I've long wanted a lever action rifle in .357 Mag to complement my revolver in the at caliber, but I've never really thought of them for self/home defense.  Maybe a little when thinking about what long gun I would go with when the prospect of ARs being banned was going around.  I've shot lever actions in both .357 Mag/.38 SPL and .44Mag/.44SPL and both are really fun to shoot and even recoil of the .44 Mag seemed quite tame in the lever action. Since it appears that I may be acquiring a lever action rifle soon, I started looking into them more.  My wanting a lever action in .357 Mag was for range fun, but I always thought that it could be well suited for self/home defense. 

The lever action that I'm looking at acquiring is a Winchester 30-30, which I very much look forward to shooting.  A little bit more than a .357 Mag, but I'm sure still pretty effective.   

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2015/05/lifesaving-lever-action-rifles-for-home-defense/

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/lever-action-rifles-for-self-defense/

I have a trapper version of a Winchester 30-30. Fairly compact and would be about as good as you will find in terms of moving tactically with a lever action!

No friggn way, you want light manoverable, quick follow up shots, a lever simply isn't quick or reliable enough to defend my life, and i'd suggest not yours eaither

I think you'd need more training to be effective with an AR than a lever.  IMHO

Wut. 



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No friggn way, you want light manoverable, quick follow up shots, a lever simply isn't quick or reliable enough to defend my life, and i'd suggest not yours eaither

Curious why you would say that? 

A 16" lever weighs about 6 lbs and has an OAL of  around 34",  The mechanical action is far less prone to stoppages than any semi-auto, and can be cleared quickly in any case of misfire.
A .357 magnum out of a 16" BBL has more than ample stopping power for bad persons wanting to do harm. 

I have more than 1 HD gun.
1 is an AR, the rest are not. The AR is not my primary weapon bc I can get to my revolver faster. If there's a knock on my door at an odd hour, I can easily stick my snubnose in my pocket or tuck it in my back waistband.
If there's something more alarming, then I'll go to the AR.
The lever gun can have its place in the lineup. Maybe your first choice, maybe your second choice. The 357 caliber is an excellent SD caliber. Even 38sp out of a rifle is plenty stopping power. But with good ammo, the 357 levergun is a very effective SD gun

I prefer a handgun for SD. Just my personal opinion. But if I decided to use a carbine for SD I would practice with a levergun and not hesitate to use one. With enough practice a short barreled lever would make a great SD weapon.

Right now I have not had enough range time with a leveraction in order to feel comfy using one. So if an emergency came up I wouldn’t hesitate to go to my AR.

Curious why you would say that? 

A 16" lever weighs about 6 lbs and has an OAL of  around 34",  The mechanical action is far less prone to stoppages than any semi-auto, and can be cleared quickly in any case of misfire.
A .357 magnum out of a 16" BBL has more than ample stopping power for bad persons wanting to do harm.

Maybe its just my firearms experience, we use alot of levers down under, clunky to use in my opinion, if theres a guy within a few yards down a hall way i know i want a semi, thats all there is to it, by the time i've fired a shot racked that thing and re acquired my target his on me. I've got no doubt in my ability to place how ever many shots are required to stop the threat with a semi auto. But thats just me, lever actions belong outside the house and in a big calibre

Its the unusual situations that make the lever action harder to use without extensive training.  Shooting one handed, with a flashlight, cycling the action at odd angles, shooting and cycling on the move under stress...  Also the potential of short stroking it under stress.  Kinda like a pump shotgun which takes more training to use well under extreme conditions.

There's more that can go wrong compared to an AR.  Still effective though.  But if you have a lever action and AR will you use the best or 2nd best.

I’m no expert in the levergun arena. I do own one. It is a Winchester 94 Ranger with 20” barrel in 30-30. I chose the 30-30 over a pistol cartridge because the 94 was designed specifically for the 30-30 cartridge. And the 30-30 is a great hunting round and self defense round. Some day I want to own another levergun in .357/38 just for the fun of shooting it. I guess I’m old school wanting a rifle cartridge in my rifle. BTW, leverguns are lighter, faster and handier from a carry position to a firing position, IMHO. Only downfall to most leverguns are the buckhorn style rear sights. I want to replace mine with an adjustable peep sight. BTW, Winchester made the Trapper model with 16” barrel which I understand is under 6lbs and handles really fast. I’ve never handled one but if it is better than my 20” model, I want one.

