New Smith & Wesson Lever Action, Model 1854
- Thread starter Bazoo
- Start date
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
Adding wood furniture, I don't think its all that bad.
I could handle plastics IF they was traditional styled.
CW
I could handle plastics IF they was traditional styled.
CW
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
At a starting price of $1300 for the stainless steel model and then needing to add wood furniture? Nope, I'll pass.
Too many alternatives on the market to make that attractive.
And that cross bolt safety on an exposed hammer lever action is just not needed.
Too many alternatives on the market to make that attractive.
And that cross bolt safety on an exposed hammer lever action is just not needed.
Matt_G
Curmudgeon in training
Because whoever said "A fool and his money are soon parted" was dead right, and S&W wants some of that action.
CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
S&W needs to GTFO of the rifle market and concentrate on what they've done since 1852--make decent revolvers. Classic Series 41 Magnums and 45 Colts with 4" barrels would be a far better use of ordnance steels than this ugly 'fusion cuisine' of colliding concepts built to chase or create a niche market that likely doesn't exist.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Look at the number of people buying Henry rifles.
Bazoo
Active Member
I've never had one, other than a 22. I just didn't care for them for various reasons. But I am glad they are doing well. Seems like with Henry, now Ruger's Marlin, Rossi, and now S&W, the levergun market is doing quite well.
Lever-actions are doing quite well, contrary to the seemingly overwhelming mass of the AR and precision/long-range rifle crazes dominating the market. While those rifles are wildly popular with the larger part of the market, there is still a large-enough segment thereof to warrant making them - or they just wouldn't.
I'm glad to see it. I'd love to see as much of a comeback for single-shots and SA revolvers as well. If Rossi saw fit to do a major retool, just to keep making rifles designed over a hundred years ago, and Ruger felt it was worthwhile to bring back the relatively recently deceased Marlins, there's something to that. Smith investing serious money in making something so out of character for them, at least in modern times, really emphasizes the point. Henry hasn't seemed to slow down one bit since they started and it's not just because of a determined entrepreneur insisting "this boat is gonna fly, by God!" They're onto something.
I don't hate the new Smith, but I would prefer a much more basic, "toned-down" rifle, without the fancy features I can do without. I'd love to see someone making levers like many manufacturers used to do under the "store-brand" concept, with a commensurately lower price-tag.
It doesn't have to be pretty either, but the feature I find the most loathsome these days is the apparent need to make things ugly for the mere sake of the aesthetic. Not that this new Smith is ugly, but the idea seems to pervade the industry these days and even several really ugly levers have been offered and, worse yet, at a premium over the regular models. If it's simply inherently ugly because no one bothered to make it pretty after perfecting a functional design, then I'm perfectly OK with ugly.
Anyway, levers are selling and I'm pleased with that. They make a lot of sense for a lot of applications - a lot more for me than my beloved old Mausers with their faster, flatter-shooting cartridges, which I never really needed,... except for woodchucks and coyotes. They very often stay beyond MY practical range using a handgun cartridge in a lever.
I'm glad to see it. I'd love to see as much of a comeback for single-shots and SA revolvers as well. If Rossi saw fit to do a major retool, just to keep making rifles designed over a hundred years ago, and Ruger felt it was worthwhile to bring back the relatively recently deceased Marlins, there's something to that. Smith investing serious money in making something so out of character for them, at least in modern times, really emphasizes the point. Henry hasn't seemed to slow down one bit since they started and it's not just because of a determined entrepreneur insisting "this boat is gonna fly, by God!" They're onto something.
I don't hate the new Smith, but I would prefer a much more basic, "toned-down" rifle, without the fancy features I can do without. I'd love to see someone making levers like many manufacturers used to do under the "store-brand" concept, with a commensurately lower price-tag.
It doesn't have to be pretty either, but the feature I find the most loathsome these days is the apparent need to make things ugly for the mere sake of the aesthetic. Not that this new Smith is ugly, but the idea seems to pervade the industry these days and even several really ugly levers have been offered and, worse yet, at a premium over the regular models. If it's simply inherently ugly because no one bothered to make it pretty after perfecting a functional design, then I'm perfectly OK with ugly.
