Lever-Actions: A Tribute to the All-American Rifle

By Editors of Gun Digest and RECOIL Magazine

Join the Lever-Action Revolution!

The tried and true lever-action rifle is more popular than ever. Whether you’re looking to collect a classic Winchester for a family heirloom, or purchase a big-bore Marlin for hunting big game, Lever Actions! covers it all!

But this expansive book doesn’t stop with the classics—we included extensive coverage of today’s high-performance tactical, competition, and high-performance big bores, plus the latest .22 rimfire lever-action rifles for plinking and small game hunting.  

Inside You’ll Find:

·        History and development of lever-action guns

·        Collectible Winchesters, Henrys and Marlins

·        Lever-action cartridges and rimfires

·        State-of-the-art tactical lever actions!

Lever Actions! also includes an extensive full-color catalog featuring many lever-action rifles and shotguns available today, making it a valuable reference for both collectors and shooters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gun Digest Books
• Release date: Mar 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9781959265184

Book preview

SECTION I

VINTAGE LEVER GUNS: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

What were the early lever-action models that would come to define the classic American repeating rifle? Beginning with an illustrated history of 19th-century lever-action rifles, this section sets the stage for the early development, focusing on Winchester with historical notes on Henry, Marlin, Savage and Whitney. We then move to a complete chapter on the Browning lever guns, starting with the BL-22 rimfires and the still-produced Model 81 BLR, a magazine-fed lever-action.

The .30-30 cartridge, which Winchester developed in the mid1890s, makes an appearance, as does the Winchester Model 1886 in Dave Campbell’s The Cowboy Thumper. We even get a little wild and introduce the Winchester 1888 lever-action shotgun.

THE LEVER-ACTION RIFLE

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY

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Just as the Colt Single Action Army is considered the handgun of the Old West, the Winchester lever-action rifle is the iconic Old West long gun. Early predecessors included the Hunt, Jennings and Volcanic rifles.

Jennings by Robbins & Lawrence Rifle .54 rocket ball circa 1848–1853. The Jennings is considered the great-grandfather of the Winchester. Firearms design titans Tyler Henry, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson participated in its development. Although a repeater was made, this example is a single-shot and has been back converted to percussion. This was to make it usable when the supply of rapidly discontinued proprietary rocket ball ammunition dried up.

New Haven Arms Company Volcanic Rifle .41 rocket ball circa 1857. Smith & Wesson introduced this lever-action magazine rifle, which was nicknamed The Volcanic. It was made by Volcanic Repeating Arms and then by New Haven Arms Company. The rocket-ball ammo had the gunpowder and primer loaded in the base of the hollow bullet.

Henry Lever-Action Rifle by New Haven Arms Co. .44 Henry RF circa 1860–1866. Approx. 14,000 were made. It is easily identified by its brass frame and lack of wooden forend. The tubular magazine under the barrel is loaded from the front. The Henry lacks the loading gate of later Winchester lever-actions.

Winchester Model 1866 Third Model Lever-Action Carbine .44 rimfire circa 1866–1898. The first true Winchester, known on the Western frontier as the Yellowboy for its brass receiver. The first lever-action with a loading gate in the frame; over 170,000 were made.

THE LEVER-ACTION RIFLE

The 15-shot Henry was the first truly successful lever-action repeating rifle. It was patented by B. Tyler Henry in 1860, and earned its laurels on the battlefields of the Civil War. It was known to Confederates as that Yankee rifle you load on Sunday and shoot all week.

Oliver F. Winchester purchased Henry’s company and the patent rights for this unique firearm. In May 1866, he changed the name of the firm from the New Haven Arms Company to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, thus beginning a long history of legendary firearms.

The Model 1866 Winchester boasted a number of important improvements, principally in the method of loading and ejecting cartridges and in the adoption of a side-frame loading gate. Attempts to market the gun to the federal government failed, but sales to foreign countries flourished.