Sorry to differ but the 94 was originally a .32-40 Winchester or .38-55 Winchester round.
.32-40 was a popular pistol round. I cleaned up a Parker Ranch model 94( Mfg date 1903)
 for a lady who inherited it.  She would not take any amount of money for that piece of history.
My opinion is,  for inside the home short barrel 12 gauge shot gun like a Mossberg 500,
for outside the home I'd go with a AR, AK, SKS, or M1A,
conceal carry I'd go with a PPK or small frame SIG, open carry I'd go with M1911.
Lever actions are a good brush gun, but repeated  time to re-target is way to long
for self defense.

Sorry to differ but the 94 was originally a .32-40 Winchester or .38-55 Winchester round.
.32-40 was a popular pistol round. I cleaned up a Parker Ranch model 94( Mfg date 1903)
 for a lady who inherited it.  She would not take any amount of money for that piece of history.
My opinion is,  for inside the home short barrel 12 gauge shot gun like a Mossberg 500,
for outside the home I'd go with a AR, AK, SKS, or M1A,
conceal carry I'd go with a PPK or small frame SIG, open carry I'd go with M1911.
Lever actions are a good brush gun, but repeated  time to re-target is way to long
for self defense.

I stand corrected. You are right.

I meant to say the most popular cartridge in the ‘94 is the 30-30. If you have one in the earlier cartridges I would hold on to it.

I’m no expert in the levergun arena. I do own one. It is a Winchester 94 Ranger with 20” barrel in 30-30. I chose the 30-30 over a pistol cartridge because the 94 was designed specifically for the 30-30 cartridge. And the 30-30 is a great hunting round and self defense round. Some day I want to own another levergun in .357/38 just for the fun of shooting it. I guess I’m old school wanting a rifle cartridge in my rifle. BTW, leverguns are lighter, faster and handier from a carry position to a firing position, IMHO. Only downfall to most leverguns are the buckhorn style rear sights. I want to replace mine with an adjustable peep sight. BTW, Winchester made the Trapper model with 16” barrel which I understand is under 6lbs and handles really fast. I’ve never handled one but if it is better than my 20” model, I want one.

I’d have to look closer at the exact model. I just saw Winchester and 30-30. It’s not an octocagonal or hexagonal barrel.

I have an aunt in VA that was gonna give me a Winchester 30-30 with the octagonal barrel when I was 12, but my mom said no. :kickcan:

No friggn way, you want light manoverable, quick follow up shots, a lever simply isn't quick or reliable enough to defend my life, and i'd suggest not yours eaither

I hear ya.  Like many posting in this thread, I have a variety of firearms and a lever action wouldn’t be my first choice for HD/SD. As mentioned previously, my thoughts for this thread was more if you have it, what can you use it for, and HD/SD came to mind for me. I have shot thousands of rounds with ARs and my handguns as compared to maybe a couple hundred with a lever. The discussion of what is best always seems to come up, but that has been beaten to death. For this thread, I’ll just say that for me, I’d go with what I’m most familiar with and for a long gun, that’s an AR with a red dot.

So a lever wouldn’t be the first firearm I’d go for in a HD/SD situation, but I am interested in their capabilities in that application as well as general shooting fun since I’ll be getting one soon.

Curious why you would say that? 

A 16" lever weighs about 6 lbs and has an OAL of  around 34",  The mechanical action is far less prone to stoppages than any semi-auto, and can be cleared quickly in any case of misfire.
A .357 magnum out of a 16" BBL has more than ample stopping power for bad persons wanting to do harm.

I have more than 1 HD gun.
1 is an AR, the rest are not. The AR is not my primary weapon bc I can get to my revolver faster. If there's a knock on my door at an odd hour, I can easily stick my snubnose in my pocket or tuck it in my back waistband.
If there's something more alarming, then I'll go to the AR.
The lever gun can have its place in the lineup. Maybe your first choice, maybe your second choice. The 357 caliber is an excellent SD caliber. Even 38sp out of a rifle is plenty stopping power. But with good ammo, the 357 levergun is a very effective SD gun

I agree that .357 Mag and even .38 SPL are solid performers for SD/HD. Little pricey for me to really shoot a whole lot, but I wouldn’t feel outgunned if that’s what I’ve got to work with.

