Modernizing your Levergun

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:50 pm

I actually like the looks and functions of some of these tactical upgrades! They even make them for Rossi's. -Tutt

https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/mode ... rm-stocks/

https://rangerpointstore.com/?utm_source=GunsAmerica

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 6:41 pm

No Tutt! Say it ain't so!

To each his own.
To me, that is ugly. Sorry.

hondo1892 · Post by **hondo1892** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:00 pm

Give me walnut please.

Post by **Old Savage** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:29 pm

Tutt, what am I going to do with you???

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:44 pm

LOL! Home defense guys, home defense! If you have to choose between being a "levergunner" and someone who buys an AR15. While the AR is very functional, it has all the character of your toaster. I have shot them from time to time. No character.

So fast forward to having a lever gun that is tactical. I think there might be some room for that, to preserve the lever gun heritage as it was the "tactical" gun of its time, and won many battles because of it.

Have no plans to make my lever guns into tactical ones at present. Have 2 of them made for me by McPherson and soon one other from another gunsmith. Not my thing. But I would prefer a "tactical" levergun over a soulless AR15 any day of the week.

I think there is good reason to take a lever gun, and make it tactical, which it always was truthfully. It's why it was so successful in battle in the old days.

i don't have a levergun that I would change to this tactical format at present. Maybe I would in the future though. But I would have to buy new rifle for the project. I won't ruin my traditional leverguns for this project, not ever.

I know, I know, this is NOT going to go down as my most favorite post! It won't! LOL. And I understand that.

But it has some value to keep our levergunner heritage going forward into the "new world" and cement its legacy in the future. The levergun has tactical value, even now, and probably more than ever because of the powerful cartridges it can cycle, at a firing rate close to a semi-automatic, but with more power with larger bullets and velocity.

Long live our Lever guns!

-Tutt

wvfarrier · Post by **wvfarrier** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:09 pm

My wifes "home defense" rifle.
Henry 357 mag
Streamlight Pro Tac light with pressure switch
Vortex venom red dot

crs · Post by **crs** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:14 pm

Here is my .357 Tactical lever gun + its buddy, .357 revolvers ( 4 inch and 6 inch) all loaded in the house.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:26 pm

.
I'm partial to 'authentic' leverguns from an aesthetic standpoint, or for 'collectability' or nostalgia, but I'd grab any one of these three in preference to an unadulterated 'blued steel and walnut' levergun if there was a predator inside or outside the house...!

Screenshot_20220325-222350-825.png

All three have Burris Fastfire-2 dot sights, LaserMax pistol lasers, and ordinary flashlights on quick-detach mounts (no real reason to detach them though).

All three can shoot like THIS at 50 yards....in midnight moonless darkness....

Try THAT without the electric gizmos.

The three-shot group above was shot at 50 yards - nothing all that exciting, even for a 'levergun' - - - BUT WAS SHOT IN PITCH BLACK CONDITIONS AT MIDNIGHT... Sure, a gizmo-equipped $2,000 AR-15 Shorty with night-vision CAN do that or better - but with blinding muzzle flash, deafening muzzle blast (unless you actually want to wear hearing protectors whenever you go out to check your livestock), and four or five times the cost. (Quarter for size reference only; aim point was center of green logo)

Links > > > viewtopic.php?t=46640#p583183

Coalsmoke · Post by **Coalsmoke** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:16 am

@AJMD429 those are some pretty sporty rigs.

Can you post more details on your light mounts please?

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:15 am

Coalsmoke wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:16 am @AJMD429 those are some pretty sporty rigs.

Can you post more details on your light mounts please?

The link in the post goes to a thread that links to each one.

Links > > > viewtopic.php?t=46640#p583183

Scrumbag · Post by **Scrumbag** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:27 am

Not totally tacti-cool but I quite like this modern take on the 1892.

