New Smith & Wesson Lever Action, Model 1854

[462]

"bridge guns"

That is more than an apt description of a horrid looking rifle. Don't know if you coined the word, but I'm going to plagiarize it locally.

To my eyes, Marlin forearms are too big for a lever action's natural svelteness, and there is something inexplicable about modern Henrys that turn me off. The fit and finish of my .357 Rossi/EMF 1892 and .38 Special Uberti/Cimarron 1866 sporting rifles rival that of my 1955-dated 30-30 Winchester Model 94.

 

[JonB]

I was quoting Josh (a couple posts up), but I guess I didn't give him credit in my post...my bad.

 

[462]

Oopsie, Josh, I didn't catch the term when I read your post.

Jon, I thought you meant all the stuff on the barrel made it look like a bridge, thus the aptness.

I'm too much of a traditionalist to get excited about any lever action designed after 1894.

 

[JonB]

Oh, I thought you were thinking, throw it off a bridge...

 

[462]

Oh, I thought you were thinking, throw it off a bridge...

That's even more apt!!

Wow, aren't we having fun?

 

[JonB]

we are.
curmudgeon fun.

 

[RicinYakima]

and there is something inexplicable about modern Henrys that turn me off.

I always felt this way, but it took an art major to tell me why. The action is "kinked" down like someone hit it with an anvil. There are no "golden rule" proportions, but just what ever it took to make the parts fit. There is no grace or finesse about it. As it told me, it is as handsome as a garden hoe.

 

[Michael]

Put a stock on it made out of sandalwood, at least it will smell nice.

 

[Snakeoil]

It's a 336 in a pistol caliber. I must ask why?

It looks like something a new shooter would do with his first used rifle after reading a few issues of Guns & Ammo.

I think my favorite feature is the 1 inch recoil pad on a pistol caliber rifle.

Reminds me of a FWD Chevette I saw years ago with street slicks on the back and the rear end jacked up.

Needless to say, S&W knows handguns. They should go with their strengths.

 

[RBHarter]

Maybe they will chamber it in 460 ..........

 

[fiver]

H&R chambered their single shot in 500 S&W for a week or two, and we see how that worked out.

 

[obssd1958]

H&R chambered their single shot in 500 S&W for a week or two, and we see how that worked out.

I have one of those! It really is a lot of fun with cast bullets and reduced loads.

 

[CZ93X62]

Review my Post #57. Thank you.

People hated Glocks in 1985, too. Some still do. Haters just gonna hate, I suppose. It is a free country, despite the best efforts of wonks and basement dwellers to modify that status. Be well.

 

[fiver]

i was gonna look up Wonk in the Urban dictionary,,, but i can't stop laughing... or saying Wonk,,,Wonk, like a goose with a hair lip.

 

[Rally]

I think they will sell, in the stainless composite version. The wood version may never sell at that price.
I own a few rifles in pistol calibers, most in .44 mag. I understand the large loop lever used with a heavy glove in cold weather. I scope all my levers, so the picatinny rail would work for me and the first thing I’d do would be remove the open sights, front and rear. The safety is a sign of the times, I have a couple of those now and not a real problem. Some folks might use a can on one if they hunt a small acreage near a village or urban area. I’d cut the threads off and recrown it. Some states are shotgun or straight walled cartridges only for deer.
I ‘m guessing some of these rifles will be bought for truck/canoe/snowmobile / combine guns, and probably serve well in that job. Probably wouldn’t hurt these rifles to use one as an emergency canoe paddle or stick it muzzle first in the mud and tie a boat to it! I think even the stainless composite version is still too high priced.

 

[kenton]

I suspect the AR market is rather saturated and new AR aren't selling as well as they were. Lever actions are also harder to legislate against.

It looks like to me like most companies are looking to make lever actions to sell before PSA and Bear Creek Arsenal start making a $400 version.

 

[Rally]

It's a 336 in a pistol caliber. I must ask why?

It looks like something a new shooter would do with his first used rifle after reading a few issues of Guns & Ammo.

I think my favorite feature is the 1 inch recoil pad on a pistol caliber rifle.

Reminds me of a FWD Chevette I saw years ago with street slicks on the back and the rear end jacked up.

Needless to say, S&W knows handguns. They should go with their strengths.

I have a Ruger 77/44 that is uncomfortable to shoot much, with any bullet running much over 1200 fps and 265 GR bullets. The butt is pretty narrow , short and hard, the rifle is quite light weight. I’m guessing the recoil pad on this rifle might help in the same scenario.
I also have a Marlin 336 in .44 mag that I have carried many miles and wears a Pachmayr pad. One of my favorite rifles.
I also have a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag that at least 2 of my sons and four nephews have killed numerous deer with over the years.
The Ruger carbines / autos in .44 are also highly regarded in this part of the county in deer camps and often starter guns for young hunters.

 

[Missionary]

My question is .. With this looking so much like a Marlin, are they actually the builders?

 

[fiver]

wouldn't be the first time a rifle got copied in Turkey for 200$

 

[L Ross]

I always felt this way, but it took an art major to tell me why. The action is "kinked" down like someone hit it with an anvil. There are no "golden rule" proportions, but just what ever it took to make the parts fit. There is no grace or finesse about it. As it told me, it is as handsome as a garden hoe.

You have the right idea. It may have been Finn Agaard or Jack O'Connor that talked about the extremely subtle difference between two sisters. One a raving beauty and the other, well not.
In my deluded brain I find lever gun beauty in the Winchester 1892 and Marlin 1894. Svelte is a good starting point.
As much as I applaud Henry Rifles I get turned off by fake Zamac brass frames, any pot metal frames for that matter. The odd line here and there. I hope they sell train loads of them, but they won't be selling any to me.
Uberti and Rossi get so close, then step in their collective d appendages with not quite right wood, a shame. That said, some Ubertis do look right, 1873s and 66s in particular.
I'm kind of a Winchester guy, but my Marlin 1894 in .38-40, 24" octagon and color cased receiver makes me flat out happy.