LONG-RANGE LEVER GUN

For most of the past century, the lever gun was considered a short-range weapon. That wasn’t always the case. When the .30-30 Winchester cartridge was introduced in the 1894 Winchester, it provided much more reach than most lever guns of that age. Of course, it wasn’t long until we had cartridges such as the .30-06 in bolt-action rifles, and “long range” suddenly become a lot farther than it had ever been.

Now, it’s true that lever guns such as the Savage 99, Browning BLR and, most recently, the Henry Long Ranger, have been chambered for modern, flat-shooting cartridges such as the .308 Winchester and even 6.5 Creedmoor. But, these rifles are not traditional lever guns. It’s also true that in 1982, Winchester introduced the .307 Winchester in the Model 94; and, in 2007, Marlin unleashed the .308 Marlin Express. Both offered very improved ballistics over traditional lever-gun cartridges. Ultimately, no one seemed to give a damn: Both cartridges died on the vine.

That begs the question of what a long-range lever gun might be like—as well as if you had one, what you might be able to do with