(Just need to tighten the takedown a bit)

Scrummy

Drawdown · Post by **Drawdown** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:00 am

If I was gonna outfit one just for that purpose, I'd want mine a copy of crs or docs, they're as good as it gets IMO, and I gotta have blued&wood. I believe crs S&W is a Mod 19? I already got it's twin, and I'm a 357 fan!
Really an AR is hard to beat, but I won't buy one, except tried to buy a buds original Colt I shot a lot back 10 years ago, I'd payed good money for that one!
And I scoped and zeroed my brothers Anderson Arms AR last year for him, a short barreled one, 10-12" in 223, now that's about perfect for defense, but I wouldn't buy it. My Kimber 4" Custom Carry 45acp will do me fine for now! Especially knowing I only got $300 in it!
If I got an AR, I'd want it in 308.

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:01 am

Like that 92 Sir!

Similar to one of my Go-To carbines.

jb

Scrumbag · Post by **Scrumbag** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:17 am

2ndovc wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:01 am Like that 92 Sir!

Similar to one of my Go-To carbines.

jb

Very nice Marlin, sir. 357?

Scrummy

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:24 am

Yes, .357 Mag. One of the last of the Remington-Marlins. They were just getting things right when Remington was having issues. It's a great shooter and feeds anything.

jb

Scrumbag · Post by **Scrumbag** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:29 am

2ndovc wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:24 am Yes, .357 Mag. One of the last of the Remington-Marlins. They were just getting things right when Remington was having issues. It's a great shooter and feeds anything.

jb

Very nice. Mine's a .44 mag

Scrummy

mickbr · Post by **mickbr** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:31 am

Some nice bubba setups above. My rossi 357 blued 20" has a C2 osram flashlight under the mag tube with remote pressure switch and Bushnell red dot. Have considered cerakoting it too for weather resistance, but dont know enough about it

Coalsmoke · Post by **Coalsmoke** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 4:05 pm

AJMD429 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:15 am
Coalsmoke wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:16 am @AJMD429 those are some pretty sporty rigs.

Can you post more details on your light mounts please?
The link in the post goes to a thread that links to each one.

Links > > > viewtopic.php?t=46640#p583183

Thanks. I didn't see the link.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:19 pm

.
Interesting loading gate 'fix' - https://rangerpointstore.com/marlin-loading-gate/

I was thinking of ordering a spare anyway since a friend had his break and it pretty much made the gun unusable until he got a new one.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Mar 27, 2022 11:30 am

.
About the only serious competition for the home/farmyard niche vs the 'pistol-cartridge' leverguns is an AR-15 or Mini-14 or other compact semiauto in 300 Blackout.

I'd have a hard time choosing between an ideally-setup (which for my taste would mean suppressed) 357 Mag levergun or 300 Blk compact AR, if dealing with a bump in the night. I suppose if I thought the bump was one or more 2-legged predators I'd go for the 30-round insurance of the semiauto 'platform', but realistically around where I live the bump is far more likely a raccoon, possum, coyote, or feral dog/cat, and the levergun is fine for that. I guess if somehow I knew it was a 2-leg, and only one one or two of 'em, I'd opt for the Night Scout levergun in 45 Colt or 44 Mag, since wide meplats seem to quicken neutralization.

In the real world most of us just grab whichever is handy. Makes sense if you have both, to keep the 300 Blk in the bedroom as a 'house' gun, with light and laser (and suppressor if possible) in case you need to do non-shouldered shooting in confined quarters or if knocked down (a 'pistol' AR is perhaps ideal indoors), and so you don't go deaf. Then near the back door (safely stored) keep the levergun setup with a good red-dot or ghost-ring metal sight you can use well in the dark, with a really bright light. Laser less important, but in my experience (around 90 barnyard critters or so dispatched over 30 years) the laser does help at night. Partly because your red dot will be above bore axis so if sighted in at 50 yards you'll be too high if closer, and so you can set the laser closer to bore axis and on at 7-10 yards, so a small critter can still be hit right for a humane kill and minimal collateral damage in the chicken coop or whatever (you'll have two aiming dots visible, ideally a green laser one and a red scope one, so you know which is 'on' at 7 yards, and which at 50 - also, if the laser one isn't visible, it may be a clue that in the dark you hadn't realized a branch or beam or something is in between you and whatever is scarring along in the dim light). Suppressor not really needed with the 'cowboy' level loads that are adequate for barnyard pests (and would do for 2-legs, especially in the 44 and 45 calibers).