Anyway, levers are selling and I'm pleased with that. They make a lot of sense for a lot of applications - a lot more for me than my beloved old Mausers with their faster, flatter-shooting cartridges, which I never really needed,... except for woodchucks and coyotes. They very often stay beyond MY practical range using a handgun cartridge in a lever.
Josh
Well-Known Member
I see curmudgeons all the time who want more lever guns, more blue and wood bolt guns, more revolvers, more rifles from the 30's to the 80's.
What then actually happens is companies bring these out, with some modern variations and components. The curmudgeon then complains of price, quality, modern additions, etc.
If the curmudgeon wants the younger generation to like their old school guns, they need "bridge guns" to get an AR shooter into that type of rifle. Sorry gents, this is the new way, S&W is doing this lever because they sell M&P's 10-1 to any revolver. They also sell one of the most popular AR's, the M&P Sport.
Gas isn't 99 cents, cigarettes aren't $3 a pack, new cars aren't 30k. Times are changing.
What then actually happens is companies bring these out, with some modern variations and components. The curmudgeon then complains of price, quality, modern additions, etc.
If the curmudgeon wants the younger generation to like their old school guns, they need "bridge guns" to get an AR shooter into that type of rifle. Sorry gents, this is the new way, S&W is doing this lever because they sell M&P's 10-1 to any revolver. They also sell one of the most popular AR's, the M&P Sport.
Gas isn't 99 cents, cigarettes aren't $3 a pack, new cars aren't 30k. Times are changing.
hporter
Active Member
I am glad to see more lever action offerings. Though I think I am in the camp that prefers wood and blue steel.
To be honest, I don't actually mind the stainless steel - or even the black plastic stock - as much as the tactical attachment points. Some things are just plain wrong. Ha ha. But if that is what sells in todays market, more power to them.
I've wanted a Marlin 1894 .32 H&R magnum for a long time, but I can't open my wallet wide enough for the prices being asked. So I was encouraged to see Henry bring out a .327 mag lever gun. Problem is, I haven't seen one on Gun Broker in a long long time. I am hoping Ruger will come out with a Marlin 1894 in a .32 revolver cartridge. I wouldn't even picky about which one. Especially if they re-introduce the cowboy series some day.
To be honest, I don't actually mind the stainless steel - or even the black plastic stock - as much as the tactical attachment points. Some things are just plain wrong. Ha ha. But if that is what sells in todays market, more power to them.
I've wanted a Marlin 1894 .32 H&R magnum for a long time, but I can't open my wallet wide enough for the prices being asked. So I was encouraged to see Henry bring out a .327 mag lever gun. Problem is, I haven't seen one on Gun Broker in a long long time. I am hoping Ruger will come out with a Marlin 1894 in a .32 revolver cartridge. I wouldn't even picky about which one. Especially if they re-introduce the cowboy series some day.
CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
Say what you want about Henry leverguns--I like mine, a wood and blue steel Big Boy in 357 Magnum. No light attachments, no Picatinny rails, just open irons that look where the rounds land downrange at 50 yards. One notch up and they hit all right at 75, one more notch up and they're close at 100.
What you're saying has held true for many decades, but all the sudden, it's not just that.
I remember when gas hit 99 cents a gallon. I was making $400 a month, gross. Three-dollar gas today... it's cheap by comparison.
The spike in prices and the disappearance of many things over the past few years is not part of that cycle we've all become accustomed to. It was sudden and drastic - and has persisted as well. I don't intend to open the socioeconomic Pandora's Box regarding WHY, but I will say that this time there's more to today's prices than the old fashioned, constant rise of prices over time.
As many have intimated in this thread, the fact that someone else is jumping on the lever-gun bandwagon goes to show that there's a market force demanding that. The fact that I held a new Marlin 336 in my hands with a $400 price tag on it at some point during Remington's final year contrasted with Ruger now offering them for three times that is not part of that old, constant, incremental climb of prices over decades.
I would gladly pay Winchester prices for a Marlin, if the Marlin had the Winchester fit, finish, and wood.
I like lever actions but find no joy in Henry rifles.
I detest large loop levers, really short barrels, and scout scopes. Just goes against my own aesthetic.
We all have our own likes and dislikes.
I like lever actions but find no joy in Henry rifles.
I detest large loop levers, really short barrels, and scout scopes. Just goes against my own aesthetic.
We all have our own likes and dislikes.