Improved models based on this design were developed and offered for sale in 1873, 1876, 1886, 1892, 1894 and 1895. These various models gave the public a wide variety of choices, and Winchester lever-action rifles became legendary throughout the United States and the world. The Model 1873 was immortalized in the Hollywood film Winchester ‘73 starring James Stewart. The most popular has been the Model 1894, considered America’s deer rifle and an iconic presence both in saddle scabbards and pickup truck gun racks well through the mid-20th century, with a total of over six million produced.

Winchester Model 1866 Lever-Action Rifle .44 Henry RF circa 1866–1898.

Winchester Model 1873 Lever-Action Rifle .38-40 circa 1873–1919.

Winchester Model 1876 Lever-Action Rifle .45-60 circa 1876–1897.

Winchester Model 1886 Lever-Action Rifle, Deluxe Grade .45-90 circa 1886–1935. Special octagonal barrel, and factory single-set trigger.

Winchester Model 1892 Rifle .32-20 circa 1892–1941.

Winchester Model 1894 Rifle .30-30 circa 1894–Present.

Winchester Model 1895 Lever-Action Rifle .30-40 Krag circa 1896–1931.

WINCHESTER LEVER-ACTIONS (The major models, top to bottom)

MODEL 1866—170,000 made 1866–1898. .44 rimfire. Brass frame with loading gate. Yellowboy.

MODEL 1873—720,000 made 1873–1919. Relatively low-power cartridges, .44-40 (44 WCF), .38-40 (38 WCF), .32-20 (32 WCF). Colt and others made revolvers for the same cartridges. Medium frame with irregularly shaped flat sideplate. The gun that won the West.

MODEL 1876—64,000 made 1876–1897. Heavy blackpowder rifle cartridges .40-60, .45-60, .45-75, and .50-95. Large frame with irregularly shaped flat sideplate.

MODEL 1886—160,000 made 1886–1935. Various rifle cartridges from .33 WCF through .50-110 Express. Improved large frame; solid frame (no sideplate) oval loading gate.

MODEL 1892—Over one million made from 1892 to 1941. Same .44, .38, and .32 WCF calibers as the Model 1873, plus .25-20. Light handy solid-frame gun in pistol calibers, identified by distinctive half-oval loading gate with straight front edge. A staple of early Hollywood westerns, even when an anachronism.

MODEL 1894—Over six million made from 1894 to 2006. The first design made for smokeless powder, in a variety of calibers with the classic being .30-30. Medium solid frame, oval loading port.

MODEL 1895—425,000 made 1896-1931. Previous models all had tube magazines. The distinctive box mag of the 1895 allowed it to be chambered for high-powered rifle cartridges with pointed spitzer bullet, in the .30-06 class up to .405 Winchester.

Winchester Model 1866 Third Model Musket .44 Henry RF circa 1866–1898.

Winchester Model 1873 Carbine .44-40 circa 1873–1919.

Winchester Model 1873 Rifle .32-20 circa 1873–1919. Deluxe pistol grip stock, made in 1884, British proofs.

Winchester Model 1873 Rifle circa 1873–1919.

Winchester Model 1876 Rifle .40-60 circa 1876–1897.

Winchester Model 1886 Rifle .38-56 circa 1886–1935. Nonstandard short barrel and button half mag.

Winchester Model 1886 Light Weight Rifle .33 circa 1886–1935. The Light Weight Model features a fast taper 22-inch barrel and half mag.

Winchester Model 1886 Deluxe Rifle .50-110 Express circa 1886–1935. High-grade wood, checkering, Three folding leaf express rear sight. Most powerful chambering for an 1886.

Winchester Model 1886 Rifle .45-90 circa 1886–1935. Western hunters called this model, in .45-90, the Grizzly bear rifle.

Winchester Model 1892 Rifle .44-40 circa 1892–1941.

Winchester Model 1894 Carbine .38-55 circa 1892–1941.

Winchester Model 1894 Rifle .25-35 circa 1894–Present.

Winchester Model 1895 NRA Musket .30-40 circa 1903–1906. Rare variation made for NRA military rifle competition matches

Winchester Model 1895 Carbine .30-06 circa 1896–1931.

Townsend Whelen’s Winchester Model 1895 Rifle .40-72 Winchester circa 1902. Noted arms writer and shooter Colonel Townsend Whelen carried this lever-action rifle on hunting trips to British Columbia and South Africa.