YMMV.

But the levergun definitely has a role as a 'tactical' firearm; why do you think they were so popular from the 1880's to the 1980's....? Leverguns were the citizen's 'assault rifle' all those years; pretty much serving that role until the AR-15 came along.

Old No7 · Post by **Old No7** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 2:36 pm

CowboyTutt wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:50 pm I actually like the looks and functions of some of these tactical upgrades!

If they were any uglier, they'd be........

They'd be MOSSBERGs!

Old No7

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:28 pm

i finally divested myself of 300 blk because they can blow up ARs [so I've read] if fed into a 556 upper. since i am qualified to do this, i replaced that upper with 762x39 to preclude one potential avenue of stupidity.

the other 762 rounds out my interest in small bores

Scott Tschirhart · Post by **Scott Tschirhart** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:48 pm

I just can't go there. A traditional levergun is good enough for me.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:41 pm

Old No7 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 2:36 pmIf they were any uglier, they'd be........

They'd be MOSSBERGs!

gotta admit, those are like the platypus of firearms - too many parts from too many different things...!

AR-15 collapsible buttstocks mostly look really STRANGE on anything but AR's. If I really wanted a super-compact levergun, I'd either get a take-down (if I didn't need to bring it from storage to use super-quickly), or a folding-stock of some sort.

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:52 pm

I like the traditional look, feel and function of leverguns. I prefer straight to pistol grips. I want wood and blue steel, but realize stainless is really more weather resistant. I used to prefer iron sights, but with age and loss of visual acuity scopes have become and necessity. To that end, most of my leverguns now wear glass. This is the one that is as close to modernizing as I get. Strangely, it is also one of my favorites.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:00 pm

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If you're looking for durability don't forget that stainless steel doesn't have to be shiny and silver...

The gun above is stainless steel.....but with a nitride finish as tough as any AR or Glock ...

The BHA leverguns aren't exactly cheap, but they do serve as an example of how you can get an incredibly durable weather resistant finish without the gloss of even a "matte" stainless finish. Cerakote (or even parkerizing

) would be possible too if you want to get away from the shine.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:23 am

Some may not believe this... but my wood and blued steel guns are just as effective as the modern take on these proven designs. It's okay that folks take those steps with their Henrys and Marlins... they're butt ugly to begin with!!!

Coalsmoke · Post by **Coalsmoke** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:25 am

Here's what Colonel Cooper had to say about the 94. He dubbed it the "Brooklyn Special".

"A most interesting client showed up in our last rifle class. He was the man with the sixteen-inch M94 30-30 - commonly called 'The Trapper.' This gentleman had no interest in hunting, police work or warfare, but he comes from darkest Brooklyn, where, as everybody know, it is nearly impossible to own a handgun legally. It seems to us that the little M94 is the perfect weapon for Brooklyn - and the Bronx, and DC, and the south side of Chicago, and East St. Louis, and South Phoenix, and East Los Angeles, and so on and on. However, our recent client is the only man who seems to have the wit to meet this problem intelligently. For various reasons we had to alter the curriculum on his account, but we did this gladly, putting him on individual runs in pistol and carbine and shotgun reactors. Henceforth we are prepared to offer a 'Brooklyn Carbine Course' for people with this problem. Running two curricula in the same group at the same time is complex but we deem it worth the trouble.
And we will hereafter call the 'Trapper' the 'Brooklyn Special.' (1989)

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:35 am

While Cooper was wise in many ways he sometimes proved to be uninformed. His mention of east L A as being a difficult place to own a handgun is one such example.

