The Lever Action Rifle Revival

Lever-gun fans have never had it better, with more rifles, ammo, and accessories on the market now than ever before. (Photo by Bill Konway)

Some are surprised by the comeback lever-action rifles have made in the last couple of years. My biggest question is, why? To me, it’s a no brainer why people have never stopped loving lever actions. A lever-gun is undeniably cool, just like stick-shift muscle cars, Zippo lighters, automatic wristwatches, and Steve McQueen.

On the surface, the lever-action design may seem obsolete. Every gun that came after it, though, left shooters missing something: mainly the satisfying ca-chunk you hear and feel every time you cycle the action.

If you want a lever-action rifle, or own one already, you are living in a golden age. There has maybe never been more ammo, parts, or rifles on the lever-action market. Here’s a bit of the new and the old for the lever-gun fan plus a few things to keep an eye on going forward.

HOW LEVER-GUNS HAVE CHANGED

Pop into a gun store 10 years ago, and you’d probably see faithful reproductions of 19th-century lever-action rifles. These days, things are a bit different. What started with a few lever-gun weirdos swapping walnut for M-Lok and putting red dots where they weren’t supposed to has gone mainstream — thanks to the Internet — and I’m all for it.

Depending on your cartridge choice, a lever-action can be an excellent choice for small game, a truck gun, or simple fun at the range. Photo by Bill Konway

Several manufacturers have introduced lever-guns with modern attachment points for virtually any gun accessory imaginable. Space-age materials like composites and carbon fiber are more common on lever-actions. There are also completely new designs, with features like detachable box magazines, that are capable of firing modern high-pressure cartridges.

Manufacturers have also figured out how to make higher-quality lever actions at scale. They’re listening to what customers want and are delivering, which is great for lever-action purists who still like blued steel and walnut. Lever-guns are also getting quieter. Along with their revival, suppressors have become very popular recently, and most lever-gun makers are taking advantage. Many new lever-actions made today have threaded barrels for attaching a can.

LEVER-GUNS RIGHT FOR THE MOMENT

The same qualities that made lever-actions great in the Wild West make them good today. You can shoot them very fast if you know what you’re doing. They’re also trim and handy, tucking nicely into a saddle scabbard or under the bench seat of a pickup. You can carry a lever-action for a long time because they are so compact, and they’ll generally get the job done on shots out to around 200 yards, though designs with more modern chamberings can stretch this quite a bit.

Marlin Classic Series Lever-Action Rifles show off a beautifully finished American black walnut stock and forend. Photo provided by Ruger-Marlin Rifles

Just like always, the lever-gun is a solid knockabout ranch rifle, truck gun, or gun for the homestead. They give you a lot of firepower in a more compact package than most magazine-fed semiautos — for varmints, pigs, and personal protection — and can serve as a deer rifle come fall.

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Another thing that makes lever-guns even better is that they’re easy to suppress while still giving you rapid-fire capabilities. They’re faster to shoot than suppressed bolt-action rifles and won’t give you the annoying cycling issues that some suppressed semi-auto rifles can.

Many lever-guns are short-range weapons, but they’re lightweight and easy to carry — and hunting with them is a lot of fun. Image by Will Brantley

NEW OPTIONS FOR LEVER-GUN FANS

If you’re itching to get in on all of this lever-action action, you've come to the right place. Below are some of the latest lever-gun offerings from rifle and ammo manufacturers.

Henry SPD Hush

Unveiled at the 2025 SHOT Show, the SPD Hush is likely the first production lever-action designed specifically with a suppressor in mind. To compensate for the forward weight of a suppressor, designers with Henry’s Special Products Division slapped a match-grade carbon fiber barrel onto a Big Boy action. The result is a suppressed rifle that feels like an unsuppressed rifle in the hand. Get yours in .45 Colt, .357 Magnum/.38 Spl, .44 Magnum/.44 Spl, .30-30 Win, or .45/70 Gov’t.

Federal’s HammerDown ammunition is designed to offer maximum performance out of lever-guns. Image by Will Brantley

Remington Core-Lokt Tipped Lever-Action Ammo

Premium bullets can enhance the performance of a lever-action rifle. Remington is bringing their own premium lever-action cartridges to the market with the Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun series of loadings. They’re starting with the .360 Buckhammer (which is a fantastic cartridge for straightwall-only states and beyond) and going on to load for the .30-30 Win, .35 Rem, .45/70 Gov’t, .444 Marlin, and .32 Winchester Special. Remington says the new bullets will offer a higher ballistic coefficient than round-nose lead bullets, which can give an older cartridge a slight edge in the field.

S&W 1854 Stealth Hunter .357

One thing that I’m starting to see with newer lever-action rifles is premium, custom features right from the factory. One good example is the S&W 1854 Stealth Hunter in .357 Magnum. It’s blacked out with a composite stock and M-Lok rail out of the box, and it comes with a premium optic rail that runs the length of the receiver and onto the barrel. It has a large lever loop for gloved hands, a slicked-up action, and small details like a flat-faced trigger. This goes without saying, but the Stealth Hunter is also threaded for a suppressor.

Bond Arms new LVR8 rifle uses an AR-style magazine and a full-length M-Lok rail for grips and optics. Photo provided by Bond Arms

Bond Arms LVRB

Magazine-fed lever-actions let you do a few things. One, you can reload them much faster than tube-fed guns via a spare magazine. Two, you can shoot Spitzer-style bullets, giving you similar performance to a bolt-action in terms of range and power. Marry all of that with AR-platform compatibility, and you have something even better. There are a few manufacturers doing this right now, including Henry with the Supreme and FightLight industries with their mares-leg Bandito pistol.

Bond Arms has just introduced the LVRB rifle, which has been turning heads. It uses an AR-style magazine well, which is compatible with any AR-15 magazine. It also has a full-length M-Lok rail for grips and optics, and uses Remington 870-style furniture for the buttstock. Bond is chambering the rifle for .223 Wylde, .300 Blackout, and 350 Legend, with plans to release additional chamberings in the future.

Marlin Dark Series rifles feature a nylon-reinforced polymer stock with M-LOK® attachment slots to bring a modern look to the classic rifle. (Photo provided by Ruger-Marlin Rifles)

Ruger-Marlin Rifles

The biggest news in lever-guns from the past few years is still Ruger’s acquisition of Marlin. So far, they have released several new Ruger-made Marlins, including the 1894 and 336 with classic to more modern configurations—though high demand has made these rifles hard to come by. I’ve shot several Marlins made under Ruger, and I can say that the company absolutely nailed it. Every one I’ve fired has been high quality and superbly finished, many better than Marlins made in the past. If you’re looking for an heirloom-quality rifle or just a straightforward, practical lever-action, try to get your hands on a new Marlin.

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Velocities of Federal Premium HammerDown rimfire loads are customized for superior ballistics and terminal performance on small game through lever-action rimfire rifles. Photo provided by Federal

Federal HammerDown Rimfire .22 LR

Five years ago, Federal re-engineered and optimized lever-action ammunition for several chamberings, releasing a line called HammerDown. The case and bullet geometry they came up with cycled better in a lever-action, and the load recipes were developed for common lever-gun barrel lengths. Now, Federal is doing the same with rimfire ammo for those who shoot a rimfire lever-action. The cartridge has been tweaked to feed better through tubular magazines and made with premium components like nickel-plated brass and copper-plated hollow-point bullets.