ok guys its old west time
this is the winchester lever action
the gun that won the west
over the decades winchester made many models of these in many calibers and each improved on the previous model
they are one of the most produced firearms of all time
and were so successful you can buy them today
lets see why
ok so our story starts in the 1850s
and it goes in phases so lets get fancy and use headings lol
the volcanic
the first phase is actually a pistol
yup
a lever action pistol
there were a number of dudes who all contributed
first was walter hunt
he designed new ammunition and a lever action mechanism to go with it
and made it in both pistols and rifle forms
the bullets had propellant and primer in a hollow base
no more cap and ball bs so its way faster
he called it the rocket ball
you can line these up in a tube under the barrel and be like pew pew pew
big improvement
the design had a lot of people looking at it
like a guy named lewis jennings
a guy named benjamin tyler henry
two dudes named horace smith and daniel wesson
maybe youve heard of some of these guys
so the rocket ball was awesome except that had very little power
they made improved versions with fancy primers and stuff but look at how little space you have
compare that to how far a cartridge sticks behind a modern bullet
we need more room for boom
we need to do something different if this is going to get really good
henry rifle
so that guy henry took the design and started the next phase of improvements
first he made a better selfcontained cartridge
the .44 henry
way more room
its a rimfire cartridge with a copper case and priming compound along the rim of the case
and a .44 caliber 200 grain bullet
not as powerful as rival rifles but way more powerful than the original rocket ball
slap these babies in his new henry rifle
and you get 16 pews right after another
thats a huge increase dude
remember this is during the civil war
everybody else gets pew out of a dang muzzleloader
the rifle henry created was
very similar
to the volcanic pistol
mostly he tweaked it to use his awesome new cartridge design
ditched the pistol version
this rifle was made by those guys smith and wesson at their new haven arms company
but they had some financial trouble
so they sold that part of the company to a guy named oliver winchester
and he eventually started selling enough to do ok
it was well liked in the civil war
but not really adopted by the militaries
it was mostly privately purchased by special forces guys doing raids or whatever
infantry tactics just hadnt caught up to this technology
if youre shoulder to shoulder in a line of dudes going boom at the same time it doesnt really matter if you can shoot fifteen more times afterwards by yourself
but after the war selfcontained cartridges got more and more popular
and improvements continued
henrys original design used a case of copper because it was smooshable
but it was actually a too smooshy and would rupture
so eventually people started making cartridges with stronger brass
sweet
and the rifle worked pretty darn well after the war too
people on the frontier used them to great effect
sometimes even against cavalry guys named custer oops lol
winchester model of 1866
the next big change was with a model called the 1866
and the biggest improvement was the loading gate on the side created by a guy named nelson king
it allowed you to load the rifle really quickly by simply sliding rounds through a little spring loaded door in the side
so you can get back into action real quick
or even load as you go to stay topped off
its pretty excellent
in fact it was so excellent it got sold to foreign governments
they sold 50000 to turkey in 1870
and turkey went on to thrash the russians so hard in the russo turkish war that they invented the mosin nagant rifle
repeaters are king
model 1873
the next big change was the 1873
they made a new caliber called .44 winchester center fire
aka .44-40 by companies that arent winchester
centerfire is more reliable than the rimfire rounds that had been used up to this point
and companies like colt and smith and wesson created pistols in the cartridge too
great for guys on the frontier who wanted a pistol and a rifle
then again if it can be used in a pistol its not a powerful round
the .44 wcf can take out a deer no problem
but what if im a badass hunting big game
model 1876
just 3 years later winchester released the 1876 for bigboy rounds
people wanted a rifle in .45-70 but it has big variations in bullet weight
no biggie in a single shot
but hard for repeaters
so winchester made a new cartridge called .45-75
it replicates the performance of .45-70 but tightly controls dimensions so they can design a gun around it