Coalsmoke · Post by **Coalsmoke** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:24 am

jeepnik wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:35 am While Cooper was wise in many ways he sometimes proved to be uninformed. His mention of east L A as being a difficult place to own a handgun is one such example.

If you reread the quote, he says it is nearly impossible to own a hand gun legally in Brooklyn. He says the M94 would be perfect for the other places (including LA) but does not refer to gun laws there.

I think his point was that the lever action carbine is a good choice where pistols or evil black rifles are frowned upon. He later called a levergun I'm a pistol cartridge a Kansas City Special.

wvfarrier · Post by **wvfarrier** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:22 pm

I.carried an evil black rifle professionally for over 25 years but I still prefer wood and steel for anything less than warfighting. Home defense, societal collapse, sh!ts and giggles....its all leverguns. If I was going back to Afghanistan......not so much.

Coalsmoke · Post by **Coalsmoke** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:34 pm

wvfarrier wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:22 pm I.carried an evil black rifle professionally for over 25 years but I still prefer wood and steel for anything less than warfighting. Home defense, societal collapse, sh!ts and giggles....its all leverguns. If I was going back to Afghanistan......not so much.

This was the kit I brought home after Hurricane Michael.

IMG_20181013_212412812.jpg

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:26 pm

.
I miss Colonel Jeff Cooper and his 'royal "we"'....!

I like the term "Brooklyn Special"...

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:33 am

when i resided in NYC a Brooklyn Reload was two pistols carried at 2 and 2 o'clock

and my mentor cautioned me, when i first arrived there from the desert SW, to KEEP MY HANDS OUT OF MY POCKETS when socializing.

†

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:06 pm

Grizz wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:33 am when i resided in NYC a Brooklyn Reload was two pistols carried at 2 and 2 o'clock

and my mentor cautioned me, when i first arrived there from the desert SW, to KEEP MY HANDS OUT OF MY POCKETS when socializing.

†

I actually feel most comfortable with a hand in my pocket because when it's there it's wrapped around the grip of my S&W M640.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:11 pm

Rusty wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:06 pm
Grizz wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:33 am when i resided in NYC a Brooklyn Reload was two pistols carried at 2 and 2 o'clock

and my mentor cautioned me, when i first arrived there from the desert SW, to KEEP MY HANDS OUT OF MY POCKETS when socializing.

†
I actually feel most comfortable with a hand in my pocket because when it's there it's wrapped around the grip of my S&W M640.

that was the point. my friend said that there are places in the City where some of the denizens would just shoot me, rather than risk whether i had a hand wrapped around a pistol grip. i didn't have a gun at the time, and didn't want to get shot over something that didn't exist. i survived by God's Grace, but i didn't know it at the time

Sarge · Post by **Sarge** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:25 pm

On Tac'ed Out, railed, etc lever actions- I just can't make the jump.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:36 pm

.
Hey just put one of these on your levergun....

https://gatdaily.com/next-generation-sq ... l-ngsw-fc/

Sarge · Post by **Sarge** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 1:51 pm

I think you'd need 3 leverguns of the sane length for that thing, Doc. Looks like it belongs on a surveyor's tripod.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:58 pm

.
A middle-gound...?

https://youtu.be/gY8DNy1zHwI

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:41 pm

Doc, what is that scope thingy? Name or link? -Tutt

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:13 pm

AJMD429 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:36 pm .
Hey just put one of these on your levergun....

https://gatdaily.com/next-generation-sq ... l-ngsw-fc/

Mark in MO · Post by **Mark in MO** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 5:00 pm

You folks have a lot of very nice rifles. I still would like to have a Marlin 1894 CSBL. About the time I thought, "Wow, I would kinda like one of those" everything went south, Marlin-wise. I really hope Ruger/Marlin reintroduces them.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Thu Mar 31, 2022 8:51 pm

So that scope is not currently available for any rifle, bolt action or levergun. OK, I get it. This still looks like the best option for ultra long range shooting:

https://www.atncorp.com/x-sight4k-pro-d ... cope-5-20x

I already ordered up a picatinny adapter to my CZ 550 dual bridge scope mounts. It will take weeks to arrive but was best price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V3 ... UTF8&psc=1

Ultra long range shooting to commence!!

