Is the lever action rifle strictly an American thing?

[aarondhgraham]

Is the lever action rifle strictly an American thing?

I was at work the other evening,,,
Talking guns with a co-worker.

He asked me if any other countries had lever actions,,,
I can't think of any but I truly have no idea.

Anyone know of a European lever action rifle?

Aarond

.

 

[adamsredlines]

Australia has one I believe

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Lots of lever guns come out of Brazil. Lots of lever guns come out of Italy.

 

[adamsredlines]

I was thinking of Adler. They're made in Turkey, I believe for Australia. When I looked before, they weren't even available in the states.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Chiappa has/had guns made in Turkey, too.

Also... Lots of Winchester lever rifles (and others) are made in Japan by Miroku.

 

[264killer]

SAKO FINN WOLF

 

[Shriner]

In the 19th century, I believed the US built the first lever action, everyone outside the US stayed with the bolt or break actions till the cowboy TV craze of the 1950"s and later cowboy action shooting match . If that was your question who else did it back in the day .

 

[Catt57]

I would have to argue that while the Lever-Action is certainly an American thing. it was not the first.
In the 1820s (sources can't seem to agree on the date) Cesar Rosaglio, an Italian gunsmith received the first patent for a six-shot lever action that fired its magazine in six seconds. There are debates on whether it ever became anything more than a patent.

But for sure the first commercially successful lever actions and the mechanical mechanism as we know it today are truly American.


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Lever action - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In 1826, a lever-action revolver capable of firing six shots in less than six seconds was produced in Italy by Cesar Rosaglio and patented in 1829.

The first lever-action rifles on the market were likely the Colt's 1st and 2nd Model Ring Lever rifles, both cap and ball rifles, produced by the Patent Arms Mfg. Co. Paterson, N.J.-Colt's Patent between 1837 and 1841. The ring lever was located in front of the trigger. This loading lever, when pulled, would index the cylinder to the next position and cock the internal hidden hammer.

Multiple lever-action designs including the Volcanic pistol were designed before the American Civil War, but the first significant designs were the Spencer repeating rifle and Henry rifle both created in 1860. The Spencer was a lever-operated rifle with a removable seven-round tube magazine designed by Christopher Spencer. Over 20,000 were made, and it was adopted by the United States and used during the American Civil War, which marked the first adoption of an infantry and cavalry rifle with a removable magazine by any country. The early Spencer's rifle lever only served to unlock the action and chamber a new round; the hammer had to be cocked separately after chambering.

The Henry rifle, invented by Benjamin Tyler Henry, a gunsmith employed by Oliver Winchester, had a centrally located hammer that was cocked by the rearward movement of the bolt rather than an offset hammer typical of muzzle-loading rifles. The Henry also placed the magazine under the barrel rather than in the buttstock, a trend followed by most tube magazines ever since.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I was thinking of Adler. They're made in Turkey, I believe for Australia. When I looked before, they weren't even available in the states.

I think even the Adler is not available in Australia at this point. They really have gone all out on gun control.

 

[Ahall]

Lever action repeating rifles are a one thing, but if you consider the world of single shot rifles, there are quite a few European and English designs.

The Martini Henry action is probably the most famous and common, and by all means a lever actuated tipping block, based on the American Peabody action and modified by Martini.

Our famous Sharps rifle is a single shot lever action falling block and the basic concept was not lost on the Europeans.

English lever action falling blocks were common in big game sporting rifles used in Africa and India. They also liked them for target rifles.
Westley Richards built a lever action falling block with a left hand lock on an Australian Military contract in 1871. It was based on Alexander Henrys patents. The same Henry as in the Martini Henry.

The Swiss and Germans also had quite a few designs of single shot falling blocks that were lever actuated.

There are also a few period European copies of Spencer, Henry, and Winchester guns, but they are typically one of a kind pieces.