschutz for me is that they don’t do custom configurations. Meaning that I have to get the Stock, barrel length, barrel profile, etc that the offer. Nothing outside of that is possible with them. Whereas Heym will build more or less what I want in those regards. We shall see.