-Tutt

444Hal · Post by **444Hal** » Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:18 pm

What I find interesting is the new desire to put the old 30-30 capabilities in the AR platform. I'm starting to wonder if the .223 is on its way out with civilians as a preferred 'tactical' option. I know the military are moving towards the 6mm ARC for better performance.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 1:56 pm

.
https://youtu.be/RKz398rLm4g

On aluminizing the 336...

I do have the Ranger Point frond on my Marlin 1894 CST, and it is WAY better than that crummy and heavy painted-wood one. Super-light weight too - almost like its not there.

Pisgah · Post by **Pisgah** » Sun May 01, 2022 9:12 am

Want a Corvette? Just put mag wheels on your Model A...

Pisgah · Post by **Pisgah** » Sun May 01, 2022 9:13 am

Want a Corvette? Just put mag wheels on your Model A...

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sun May 01, 2022 11:24 am

Pisgah wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 9:13 am Want a Corvette? Just put mag wheels on your Model A...

that is double-funny right there

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun May 01, 2022 11:35 am

.
Naaah....

I don't want an AR-15 if I go out in the rain at 2 a.m. to see why the goats or chickens are upset.

I want something light and handy, mid-powered, quiet, very little muzzle-flash, handy, completely weatherproof, with sights that I can use in pitch-black conditions to hit something as small as a feral cat at 50 yards but with enough punch to deal with a large feral dog, or 2-legged predator if one is there.

My beautiful walnut and blued steel leverguns with vintage buckhorn sights or tang sights or even modern aperture sights, pretty much SUCK for those conditions and tasks.

Great for deer hunting. Great for woods-walking. Great for rubbing linseed oil on while I sit inside by the fire and reminisce over a bourbon and read hunting books. But pretty much useless out in the rainy dark trying to nail a raccoon scuttling around the chicken house, or for that matter a 2-leg that might surprise me by jumping out of the woodshed in the dark when I have the gun in one hand and a pail of feed in the other, and no light.

If I just wanted guns for lookin' at, I'd stick with 'tradition' and I have plenty like that, but 'tradition' doesn't get the job done for what I need, and as far as a 'Corvette', I've got a 300 Blackout AR pistol, and a Ruger 9mm Charger pistol, both set up with good electronic gadgets and gizmos for bump-in-the-night use, as well as a regular AR-15 (or two), an M1A Scout model, and a Garand 'tanker', not to mention a Mossberg pump shotgun. If I knew I had to go out and deal with 2-legs (vs stay inside and wait for the sheriff), I'd don hearing protectors and grab one of those; they all may be more 'tactical', and may offend less eyes because they are at least 'supposed' to be set up with optics or lights or just already 'look military', but NONE of those options gives me the flexibility and handiness and ballistics of the levergun in 357 Mag (or 44 Mag or 45 Colt), although the 300 BO comes close (I still feel the 'rainbow' trajectory of a subsonic pistol bullet is safer because if I miss the varmint the bullet will hit the ground closer than the pointy 300 BO ones).

So after all the buying and trading and shooting and testing, when it came down to real-world use on the farmstead, the lever action 'platform' won out, and a 'pistol-cartridge' won out, but the problem was the water-loving wood stock and the useless sights for night use, pretty much had to go, if I was going to have anything PRACTICAL. I don't care about or even know how to define 'tactical' but I do know 'practical', and wood-and-blued-steel leverguns without lights and night-capable optics are about as useful as baseball-bats when it comes to nighttime livestock duty.