▪ Winchester Model 1892 Lever-Action Rifle .25-20 circa 1892–1941. Takedown model.

Most Winchester lever-action rifles were offered in three configurations: carbine, rifle and musket. Typical standard barrel lengths might be 20 inches (carbine), 24 inches (rifle) and 27 inches (musket). Custom features such as non-standard sights and deluxe wood were available on special order. Some could be had as takedown models for ease of storage or transport.

▪ A Chancy Shot by Harry C. Edwards.

MARLIN LEVER-ACTION RIFLES

The Marlin Firearms Company was founded by former Colt employee John Mahlon Marlin in 1863. The company’s first products were handguns and single-shot rifles. In 1881, the company began manufacturing lever-action repeating rifles. Its product line grew to become Winchester’s primary competition in that field.

Marlin Model 1881 Lever-Action Rifle, Second Style .45-70 circa 1881–1892, 20,000 made. Competitive with the Winchester Model 1876.

Marlin Model 1892 Lever-Action Rifle .32 centerfire/rimfire circa 1895–1916, 45,000 made. Wide-firing pin allows the use of either rimfire or centerfire cartridges.

Marlin Model 1893 Lever-Action Rifle .30-30 circa 1893–1935. Around one million made, in calibers ranging from .25-36 to .38-55. This was the first Marlin lever-action rifle model to utilize smokeless powder cartridges.

Marlin Model 1894 Lever-Action Rifle .32-20 circa 1894–1935, 250,000 made, in the same pistol class cartridges as the Winchester 1892.

Marlin Model 1897 Lever-Action Rifle .22 Long Rifle circa 18971917, 125,000 made, all in takedown configuration.

▪ One Down - Robert Wesley Amick

WHITNEY REPEATING RIFLES

For nearly a century, Whitney was a major force in American firearms manufacturing. Cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney began manufacturing firearms for the U.S. military in 1798, and continued in that role through the Civil War, in addition to civilian arms manufacture. By that time Eli Whitney, Jr. headed the firm. They entered the lever-action repeater field in 1878, but the firm’s fortunes were fading. They were acquired by Winchester in 1888.

Whitney-Burgess-Morse Lever-Action Repeating Rifle .45-70 circa 1878–1882. Approximately 3,000 made.

Whitney-Kennedy Lever-Action Repeating Rifle .40-60 circa 1879–1886. Approximately 15,000 made. Most Whitney repeaters featured a distinctive S lever, but some later examples were made with the traditional loop, such as this.

Whitney-Kennedy Lever-Action Sporting Rifle .44-40 circa 1879–1886. A smaller frame variation, chambered for the less powerful .44, .38 and .32 WCF rounds.

Whitney-Burgess-Kennedy Lever-Action Repeating Musket .45-70 circa 1878–1882. Most Whitney repeating muskets went to Central or South America.

Whitney Kennedy Lever-Action Sporting Rifle .38-40 circa 1879–1886.

One Millionth Savage Model 99 - .300 Savage - circa 1960 - Ornately engraved and gold inlaid and presented to the NRA. The six round rotary magazines of the Savage Models 1895 and 1899 permitted the use of ballistically efficient pointed spitzer bullet in lever-action repeaters with the risk of accidental detonation poised by spitzers in tubular magazines common to most earlier lever-actions. The box magazines of the Winchester Model 1895 and the much later Browning BLR also permitted the use of spitzer bullets.

Browning Model 81 BLR Lever-Action Rifle - .308 Winchester - circa 1970-1980.

Winchester Model 71 Lever-Action Rifle - .348 Winchester - circa 1951 - About 47,000 made.

Browning BL-22 Grade I Lever-Action Rifle - .22 rimfire - circa 1969.

Marlin Model 336 Presentation-Grade Lever-Action Rifle - .30-30 - circa 1979 - Serial number 3,000,000.

Henry Repeating Arms Golden Boy Lever-Action Rifle - .22 LR - circa 2010 - Boy Scout Centennial commemorative. Founded in 1996 in Brooklyn, NY, by Anthony Imperato, Henry produces a popular line of lever-action and other firearms.

