I’m leaning toward a lever, maybe a big caliber, over a bolt gun. As a lefty the levers work better and I really don’t want a lefty bolt.

There are some choices: .357 Magnum, 30-30, 45-70, and even .223. I’m not interested in exotic rounds.

An AR15, semi auto.

quote:

Originally posted by striker1:
I’m leaning toward a lever, maybe a big caliber, over a bolt gun. As a lefty the levers work better and I really don’t want a lefty bolt.

There are some choices: .357 Magnum, 30-30, 45-70, and even .223. I’m not interested in exotic rounds.

.357 Mag is a pistol round, of course. Not certain what a rifle-length bore does for it? But, if you already have .357 Mag in a revolver: There's that going for it.

.30-30 is quite popular in lever-action rifles. Compared to the other .30's out there it's not much of a performer, though.

45-70 is, of course, the original lever-action carbine round. I almost went with that, myself, for my lever-action, but then decided to got with .45 Colt to match my revolver. Not certain if that was a good idea, but that's what I did.

.223... I don't think I'd find that interesting in a bolt- or lever-action rifle.

If you're going bolt-action I still like the .308 Win, which is what my 700P is chambered for. Were I to do it today I maybe could be convinced to go 6.5 Creedmore. (See current thread.)

If you're going to go lever-action I'd say either 45-70, for tradition's sake, or .30-30, for commonality's sake. Unless, as I said, you already stock .357 Mag. Then there's the "one less caliber to stock" argument.

Is this to be a carbine or a reach out and touch someone rifle? That makes a big difference in chambering selection, IMO.

It’s a 200 yard max gun.

I went 30-30. Easy to find, manageble recoil, as effective as 7.62x39 within its range (150-200 yards).

That said I've always wanted one in 357 also.

Given your very limited parameters, I'd go with a lightly used older (pre-Remington) Marlin 336 in .30-30.

POF ReVolt straight pull.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Given your very limited parameters, I'd go with a lightly used older (pre-Remington) Marlin 336 in .30-30.

This is what I’ve been thinking.

I've got a Mauser in the safe. I probably would hang on to that one.


I've never been a lever gun guy. Don't know why.

A pre 1864 Mod 70 in .270.

I don’t know the purpose, but for an all purpose gun, I’d pick a Ruger Gunsite Scout in .308.

I know you said no bolt, but it’s box fed for fast reloads and it hits hard. Reloading a lever isn’t fast and carrying a bunch of ammo for one isn’t convenient.

Luckily I have both covered

Marlin 336 (30AW) in 30-30 for a lever
Tikka T3x in 270WIN for the bolt.

lever action in .357 Mag

to match the revolvers

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I'd go Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum, and get a Ruger Super Blackhawk, and S&W 629 to match it. But have you considered the Browning lever actions? I think they chamber them in some pretty good calibers (.30-06 comes to mind).

I understand the OP to say He'd go for a lever-not necessarily limiting the rest of us.

I might go with a lever as well, my choice would be a Winchester 94, pre safety, in 30-30 iron sights no scope. On the other hand, I might go with a fairly light bolt action.308 with a medium power scope.

I would include the .308 in your lineup. Easily found in a variety of weights and configurations, and the vehicle of choice with a lever would be the Browning BLR.

It is a much better performer at 200 yards than 30-30, accurate with buckets of energy to spare (not to mention a trajectory that doesn't have a rainbow signature), and even faster to load than a traditional side gate lever gun.

But if .308 won't make the list, a .223 BLR is available. And it would share ammo with the many 5.56/.223 rifles and pistols I DO have

bolt action .243 Winchester , scoped

I got my CUT for responding to a similar question. If you can only have one, get a dreiling/drilling.

Another interesting rifle for only having one is the Blaser R8 since it has swappable calibers and a fast bolt.

I'd choose either my 1964 Marlin 336 in .35 Rem with a 2-7 Leupold, or a late 70's Rem 700 in 30-06 with a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50. Both shoot incredibly well.

1903

or 1903A3,,