Lever Action

[booradley]

Since they say the only dumb questions are the one’s unasked here goes. I’ve wondered for sometime about the popularity of centerfire lever action rifles in the UK. Are they even legal and if so are they harder to get approved for than a bolt-action rifle? I have a Marlin 336W and for me it’s just about perfect for feral hogs. It is stock except for a Wild West Happy Trigger and some polishing I did when I had the rifle torn down to install the trigger.

 

[Sakoodin1]

I have a browning bl22 that I carry with me for dispatch of foxes in snares and I use bird shot through it to dispatch mink and stoats and squirrels in cages,i like it because there’s no scope to knock off or knock about and it’s much quieter than the shotgun,I think it’s great!!! I just chuck it behind the seat of the Kawasaki mule and it’s there if I need it.it holds 15 .22lr rounds so it’s perfect for banging around and it wasn’t expensive it was only £500 so ideal for me.

 

[booradley]

The BL-22 is an excellent firearm. I’ve never seen anything made by Miroku that wasn’t.

I apologize, I should have been clear in the OP and I’ll change it. My questions are aimed at centerfire lever action rifles.

 

[xavierdoc]

They are legal, yes. For hunting (and most target, excluding gallery rifle comps) they are much less popular than bolt-action, though.

There are some innovative "AR-style" rifles being made that cater specifically to our laws, too (not to be confused with the now banned lever-release.)

I use lever-action centre-fire rifles in 357Mag, 45Colt and 45-70Govt. Love 'em!

 

[Smellydog]

For some strange reason Brits like to call them cowboy guns in a demeaning tone.
Not me.
Several have passed through my hands.
Most W94 in 30wcf, a 336 and a 9422.
My favourite was a legacy in 357.
All taken deer except the 22. Fox too.

 

[mereside]

Great little guns I love mine I use it for driven,stalking and tracking it has taken a lot of deer and boar, it is my main tracking rifle now and use cast lead as my main round now and I won't part with it.
They are not any harder to get conditioned to hunting, especially now with newer ammunition which will get you legal for deer. regards wayne

 

[enfieldspares]

Hello BOORADLEY. The issue with lever action rifles in the UK tends to be that we now cannot have rifles for self defence. Certainly when we could from first hand account and anecdotal account many that were possessed here were for self defence. A late friend carried a Winchester 92, for example, in WWII in the North African Campaign as is some regiments (the ones where the officers called each other, except the Colonel, by their Christian names) officers could carry supplementary items. These were such as cavalry regiments and the old light infantry regiments.

When self defence ceased the only legitimate activities were target shooting and deer stalking for the lever action centrefires. Nobody used them for target shooting "back then" and deer stalking "back then" was on the hill. That is to say over moorland or mountain in Scotland.

So there was no place for the .44-40 or the .40-65 or those calibres. Additionally the flat pointed bullets dropped like half bricks after one hundred yards. I remember when Speers 180 grain round nose .303 was all we as reloaders had for reloading .303 British. That still dropped like a stone even though it was round nosed. Flat point would have been a nightmare.

Yes there were box magazine lever actions but the cost of a new Winchester 1895 against a secondhand Mannlicher-Schoenauer or Lee Speed would have been discouraging. The later Deer Act legislation in Scotland also effectively was the final death knell of these lever actions. They couldn't achieve the required 2,450 fps.

It is only latterly now that "woodland stalking" has become popular in the UK that the short ranges often achieved have re-birthed the lever action. Simply put they are not the ideal answer to the type of all around stalking rifle "one size fits all" that UK hunters usually desire.

 

[booradley]

Yea, the traditional 30-30, .32 Special and .35 Remington cartridges for the Model 94 and 336 definitely aren’t long range cartridges. Many people in the US say the maximum range is 100 yards but I believe they are fine out to 200.