Remington Model 6 Slide-Action Rifle - .308 Winchester - circa 1981-1987.

▪ Colt-Burgess Lever-action Rifle in .44-40 circa 1883-1885.

▪ Evans Lever-Action Repeating Carbine in .44 Evans circa 1873-1879. The Evans repeaters featured a unique helical magazine in the buttstock that could hold 28 to 34 cartridges.

Colt & Winchester — There’s a story that when Colt introduced a lever-action rifle, representatives of Winchester visited the Colt plant with examples of a Winchester revolving handgun design. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Colt abandoned the lever-action rifle market.

High-capacity firearms — 19th-century lever-action rifles chambered in cartridges such as the .44-40 commonly held 15 rounds or more. The Evans held as many as 38, which is more than today’s popular AR pattern sporting rifles that typically use 10-, 20-, or 30-round magazines.•

This chapter is an excerpt from the Illustrated History of Firearms, 2nd Edition available at GunDigestStore.com

▪ Swift Approach - Frank Tenney Johnson

BROWNING LEVER ACTIONS

EXAMINING BROWNING-PRODUCED LEVER GUNS, THEN & NOW

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John Browning is credited with 128 firearm patents, many blazing the trail and propelling makers such as Winchester to lever-gun fame. However, today the Browning company is producing lever-action rifles under its banner representing the profile inventor’s vision of function and beauty.

▪ BL-22 Grade II. Courtesy Browning.

BL-22 GRADE I

This is a lever-action rifle chambered for the .22 rimfire cartridge. It has an 18˝ barrel with a tubular magazine and a folding leaf rear sight. It is a Western-style firearm that features an exposed hammer. The finish is blued with a walnut stock. It was introduced in 1970 by Miroku.

▪ Short lever throw of BL-22. Courtesy Browning.

BL-22 GRADE II

This version is similar with a scroll-engraved receiver and a checkered, select walnut stock.

BL-22 Field Series Grade I

Introduced in 2005 this rifle features a satin nickel receiver. Walnut stock with no checkering. Blued trigger. Magazine capacity is 16 rounds. Weight is about 5 lbs.

BL-17 FIELD SERIES GRADE I

As above but chambered for the .17 Mach 2 cartridge. Weight is about 5.2 lbs.

▪ BL-17 Field Series Grade I. Courtesy Browning.

▪ BL_22 Field Grade Octagon. Courtesy Browning.

▪ BL-22 Classic. Courtesy Browning.

BL-22 FIELD SERIES GRADE II

As above but with checkered stock, gold trigger, and scroll engraving on the receiver.

BL-17 FIELD SERIES GRADE II

As above but chambered for the .17 Mach 2 cartridge.

BL-22 FIELD GRADE II OCTAGON

Introduced in 2005 this model has a 24˝ octagon barrel chambered for the .22 Long and Long Rifle cartridges. Receiver is silver nitride with scroll engraving and gold trigger. Magazine capacity is 16 rounds. Gold bead front sight. Weight is about 5.25 lbs.

BL-17 FIELD GRADE II OCTAGON

As above but chambered for the .17 Mach 2 cartridge. Magazine capacity is 16 rounds. Weight is about 5.35 lbs. Introduced in 2005.

BL-22 CLASSIC

This model was introduced in 1999 and has the same features as the BL-22 Grade I.

BL-22 NRA GRADE 1

Similar to BL-22 Grade 1 but with NRA logo lasered on buttstock.

BL-22 GRAY LAMINATE STAINLESS

Similar to BL-22 but with gray laminated stock, nickeled receiver and stainless steel barrel. Introduced 2006.

▪ Cutaway view, BLR rack and pinion gear. Courtesy Browning.