We can save the revolver vs semi-auto for the next 2A range day. 

Sorry to differ but the 94 was originally a .32-40 Winchester or .38-55 Winchester round.
.32-40 was a popular pistol round. I cleaned up a Parker Ranch model 94( Mfg date 1903)
 for a lady who inherited it.  She would not take any amount of money for that piece of history.
My opinion is,  for inside the home short barrel 12 gauge shot gun like a Mossberg 500,
for outside the home I'd go with a AR, AK, SKS, or M1A,
conceal carry I'd go with a PPK or small frame SIG, open carry I'd go with M1911.
Lever actions are a good brush gun, but repeated  time to re-target is way to long
for self defense.

Repeated tome to target? See the video Heavies posted and watch the cowboy action shooters. They blaze in that regard.

Its the unusual situations that make the lever action harder to use without extensive training.  Shooting one handed, with a flashlight, cycling the action at odd angles, shooting and cycling on the move under stress...  Also the potential of short stroking it under stress.  Kinda like a pump shotgun which takes more training to use well under extreme conditions.

There's more that can go wrong compared to an AR.  Still effective though.  But if you have a lever action and AR will you use the best or 2nd best.

Yeah. I hear ya and I agree. The short stroking one is common when shooting faster, under stress, etc. As mentioned, my thoughts were on using lever action, if you have one, in that application. Not as what’s best. But considering the wider audience and varying interested, discussion comparing platforms is good. That said, the “what’s best” has been beaten up and everyone  has their own opinions as well as personal preference.

Friend of mine was shopping for a pig/brush gun and wanted a lever action and considered 30-30 vs 44mag
He ended up getting a marlin 30-30.  That's a popular combination




Or if you need bear defense or bigfoot defense or you're hunting the Predator.....

Friend of mine was shopping for a pig/brush gun and wanted a lever action and considered 30-30 vs 44mag
He ended up getting a marlin 30-30.  That's a popular combination

The 30-30 vs 44 mag video was interesting. Love his test on the meat targets! The 50 and 100 yard targets were also pretty impressive and gives a good idea of expected performance. Would LOVE to shoot at a range like that!

Thanks Stang for all the videos. It took me a while to watch them all. My comments on the .357 Magnum as a SD round are a big  , as you already know.

Pennsylvania man kills 679-pound male black bear at 5 yards with .357 handgun: report

https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/man-kills-679-pound-male-black-bear-at-5-yards-with-357-handgun

So seeing the results out of a carbine just reinforces my love for the cartridge and makes me want a leveraction in .357 even more. Before I go out and get one tho, I want to shoot the leveraction I have more to gain better practice with it. Just like shooting a revolver, the hold is a little different, muscle memory is a little different and the buckhorn rear sight is a little different so until I get comfy with all of that I think I’ll wait a bit.

I also have love for the 45-70 round as that is the first really big and heavy projectile cartridge I ever shot. It is an impressive round to say the least. While I don’t own any rifles with that cartridge, I intend to buy one some day as well. My only problem? I can’t decide between a single shot rifle or a leveraction. 

The Big Horn Armory leveraction in 500 S&W is an impressive piece in and of itself. It is a finely made lever gun. Not only beautiful wood, fit and finish, but has a very smooth action. And full power loads kick like a mule in it. It was very accurate and I can see it as a hunting gun for sure. Especially in bear country. I would not feel insecure in bear country with any gun that shoots that 500 S&W round. I am lucky that an acquaintance let me shoot his, though my shoulder wasn’t happy.

The 30-30 vs 44 mag video was interesting. Love his test on the meat targets! The 50 and 100 yard targets were also pretty impressive and gives a good idea of expected performance. Would LOVE to shoot at a range like that!

I love comparison videos as long as they compare things equally. This one did a good job I thought. I thought the 100 yard to 200 yard comparison pretty drastic. I was not expecting the 44 Magnum to drop that much. My friend’s 44 magnum Marlin bangs our gong pretty good at 100 yards.

running a 357 levergun through a rifle qualification course for Ohio LEO's usually used for AR rifles