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What's your Lever gun?

this is only but one of my Lever guns.. I hunt and shoot with all of them. Most have taken animals of some sort. I am a levergun nut!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on May 25, 2014 at 19:48

Regrettably, This is my only Lever gun. With that said, I'm really intertested in picking up a Henry. Anyone care to give me their opinion of Henry Lever Action Rifles? I'm sure it will be a step up from my Red Ryder!

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Jack I. Nabors III on May 25, 2014 at 19:58

Thats a nice collection... As far as the Henry is concerned, I think they are fine.. you can also find a used 1866 Henry replica made by Uberti on Gunbroker

Tobias Gibson said:

Regrettably, This is my only Lever gun. With that said, I'm really intertested in picking up a Henry. Anyone care to give me their opinion of Henry Lever Action Rifles? I'm sure it will be a step up from my Red Ryder!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on May 25, 2014 at 21:23

Jack, based on your pictures, I think you will like my lever gun.

Winchester Model 1873, mfg. 1891, .38-40 caliber

Permalink Reply by Ms Data on May 25, 2014 at 21:49

I have a Henry .22 and the action is incredibly smooth. I have heard rumors that the Henry's made after Hurricane Sandy are not up to the standards of the pre-Sandy rifles. The Henry factory was pretty much destroyed by the storm. I just purchased a Rossi .357 Mag lever action. It is ok but it's not a Henry. I consider it to be a project rifle, I would have preferred a Henry or Winchester but the prices are insane.

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Jack I. Nabors III on May 25, 2014 at 22:20

Very nice Charles.. I want another 1873.. probably a replica.. Im sure those originals are pricey. Any history to yours?

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on May 25, 2014 at 22:55

My father bought it from a cousin about 1930. The cousin had paid $8 for it and got in a tight for money and sold it to Dad for $5. That doesn't sound like a lot but at the time it was almost a week's pay for Dad. He was making 15 cents an hour. I don't know how long the cousin had it. I sure wish it could talk and tell me its history between 1891 and 1930. Who knows what stories it could tell! I think they sold new for about $20.

It would be nice if I could tie it to my Cousin Wes (John Wesley Hardin). Their lives overlapped. The rifle left the factory in 1891. Cousin Wes was killed in 1892.

More likely would be that my outlaw inlaw Ed O'Kelly (He killed Bob Ford) might have used it. He was killed in a fight with an Oklahoma City police officer around 1903 or 1904. He actually lived in the area where I grew up. I call him my outlaw inlaw because I am related to him by marriage, not blood.

I shot a deer with it four or five years ago. I blood trailed that deer bleeding heavily for over 500 yards but could not find it. I always hate to wound one and it get away to die slowly later. I haven't had that problem with my .30-06. I have fired it 14 times at deer and coyotes and have put 12 deer and 2 coyotes on the ground.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 26, 2014 at 8:27

Nice Rifle.

I use to hunt with a lever action. I have several lever action rifles. A Henry Golden Boy .22, A Browning 7mm/08, a Marlin .444 and I use to have a Winchester 30/30 but I sold it to a friend. Now days I mostly deer hunt with a Browning Bolt Action 7mm/08. It's easier and lighter on my cripple arms.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 26, 2014 at 8:29

That .38/.40 is a bit light for deer hunting.

Charles Sample said:

My father bought it from a cousin about 1930. The cousin had paid $8 for it and got in a tight for money and sold it to Dad for $5. That doesn't sound like a lot but at the time it was almost a week's pay for Dad. He was making 15 cents an hour. I don't know how long the cousin had it. I sure wish it could talk and tell me its history between 1891 and 1930. Who knows what stories it could tell! I think they sold new for about $20.

It would be nice if I could tie it to my Cousin Wes (John Wesley Hardin). Their lives overlapped. The rifle left the factory in 1891. Cousin Wes was killed in 1892.

More likely would be that my outlaw inlaw Ed O'Kelly (He killed Bob Ford) might have used it. He was killed in a fight with an Oklahoma City police officer around 1903 or 1904. He actually lived in the area where I grew up. I call him my outlaw inlaw because I am related to him by marriage, not blood.

I shot a deer with it four or five years ago. I blood trailed that deer bleeding heavily for over 500 yards but could not find it. I always hate to wound one and it get away to die slowly later. I haven't had that problem with my .30-06. I have fired it 14 times at deer and coyotes and have put 12 deer and 2 coyotes on the ground.

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Jack I. Nabors III on June 9, 2014 at 17:58

Here are a couple more in my collection... I hunt with all of them.. Post pics if you have em! enjoy

Permalink Reply by Bruce McLain on June 9, 2014 at 23:09

These are all wonderful lever guns I have a weakness for lever action Winchesters as this 25/35 model was my first gun and the one I shot my first deer with. As the story goes it hung above the doorway in our kitchen when I was in kindergarden and my Dad said it was mine when I could reach it. About an hour later they caught me on a stack of Sears catalogs atop a chair

and I almost had it! I still hunt with it today

Attachments:

IMG_0009.JPG, 2.8 MB
IMG_0008.JPG, 2.2 MB

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on June 10, 2014 at 0:09

Bruce, great story and great gun! I love stories like that!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on June 21, 2014 at 16:43

Yes, I know the .38-40 is a bit light for deer hunting. But it was a case of me wanting to kill a deer with the old Winchester. So I waited for as perfect a shot as I could get. It was a standing broadside shot at 40 yards at a doe. I was in a permanent stand with the rifle solidly braced. So I know I put the slug in the deer's boiler room. I had sighted in the rifle at 50 yards. I fired a three shot group. Two of the holes overlapped, the third was about a half inch from the other two. I don't know if I will ever try to kill another deer with it, but I sure would like to. Where I deer hunt now, a 50 yard or less shot at a doe would be no problem. And again in my shooting houses it would be a solidly braced shot. I would just love to kill a deer with the '73!

Robert Burris said:

That .38/.40 is a bit light for deer hunting.

Charles Sample said:

My father bought it from a cousin about 1930. The cousin had paid $8 for it and got in a tight for money and sold it to Dad for $5. That doesn't sound like a lot but at the time it was almost a week's pay for Dad. He was making 15 cents an hour. I don't know how long the cousin had it. I sure wish it could talk and tell me its history between 1891 and 1930. Who knows what stories it could tell! I think they sold new for about $20.

It would be nice if I could tie it to my Cousin Wes (John Wesley Hardin). Their lives overlapped. The rifle left the factory in 1891. Cousin Wes was killed in 1892.

More likely would be that my outlaw inlaw Ed O'Kelly (He killed Bob Ford) might have used it. He was killed in a fight with an Oklahoma City police officer around 1903 or 1904. He actually lived in the area where I grew up. I call him my outlaw inlaw because I am related to him by marriage, not blood.

I shot a deer with it four or five years ago. I blood trailed that deer bleeding heavily for over 500 yards but could not find it. I always hate to wound one and it get away to die slowly later. I haven't had that problem with my .30-06. I have fired it 14 times at deer and coyotes and have put 12 deer and 2 coyotes on the ground.