▪ Left view of BLR President Commemorative Rifle; Canadian commemorative issue inscribed with signature of president of Browning Canada. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Right view of BLR President. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

MODEL 81 BLR

This is a contemporarily designed, lever-action sporting rifle chambered for various popular calibers from .22-250 up to .358 Winchester. In effect, it is a bolt-action rifle in which the bolt is operated with a lever. It has a 20˝ barrel with adjustable sights. It features a 4-round, detachable magazine and a rotary locking bolt. The finish is blued with a checkered walnut stock and recoil pad. It was introduced in 1971 and manufactured that year in Belgium. In 1972 manufacture moved to Miroku in Japan. In 2003 a straight-grip stock was introduced and WSM calibers were added from .270 to .300. Weight is about 6.5 lbs. Originals had a steel receiver; these are increasingly collectible.

▪ Closeup of inscribed signature, BLR President. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ BLR 81 with straight grip stock, chambered in .308 Winchester. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ BLR Lightning Lightweight Short Action. Courtesy Browning.

▪ BLR Lightning Lightweight Long Action. Courtesy Browning.

MODEL BLR LIGHTNING (LIGHTWEIGHT)

Introduced in 1996 this model features a lightweight aluminum receiver with walnut stock and checkered pistol grip. Offered in both long and short action calibers from .223 Rem. to 7mm Rem. Mag. Barrel length is 20" for short action calibers and 22˝ to 24˝ for long action calibers. Open sights are standard. Weight is about 7 lbs. depending on caliber. In 2003 a straight-grip stock was introduced.

MODEL BLR LIGHTWEIGHT 81

This model features a straight grip checkered walnut stock. Fitted with a 20˝ or 22˝ barrel depending on caliber. Magazine capacity is four or five rounds depending on caliber. Alloy receiver. Chambered for calibers .22-25-, .243, 7mm-08, .308, .358, .450 Marlin, .270 WSM, .300 WSM, and .325 WSM. Also offered in a long action version chambered for the .270, .30-06, 7mm Rem. mag, and the .300 Win. mag. Weight is from 6.5 lbs. to 7.75 lbs. depending on caliber.

▪ BLR 81 with box. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Scarce BLR Lightweight 81 in .223 Remington. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Closeup of BLR hammer safety. Courtesy Browning.

BLR LIGHTWEIGHT TAKEDOWN

Similar to BLR Lightweight but with takedown feature. Introduced 2007. Available with either straight grip or curved pistol grip.

▪ BLR Lightweight Takedown, pistol grip. Courtesy Browning.

▪ BLR Lightweight Takedown, straight grip. Courtesy Browning.

▪ Browning Model 53 in .32-20 Winchester. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

MODEL B-78

Introduced in 1973 this single-shot, lever-action falling block was offered in several calibers from .22-250 to .45-70. Barrel lengths 24˝ or 26˝ in either round or octagonal shape with no sights except .45-70. Checkered walnut stock. First built in 1973 and discontinued in 1983. Add 15 percent for .45-70 caliber.

MODEL 53

Offered in 1990 this model is a reproduction of the Winchester Model 53 and like the original is chambered for the .32-20 cartridge. This is a limited edition offering confined to 5,000 rifles. It features hand-cut checkering, high-grade walnut stock with full pistol grip and semi-beavertail forend. Pistol grip is fitted with a metal grip cap. Barrel length is 22˝ and the finish is blue.

MODEL 65 GRADE I

This was a limited-edition, lever-action rifle chambered for the .218 Bee cartridge. It has a tapered, round, 24˝ barrel with open sights. It was patterned after the Winchester Model 65 rifle. It has a seven-round, tubular magazine. The finish is blued with a plain walnut stock and metal buttplate. There were 3,500 manufactured in 1989.

MODEL 65 HIGH GRADE

This is a deluxe version that features a silver-finished, scroll engraved receiver with gold animal inlays and a gold-plated trigger. It features a select, checkered walnut stock. There were 1,500 manufactured in 1989.

▪ Model 71 in .348 Winchester. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Model 1886 High Grade in .45-70. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

MODEL 71 GRADE I

This was a reproduction of the Winchester Model 71, chambered for the .348 cartridge. It has either a 20˝ or 24˝ barrel with open sights and a four-round, tubular magazine. The finish is blued with a plain walnut stock. There were 4,000 20˝ carbines and 3,000 24˝ rifles manufactured in 1986 and 1987.

