Thread: I want a lever action .22?

Thanks for the replies guys keep them coming

Marlin 39A or M has the longest production history of any .22 rifle 1891 to present. Take down design all steel and walnut mine has been threaded unfortunately.


There is a 16" mod TDS also.

Ive had a little do do with them.
The ones to get and in order.

Marlin 39a as stated, probably the finest 22 lever action ever built, makes their own centre fires look crappy by comprasion.
Browning .22 lever action
Miroku 22 lever action
Ruger 96/22 , now the only reason the rugers here is because it has a rotary mag ( a good thing ) but not traditional.
Winchester, in consistent build quality, get a good one and it's ok ( loose and sloppy ) get a bad one...... well you can see why they went broke.

To avoid
Worst lever gun 22 ever , Henry, had one, fucken piece of total shit, I've had shot guns that group better, key hole rounds at 30 mtrs , DON'T touch one.
Erma's don't have a great reputation but Northdude has one and rates it.

Only problem with a lever gun is you also need to buy a horse to go with it and you want to shoot Indians but we got the wrong kind here and I love their curries to much.
They are a real fun gun to use, also they require a different technique to shoot, should stay on they shoulder while you cycle the lever.
Watch some cowboy action shooting on You Tube, jaw dropping how fast some guys are with them.

Your bolt gun should stay on your shoulder as you cycle it too - it's not just for lever, semi's or pumps

the yellow boy henry is purely cosmetic plates over a zinc receiver, the plates will wear down eventually especially if you use a scabbard

A Winny to look at...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/hun...03bf9a3996765b

Lever actions they bring the Marion Wayne out in everyone

Originally Posted by madjon_

One of them on tm too $

Went for $988.

The guys bidding must have really wanted it to bid that high for an old .22.

As a kid and teenager I used a Marlin Model 57M (m, for 22mag). was a nice rifle but a little heavy and had the tube mag.
More recently I sold a ruger 96/22mag, That was a good rifle, nice and light, had 2x 9 shot mags. I had the trigger worked, then I cut the barrel band, floated the barrel and fitted a little Nikon 2-8x32. at 100 mtr it could put 9 rounds into 1.5" with Rem 33gr or Hornady 30gr.
But CCI 40 gr was like a shotgun. 4"groups for 3-5 shots.
Both my sons got their first goats with that rifle.
And you have most of the 10/22 parts options if you want to add Bling. I Like want Double shot as done (How heavy) with his one above. How does that shoot.
ZQ.

The Marlin 39A has all ways been an expensive rifle.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Marlin 39a, finest rimfire levergun ever made.

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Have a Henry 22 for sale if you are interested - almost new (have a Winchester 9422Mag which I prefer) [QUOTE]

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Pros-
cool especially when working right, the benefits of an action you don't have to take from the shoulder to cycle
Cons-
unless you find a Ruger 96/22 with a clip mag, I would say every other one is a tube mag so if you don't like that its a game changer
Bit harder to thread for a silencer if it didn't come from the factory because of the mag tube.
I was contemplating making an insert/extension I could D/T into the end of the barrel to get around that. Just have to make sure I can do it straight enough so haven't got my head around that yet
There used to be a lot of old pump 22's around in NZ and they would've been quite a nifty thing if you couldn't afford the sweet little Browning semi and about the same size-probably more in NZ history than L/A's
I remember reading the Australian sporting shooter mag back in the day and the levers especially the well made Miroku/browning 22 and Winchester 9422 22rf and 22 magnum popping up a lot.
Nick Harvey used them I believe, mind you in his time he's probably shot everything. Always seemed to get a good review
I also have a 22 norinco that I got 20 odd years ago. Pretty agricultural sort of thing but reasonably priced back then.
Couldn't hit shit with the open sites but bolted a scope on it and it seemed to shoot ok. Bloody mag tube pops out occasionally but not a lot of meat to make the catch recess deeper. Haven't got around to fixing that yet lol

Not quite.

Hard to find and rare but the Marlin model 56 (not the 57) is a box mag same as the bolt action. The 57 (more common) is a tube..... While the Ruger is a great wee rifle it is rare, but you will find more of them that the 56.

I’d go with Double shots Ruger 22 suggestion....I have one ,never had an issue with it,....it’s been knocked around,have a diamond back scope on it,....price is reasonable for a 22

Originally Posted by timattalon

Not quite.

Hard to find and rare but the Marlin model 56 (not the 57) is a box mag same as the bolt action. The 57 (more common) is a tube..... While the Ruger is a great wee rifle it is rare, but you will find more of them that the 56.

Good stuff @timattalon interesting. Shows how long I've been out of the game so to speak. I'm going to look it up right now!!
edit: quite nice looking 22's. The steel action jobbies generally get good write ups. Some of the images of them have quite nice stocks and look pretty good. Like you said though, not many around here.
Sounds like a few in the US, they made them for longer than the Ruger.