My son wanted a lever action for his first centerfire so I bought him a 336. Within a year it wasn’t powerful enough and he had to have a 30-06. Normally I would have said toughsh-t but I had developed a liking for it so I commandeered it and got him a Vanguard S2 30-06. For me it is about perfect for feral hogs. Most Americans put cheap scopes on tube fed levers but I’m not that way. I bought a VX-3 1.75-6x32 and had the Leupold Custom Shop install a German #4 reticle. The Fullfield II 2-7x35 that was on it became the backup scope for the rifle. I have a predator light that clamps onto the scope and use the rifle for hog hunting. Around here the vast majority of hog hunting occurs at night. I’ve shot a couple of Axis deer with it and it worked well. Around here I’ve never seen an Axis during daylight hours except for once. Fortunately it’s legal to shoot them at night since they are not indigenous. Native deer can only legally be shot in daylight.

 

[enfieldspares]

The other factor relevant to British and European hunting is the invention of the cartridge clip or block charger. So many preferred the idea that until it seemed likely you'd see game to shoot you'd carry your cartridges in a clip. And either on reaching your peg for battue or driven game in Europe or starting the final stalk in the rifle would be empty and you'd then load a full clip by pressing down the clip into the rifle to load the cartridges. For most bolt action hunting rifles in Britain and Europe were derived from military clip loading weapons. And it wasn't really the done thing for a gentleman to be fiddling about individually loading his six rounds, one by one, through the side into his rifle. It was easier to keep his clip is his pocket and when he was ready load his magazine with but single one action. Finally our Army was once a lot larger than it was. An officer was entitled to have his rifle transported if posted overseas with the regiments' armoury as long as it was 1) Capable of chambering and firing the then current military rifle cartridge and 2) Was sighted to 1,000 Yards. So effectively if it wasn't ,450/.577 or later .303 British he had to pay the transportation costs from his own pocket. So only the wealthy officers took with them rifles in other calibres. So a lever action following never really developed in the British Army.

 

[reiver]

I hunt with a .444 Marlin under lever. Deer legal in the UK

 

[Southern]

For those who like a removable magazine, try a Browning BLR. They have a rotating bolt which locks into the chamber on the barrel, like a Sauer 202.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

View attachment 145021I hunt with a .444 Marlin under lever. Deer legal in the UK

Cool, the 444 is all well and good, but please tell us about the Winchester 1895 in the picture (unless I am wrong about what I see there.....)

 

[alberta boy]

Cool, the 444 is all well and good, but please tell us about the Winchester 1895 in the picture (unless I am wrong about what I see there.....)

I like both of them . The 95 is a new repro , I detect a tang thumb safety , very nice …...…. the rifle , not the safety .

AB

 

[scrumbag]

levers are becoming more popular in the uk as more people shoot gallery rifle (pistol calibre levers out to 50 yds) people are also getting those
rifles. conditioned for deer. 357 mag is easily muntjac legal and .44 mag can be got to roe / fallow etc legal with a ~225 gr or less or bullet.

The other driver is driven boar and things like 444 and 45-70 are not unknown for being fast cycling and hard hitting so they have a following. Starting to see Henry Long Rangers and BLRs too but not so much yet.

Scrummy

 

[GOMX]

For those who like a removable magazine, try a Browning BLR. They have a rotating bolt which locks into the chamber on the barrel, like a Sauer 202.

I had a Browning 308 BLR shot loads of fallow with it before the sound moderator era ,it was short , handy & very loud ! I only sold it because at the time I couldn’t shoot 308 in France ..

 

[scrumbag]

I had a Browning 308 BLR shot loads of fallow with it before the sound moderator era ,it was short , handy & very loud ! I only sold it because at the time I couldn’t shoot 308 in France ..

Shame, you can now eh?

 

[tusker]

I have a Browning BLR in 308, just working up a load for it. I love it. I used to have a Marlin 1895 guide in45/70. Now that was a lot of fun. My first was a Puma in 357 mag.
Tusker

 

[enfieldspares]

A friend used a .308 BLR after the despicable Hurd and the toad like Hogg banned his pump action Remington 760 also in .308.

Winchester's Model 88 if ever seen here is worth considering. But the classic box (rotary) magazine lever rifle is by Savage.

 

[Smellydog]

Did ok with my 9422, well no, I did amazingly well with it all the time!

 

[scrumbag]

Had a 9422 and enjoyed it