MODEL 71 HIGH GRADE

This version was similar to the Grade I except that it had a scroll engraved, grayed receiver with a gold-plated trigger and gold inlays. There were 3,000 rifles and 3,000 carbines manufactured in 1986 and 1987.

MODEL 1886 HIGH GRADE

This deluxe version of the Model 1886 features game scene engraving with gold accents and a checkered, select walnut stock. 1 of 3,000 is engraved on the top of the barrel. There were 3,000 manufactured in 1986.

▪ Model 1886 High Grade in .45-70, closeup of right receiver. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Model 1886 High Grade in .45-70, closeup of left receiver. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Standard B-92 in .44 Magnum with box. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Browning 1878-1978 Centennial B-92 Rifle in .44 Magnum. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

MODEL 1886 MONTANA CENTENNIAL

This version is similar to the High Grade with a different engraving pattern designed to commemorate the centennial of the State of Montana. There were 2,000 manufactured in 1986. As with all commemoratives, it must be NIB with all supplied materials to command collector interest.

B-92 CARBINE

This is a lever action sporting rifle patterned after the Winchester Model 92. It was chambered for the .357 Mag. or the .44 Mag. cartridge. It has a 20˝ barrel with an 11-round, tubular magazine. The finish is blued with a walnut stock. It was discontinued in 1986.

MODEL 1895 GRADE I

This is a lever action sporting rifle chambered in .30-40 Krag and .30-06 cartridge. It was patterned after the Model 1895 Winchester rifle. It has a 24˝ barrel and a 4-round, integral box magazine. It has a buckhorn rear sight and a blade front. The finish is blued with a walnut stock. There were 6,000 manufactured in .30-06 and 2,000 chambered for the .30-40 Krag. It was introduced in 1984.

MODEL 1895 HIGH GRADE

This is the deluxe engraved version of the Model 1895. It has gold-inlaid game scenes and a gold-plated trigger and features a checkered select walnut stock. There were 2,000 produced in 1984-1,000 in each caliber.

EXPRESS RIFLE

This is an Over/Under, superposed rifle chambered for the .270 Winchester or the .30-06 cartridges. It has 24˝ barrels with folding express sights and automatic ejectors. It features a single trigger. The receiver is engraved and is finished in blue with a deluxe checkered walnut stock. Introduced in 1980 and discontinued in 1986.

▪ Browning Grade I Model 1895 in .30-40 Krag with factory box. Courtesy Rock Island Auction.

▪ Browning Grade I Model 1895 in .30-06. Courtesy Browning.

.30-30: SHORT MAGNUM FOR THE FRONTIER

›By Wayne van Zwoll

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When a Winchester Model 94 listed for $89 and I could scrounge just $30 for a battle-weary SMLE, deer hunting held more appeal than a date with Annette Funicello. My .303 killed a few whitetails before I made a life on the West Coast with rifles that shot flatter. Not long ago, as a plethora of short magnum cartridges clamored for attention on the covers of shooting magazines, I retreated to the loading room and dusted off a box of .30-30 cartridges.

They looked smaller than they’d seemed in the 1960s. Then I remembered the well-dressed hunter from The City. Every November, he came out to the corn fields, woodlots and swamps. We farm boys liked to see bucks tumble, but it did seem The City Hunter had more than his share of shooting. Once, he looked into a patch of low briars his companions were about to walk by. With his binocular he spied a shiny black thing. It turned out to be the nose of a nine-point buck. He killed it. Another time, he waited by the pickup while Ron, Bill and I pushed through a treed swale. Ron broke cover about 100 yards shy of the truck and unloaded. In short grass a few yards farther on, a buck jumped. He’d been right there, hiding like a rabbit! Helpless, Ron watched as The City Hunter killed that buck too.

We had to admit, he was a good shot. And that he was patient and knew where to look for deer.

▪ The author used this stainless Marlin in .30-30 to kill deer, elk, bear and pronghorn in one year.

The City Hunter could have carried a fancy bolt-action rifle. He looked oddly equipped with his iron-sighted Winchester Model 94. Then again, maybe he knew something we didn’t.

