Are Winchester-Browning lever actions invulnerable?

[Naphtali]

I downloaded a remarkable video that demonstrates that [this class of] lever actions functions properly when exposed to egregiously severe wartime conditions, conditions that I have doubt that circa World War I military bolt actions function as well.

"What is he talking about?" you might reasonably ask. The video begins with information that the Czarist Russian army used more than 300,000 Winchester Model 1895s and the users apparently preferred the lever action to the very reliable 1891 Mosin Nagant bolt action. Still photographs show Russian infantry shooting while in typically muddy trenches. The host, using a worn Winchester in 30 U. S. Government, loads its magazine then covers the loaded rifle (chamber empty) with a huge amount of mud. He wipes away just enough mud to bring it to his shoulder - that is, the action is still very muddy - and fires all five cartridges. He had difficulty levering the first cartridge into the chamber. The remainder were loaded and fired as though the rifle was clean and dry. . . . Remarkable!

Finally, to my question. Is this demonstrable invulnerability to harsh conditions present in all of the Winchester-Browning lever actions? The Model 1895's magazine is sealed when the action is closed. Models 1886, 1892, 1894, and their variants have magazines whose loading port is partially open to "stuff," and their actions expose lock work differently from the 1895.
***
Marlin lever actions, excepting the Model 1881, 1894, 39 and their variants, appear to have actions more open to debris, much like nearly all military bolt actions of World War I. I have no idea whether 336-type actions are therefore vulnerable in a way Winchester-Browning actions are not.

[Sixgun]

Good question......I own all models of Winchesters and Marlins...except the 66, 76 and the 95 Marlin. One thing for sure, you get grit in any of them, they will stop. Several of the main reasons the military chose the bolt action over the lever was

1) pressure. The bolts have a higher margin of error in case of an overload.
2) ruggedness. I've seen tangs broken on lever guns. Levers and the two piece stock are vulnerable to breaking
3) accuracy....the bolt is supreme
4) camming strength...in or out. A bolt gun will get a loaded round in and and an empty out a LOT easier than a levergun.

There's probably a million other reasons but Im loading .308 match ammo at the time. ----6

[AJMD429]

That is interesting. If I had to guess what lever action rifles would keep shooting and shooting forever under rough conditions, I would probably guess the 1894 Marlin, because the action is closed nicely when the lever is up, but open so crud could easily get out if needed when the action is levered. There are also not very many parts, and hardly any small or delicate parts.

If I had to guess a vulnerability of the Winchester 92/94 actions it would be the open 'top' or the lots-of-tiny-parts, but there are LOTS of old-and-abuse is ones out there working just fine as well.

My Ruger 96/44 seems impervious, but wasn't a classic 'levergun' like the Savage 99 or other box-fed ones (though if you follow that line of reasoning, you could say the Winchester 95 isn't a normal levergun I guess but how can that classic levergun not BE a classic levergun).

Anyway thanks for sharing. Leverguns are cool.

[2ndovc]

A few units during the campaign in the Philippines were equipped with Model '95 Winchesters much like the Russian Muskets. It's reported that the American soldiers hated them. One of the biggest complaints was trying to work the action while prone or under heavy cover. The Krag was the hands down favorite.

That's a '95 I've been chasing for many years. I've only seen a couple and both were in such bad shape that wouldn't part with the asking price.

jb

[Sixgun]

On You Tube, there are these Russian guys who are digging up German field bunkers from WW2. On You Tube search, type in exactly.............. WW11 METAL DETECTING .........each video is around 10-12 minutes long and with the video comes really neat Russian rock music.....some is orchestra music. These guys dig up all kinds of guns imaginable, including some US guns. In one of video there was a '95 musket with the wood rotted off. They find medals, bayonets, dishes, skeletons, sometimes even bodies that were mummified in the swamps. They pull planes and tanks from the rivers complete with many tank loaded rounds and bodies. They interplay original film footage along with what they are doing.

Anyway, you will see the harsh conditions of battle and begin to wonder how the hell even strong bolt actions stayed in action. You guys know leverguns rank the highest on my personal list but any levergun would be turned to junk very fast.

The bolt gun is much simpler than levers and so much more durable.----6

Here one of hundreds of videos from the descendants of Uncle Joe.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C1drhcHHFcU