model 1886
in 1886 we get the arrival of a 21 year old man named john moses browning
patron saint of all gun owners
he was able to finally design a gun that could handle the .45-70 itself by fundamentally changing the internals of the lever action
instead of a couple of bendy arms with an elbow that kind of lock forward
the 1886 uses a locking block that slides up through the bolt
you can actually see the tabs on either side when looking from the top
and you can see it connected to the lever when its open
the receiver has solid sides now too
this was way stronger and allowed it to handle the big rounds
it worked so well winchester asked browning if he could adapt it to the smaller more moderate cartridges
the 1886 and 1892 were both very popular
model 1894
in 1894 we get the first rifle ever designed for the new smokeless powder
and the most important part about this is it gives you much more power to your pew
it came out in a number of calibers
but by far the most important and successful is the .30 winchester center fire
aka the .30-30
this cartridge is a great balance of hitting power against a target like deer
or people
but without being too crazy on recoil
and the gun itself can be light and handy
its a great all around gun
guys this thing was so popular that the model 94 alone sold well over 7 million guns
thats a lot of friggin guns
and they kept selling it for oh i dunno over a century
if your gun is successful and popular for over a century you know you did good
model 1895
the last big change was the 1895
bit of a different look no
towards the turn of the century pointed spitzer bullets were becoming popular
theyre more aerodynamic so they can go farther for the same amount of powder and recoil
but this gives a peculiar problem with a tube loaded gun
the point of the bullet sticks directly into the primer of the round in front of it
serious potential for oopsies
so to remedy this browning made a box magazine
stacking the cartridges side to side other prevents oopsies
and you can ditch the side loading gate obviously
now its top loading
nowadays you can get ammo with soft plastic points like from hornadys leverevolution line
the soft tip wont detonate the primers but still gives you good aerodynamics
ok so now lets see how these rifles work
obviously you got a big ol lever under the gun
that breaks apart a pair of toggle link arms inside the gun
closed
open
when the toggle link is closed its like if you push against something with your arms and lock your elbows
pretty steady yeah
of course a strong enough jolt can buckle your elbows and make you fall on your face
even worse if youre supposed to be holding back an explosion lol
and that was the problem with rounds like the .45-70
so eventually browning switched to a vertically sliding block that drops down
both designs slide the bolt backwards cocking the hammer
a tube under the barrel holds ammo
capacity depends on tube length and cartridge size
like 5 to 15
and these guns had a bunch of options too
straight stock vs pistol grip
round or octagonal barrel
and different barrel lengths
and much more
took more deer than anything else by far
tons around to this day
theyre just awesome
if you want to buy one today
they millions so i bet you can find one
plenty of originals are out there
and companies like rossi and uberti make beautiful recreations of the old styles
plus winchester too
keep your eyes open you too can be a rifleman
pew pew
#click here for previous articles
Wowbagger ago
Love my lever actions. Got a Henry 22 and a Winny 94 in 30-30
clamhurt_legbeard ago
very cool
my dad has a winchester .30-30 and a marlin .45-70
both a lot of fun
Battlefat ago
Taking a hammer and brass punch to sights to fix a severe windage issue was one of my fonder memories on a new old stock Winchester 94. Don’t know if it came that way or if the owner’s eye wonk was 3” to the right of my own, but it shot straight after a few meaningful whacks
clamhurt_legbeard ago
hahaha thats pretty intense
maybe he just had a really
really
lazy eye
Battlefat ago
Or this dude was his gunsmith
clamhurt_legbeard ago
i love that dude
robot7247 ago
A couple side notes:
Winchester lever actions are top-open, top-eject bolts. Scope one & zero changes each time cycled, empty shell may get stuck too -
Scope mounted directly to bolt -
https://i.ibb.co/MskJR7V/u-https-s3-amazonaws-com-mgm-content-sites-armslist-uploads-posts-2015-08-10-4593778-01-winchester-94-30-30-ae-w-scope-640.jpg
You can use an LER (long eye relief) type -
https://i.ibb.co/PD6j1fr/Redfield-2x-Long-Eye-Relief-RIfle-Scope-3-4-tube-100994734-5255-02172-FDC50125147.jpg