Deer rifles have changed a great deal over the last 40 years. But they’d changed even more during the preceding four decades. If you go back 120 years, to the 1880s, you’ll have turned another page in time. This period brought the shameful decimation of game on the western frontier. For market and sport and to deny the Plains Indian his subsistence, riflemen mowed down the bison. Rail crews feasted on mountain sheep, deer and elk killed by contract shooters. Conservation had yet to root in the collective conscience. And blackpowder still fueled cartridges. Their lead bullets traveled just a tad faster than sound. But hunters of that era thought themselves well off indeed. Metallic cartridges had not only obviated the need to stuff powder and ball, separately, down the bore; they’d made repeaters practical.

The .30-30 came from Winchester’s shop in the mid-1890s. Commonly acknowledged as America’s first small-bore smokeless big-game round, it appeared in the Winchester Model 1894 rifle in 1895. The only domestic smokeless cartridge predating it was the .30-40 Krag, developed for the Krag-Jorgensen military rifle. Original .30-30 ammunition featured a 160-grain bullet and 30 grains of smokeless powder. (The cartridge was named, after the fashion of that time, for the bore diameter and the powder charge.) Muzzle velocity: a modest 1,970 fps. Soon other popular rifles chambered the new round. Marlin’s 1893, first bored to .32-40 and .38-55, added the .25-36, .30-30 and .32 Special as they became available. Arthur Savage’s Model 1899 offered the .30-30 as early as 1900 and into the 1940s. The cartridge even showed up in Remington Rolling Block and Winchester 1885 single-shots. The .30-30 endured competition from the .30-40 Krag and even the .30-06, as the bolt-action magazine rifle redefined warfare on European battlefields. Returning GIs took Krags and Springfields to hunting camp—but whitetail thickets and saddle scabbards gave the edge to lever-action carbines in .30-30. The cartridge gained such momentum that even bolt rifles like Savage Models 40 and 340 and Winchester’s 54 were chambered for it.

▪ John Browning’s Model 1894 followed his short-action Model 1892. He produced both during a 17-year stint designing Winchester’s greatest firearms. This ’92 is a Legacy reproduction.

Few sporting rounds popular today date even to World War II. The .300 Savage and .300 H&H are, alas, almost dead. They and the still-vigorous .270 date to the 1920s. The .375 H&H steamrollers on after nearly 100 years. The .30-06 is ancient, having just passed the century mark. But the .30-30 predates the ’06 by a decade. About the only commonly loaded big-game cartridge with a longer history is the .45-70, the government’s blackpowder infantry round of 1873. But this number gets most play in the Cowboy Action game, and by shooters toting period rifles on hunts of historical color. Taking a bison with a Sharps or a Winchester 1886 (or an affordable clone) qualifies as sport and a bow to pioneers with fewer choices.

To understand the continued celebrity of the .30-30 among hunters who can now pick from among myriad modern cartridges, you must know something about its past. The lever-action .30-30 came honestly by its reputation as America’s deer rifle. Rocket Ball Beginnings The first successful breechloading rifle Stateside was developed by William Jenks during the 1840s. Jenks worked at the N.P. Ames Company. Remington saw promise in this rifle and its buoyant Welsh designer. It bought the business, plus the services of William Jenks, for $2,581. The rifle benefitted from improvements like Edward Maynard’s percussion lock. Meanwhile, Steven Taylor had patented a hollow-base bullet with its own powder charge. A perforated end cap admitted sparks from an outside primer. Inventor Walter Hunt developed a similar bullet, with a cork base seal. This rocket ball would change history.

Hunt, then 50, had come up with many good ideas, from the lock-stitch needle to the safety pin. In 1849 he was awarded a patent for a breechloading Volitional repeating rifle. Fellow New Yorker George Arrowsmith helped with cash and business savvy. Gunsmith Lewis Jennings improved it, assigning patent rights to Arrowsmith, who sold all rights to the rifle for $100,000 to financier Courtlandt Palmer.

Sales of Hunt-Jennings rifles proved disappointing. Palmer soon stopped production. The project might have died there, but for the talents of Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson and young gun mechanic B. Tyler Henry. The Hunt-Jennings project was bought by a group of New York financiers. Henry was hired by its new president, Oliver F.