Old-Time Lever-Action Rifles Get New Life With ‘Tactical’ Upgrades

In an age of semiautomatic rifles tricked out with electronic red-dot sights, weapon lights and the like, traditional lever-action rifles seemed relegated to a niche of older purists.

Mounting accessory rails on lever-action rifles might have seemed absurd — until people started doing it.

Now, tactical lever-action rifles are becoming all the rage, particularly with younger shooters or people in areas where semiautomatics are restricted.

The Cody-based Big Horn Armory Inc. is one of the latest companies to jump aboard the tactical lever-action train. The company just started offering its CAT 5 tactical lever guns.  

“It’s a hunting gun, it’s a bear defense gun, it’s a gun that can do anything you need it to,” Big Horn Armory founder and president Greg Buchel told Cowboy State Daily.

While popular semiautomatic rifles such as various AR-15 platforms are obtainable in Wyoming, they might be much harder to get in states with stiff restrictions on those firearms, said Jason Crotteau, who runs the Riverton-based Wyoming Tactical shooters training company.

That might explain why tactical lever-action rifles are becoming so popular, he told Cowboy State Daily.

“They (gun control advocates) are not touching lever guns, they don’t think about them,” he said.

The First Repeating Rifles

Lever-action rifles were among the first repeating long guns to be mass marketed in the United States, with many models introduced right after the Civil War.

They’re simple to operate. After a round is fired, the shooter works the lever at the bottom of the rifle’s action. 

That ejects the spent cartridge casing and loads a new cartridge into the firing chamber, usually from a spring-loaded tubular magazine directly under the barrel.

They’re chambered in a variety of cartridges, with .30-30 being one of the most common. During the mid-20^th century, lever-action .30-30s were popular hunting rifles.

More recently, Marlin, Henry, Winchester, Rossi and other gun makers started offering lever-action rifles chambered for heavier pistol cartridges, such as .357 magnum and .44 magnum.

Big Horn Armory specializes in firearms chambered for big-bore cartridges. They recently rolled out what they tout as the world’s most powerful AR-style rifle, the AR500, chambered in .500 Auto Max.

It’s the same story with its lever-action rifles, both the traditional models and the new tactical ones, Buchel said.

They’re chambered for such whoppers as the .500 Smith & Wesson or the .454 Casull.

While some shooters favor tactical lever-action rifles with milder chamberings for home defense, Buchel said he questions putting Big Horn Armory lever guns to that use.

That’s because the massive slugs fired from super-magnum cartridges would probably go all the way through every wall in a defensive shooter’s house — and into the neighbor’s house, he said.

“We tested a round one time,” he said. "It went through three walls, a four-by-four post and a bunch of sheet metal before it stopped."

Not John Wayne’s Gun

Tactical lever action rifles have been around for a while, but the trend really started to take off about a year ago, Buchel said.

“I hate to admit it, but we’re probably following the industry trend,” slightly behind the curve, he said.

The company recently partnered with a company called Ranger Point Precision, which makes tactical aftermarket accessories for lever-action rifles.

“That’s what really got us going with that trend,” he said.

Big Horn Armory’s lever guns have typically been popular with a younger crowd, he said.

“Our traditional customer has been an older guy, 50-plus, who grew up watching John Wayne movies,” he said.

Along with his trusty six-shooter sidearm, the Duke in his Western roles had a lever-action rifle in his saddle scabbard to deal with bad guys at long range.

The hope is that tactical lever-action rifles will catch on with younger shooters, Buchel said.

“Younger people might think, ‘Wow, these are pretty cool guns that we’ve been ignoring,’” he said.

He added that he’s glad to see lever-action rifles finding new life with a new generation of hunters and shooters.

“It’s finally time for lever guns to get a resurgence,” he said.

‘I Like The Idea’

Crotteau said that he isn’t into tactical lever-action rifles, but he understands the appeal.

“I like the idea,” he said. “Typically, they’re chambered in harder-hitting cartridges” that some big game hunters might find appealing.

Along with the time-honored rifle design, a time-honored cartridge — the mighty .45-70 — is making a comeback.

Many tactical lever-action rifles are chambered for it, Crotteau said.

On tactical or competitive shooting ranges, lever-action rifles are increasingly regarded as an option, he said.

“Just running and gunning, your tactics aren’t going to be any different with a lever-action rifle,” he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.