...or drill & tap the receiver side -
https://i.ibb.co/crxKmSc/9465-2.jpg
Marlins however have side-open, side-eject bolts. You can scope them normally without any issue -
Scope on receiver top -
https://i.ibb.co/x51GrMB/u-http-cdn2-armslist-com-sites-armslist-uploads-posts-2010-09-02-52065-02-marlin-336-with-scope-and-ammo-640.jpg
For decades the only way to shoot spitzer pointed bullets from a lever gun was to use a Savage 99. It has a rotary mag -
https://i.ibb.co/cy3vSgW/SAVAGE-MODEL-99-TAKEDOWN-2-BARREL-SET-300-SAVAGE-and-410-100877194-401-E47-BB4-ACD88-A5761.jpg
Copper tipped spitzers might chain fire in a lever gun tube magazine. Plastic tipped ammo finally solved that problem -
https://i.ibb.co/QdPCJF0/lever-action-2.jpg
clamhurt_legbeard ago
good info
my dad has both a marlin and a winchester
both great guns
scopes werent very common in the late 1800s but nowadays we expect a rifle to handle it easily
thats a good example of how technology advanced beyond the original design
then again the calibers these originally came in were usually best at 200 yds or less
bolt actions and scopes really grew up together
like chocolate and peanut butter lol
robot7247 ago
No disagreement there and the angle-eject Winchesters pretty much solved the problem.
IIRC it was a 70s production change and in response to people wanting to scope them.
This is more likely what I would put on one -
https://i.ibb.co/2yqCmq1/u-http-cdn2-armslist-com-sites-armslist-uploads-posts-2015-08-31-4651121-02-marlin-336ss-lever-action-rifl-640.jpg
clamhurt_legbeard ago
ya i kinda tuned out when they started modern changes to the design so i stopped at the box magazine lol
i just got a red dot
its for my ar but currently lives on my 22
im gonna take it jackrabbit hunting and see what happens
its my first red dot
robot7247 ago
IMO the biggest improvement are plastic-tipped bullets. Range up considerably with them over round-nose bullets.
Nice to be able to reach and touch something should the need arise.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
truth
no need to change the gun if you change the bullet
thedirtypuma ago
Oh man, I am late. Lever guns are awesome. I really want one. They are also great for suppressors.
The old west is such a great time for firearm innovations. I used to love the show "wild west tech" back when the history channel used to have shows about history.
This article was really good. One of my favorites. Thank you.
Winchester 73 is a really good movie about a lever gun if you haven't seen it.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
haha im glad you liked it
the upvotes arent so hot lol
thedirtypuma ago
Yeah, the up votes were terrible this time around. I blame myself for not doing a lead in post like usual.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
i was working on my truck and u/nadesh is elsewhere lol
thedirtypuma ago
She deleted her account a little bit ago. She says she'll be back though.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
ya
i still know how to bug her lol
WORF_MOTORBOATS_TROI ago
Is it actually possible and safe to load a lever action by spinning it around in one hand like they do in the movies?
clamhurt_legbeard ago
the gun in the rifleman had a special screw in front of the loop that contacted the trigger to make it pew with every time it closed
as long as you havent done anything like that it isnt supposed to fire as long as you keep your finger off the trigger
but accidents happen
and a rifle round to the armpit will kill you in mere minutes
have fun lol
WORF_MOTORBOATS_TROI ago
I was thinking more like in the terminator when arnold is on the motorcycle and he spins the gun to reload it
curomo ago
I've heard guys talk about cocking the rifle with that spin flip, but that you won't get a round into battery with all the centrifugal crap going on.
Probably comes down to very specific model, cartridge and how well maintained it is.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
i mean
the biggest thing is it would be really hard to do right lol
same with closing a revolver one handed
it just doesnt work as easily as they make it seem lol
PuttitoutIsGone ago
When I was real young(10-11) I'd sneak my Dad's .22 saddle gun out into the woods for some shooting. Never got caught.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
heck yeah
lever action 22
i could get behind that
PuttitoutIsGone ago
I think he still has it. Want to say it's a Remington. Ima look next time I'm over there. It's a plinker. Very smooth action. I'll always remember it as my first gun.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
that sounds so great
go visit it dude