Why not a Dangerous Game lever?

[Doug Hamilton]

As a teenager I was a lever action junkie. I wondered why no lever actions were used for military service. Many decades later and after a career in the US Marines, I have many rifles in my gun safes. While I can afford whatever I desire, there are no lever actions in my safes. Maybe because I learned to deliver accurate hits on target rapidly with bolt action.

For an African safari, simple it best. A bolt action is simple, and if based on a Mauser such as a Winchester Model 70 CRF, they are field maintainable. That also answers why in the bolt action military days a hundred years ago, there were no level actions in wide use in military service.

If one wants to shoot an elephant with a lever action, handgun, single shot, or whatever, knock yourself out.

I own two .30-30s and a .22 in lever actions. They were passed down to.me from my grandfather, father and an uncle. They are fun to take out and shoot once in a while, but I don't hunt with them. They.just.don't fit in my hunting style.

 

[Nhoro]

Aren't we all? Only sport where people that are really into it consider themselves all below average when the chips are down.

Men of experience all seem to agree- we could always be a better shot, whichever calibre/ action type we use.

 

[Rule 303]

I love chrome lined barrels! The chamber is lined too. You can see a grey ring on either end of the barrel. They clean so easy, are extremely corrosion proof, and it extends the life. I wish all my barrels were chrome lined.

Corrosion proof they are. I walked the Kokoda Track and many rifles and machineguns seen in village museums and scattered along the track. Some Bren Guns had the action rusted away but all of them had barrels you could still use. Barrels are chromed lined as was the chamber. The barrels had little if any rust on the outside. Do not know what sort of Parkerizing they had but it worked.

 

[WyoBull]

I have a friend who shoots a Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70 and has hunted every from Alaskan Moose, Coastal Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo, Crocodile, Water Buffalo etc. with it. He uses hot and heavy loads out of it and he swears by it.
I have the same gun but have not shot mine near as much as he has so I cannot attest to it as a good DG caliber and rifle from personal experience but he has proven it to be over a number of hunts.
He is also a life long outfitter and guide with tons of experience.

 

[Rule 303]

I have a friend who shoots a Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70 and has hunted every from Alaskan Moose, Coastal Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo, Crocodile, Water Buffalo etc. with it. He uses hot and heavy loads out of it and he swears by it.
I have the same gun but have not shot mine near as much as he has so I cannot attest to it as a good DG caliber and rifle from personal experience but he has proven it to be over a number of hunts.
He is also a life long outfitter and guide with tons of experience.

Due to the firearm laws in Australia's Norther Territory years ago the 45-70 was about all you could use and plenty of Water Buffalo were taken with it. Mainly Marlin lever actions.

 

[AustinM]

A majority of my hunting has been performed with a lever action. I have yet to have an issue that was something, I was not the root cause of. Of course, this is my personal experience within the realm of lever guns. I would personally hunt dangerous game with specific cartridges, such as a hot loaded 45-70, 45-90 (like crs), the 50-110 and its possible variants. If we look at the performance of the 50-110 in a modern repeating rifle, once could almost consider it the poor man's 500 nitro, as I can comfortably obtain near 500 nitro ballistics.
Personally, I would love to see a Marlin-style rifle that could handle these listed rounds and be put to the test. Currently the best one could do is obtain a winchester in 50-110, or find a 510 Kodiak Express, as McPherson is no longer accepting gun work for this conversion. So, the people that have pioneered these big bore conversions are starting to dwindle.
I think that a lever action designed with dangerous game in mind has already been made. This has been seen with the 50-110 conversions on the winchesters and 510 Kodiak Express on the marlins. If we look at the amount of people that want these conversions and are serious enough to have it done, is few and far between. This is why we will never see lever actions that are designed for dangerous game outside the custom realm of gunsmithing. Also, the 50 AK and 50 AK B&M would be viable options, but the above was used as they are on the cutting edge of power in lever guns.
So, make your gunsmith happy and have them make your dangerous game lever gun today!

 

[mark-hunter]

So, for lever actions in DG calibers: basically the background is, the same as for magnum length bolt action rifles that are no longer in standard factory production line. Small market demand without incentive to mass produce, makes the only option remaining for gunsmiths custom work.

 

[PerH]

One of many he has made episodes about .

 

[HankBuck]

I have a friend who shoots a Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70 and has hunted every from Alaskan Moose, Coastal Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo, Crocodile, Water Buffalo etc. with it. He uses hot and heavy loads out of it and he swears by it.
I have the same gun but have not shot mine near as much as he has so I cannot attest to it as a good DG caliber and rifle from personal experience but he has proven it to be over a number of hunts.
He is also a life long outfitter and guide with tons of experience.

@WyoBull - my PH in Tanzania was a fan of the .45-70 and his assistant carried one for back up during my Buffalo Hunt. The PH told me he has seen “many buffalo taken with the .45-70” and he only stipulated “just use a well constructed bullet” such as those readily available from Buffalo Bore and a few others. It seems that there is a lot of “over thinking” done regarding guns & caliber for Buffalo & Grizzly bear - and although it’s fun to Over Think and plan for any Big Game Hunt ————Bullet Placement will always be the deciding factor followed by bullet construction.