Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General S&W 1854

I know its been stated many many times, but I sure wish the lever gun they chose to make would've been chambered in the big bore cartridges they're known for... 460 and 500 S&W would've been fantastic. I've got a 500 S&W lever gun from Bighorn Armory and it is fantastic. Would've been cool to see another maker enter that market.

Not certain the Marlin action is strong enough for those. The 92/86 that Bighorn uses, combined with modern steel is pretty strong.

What's it fantastic for ? I'm not familiar with the ballistics of the 460 or 500 S&W out of a carbine/rifle barrel. What do they do that can't be accomplished with a 45-70 ? Personally I don't care one bit for the removable mag tube on the S&W 1854. Could live without the threaded muzzle too.

For a 44 Rem Mag carry lever they kinda missed the boat. A nice stainless Trapper with fixed full length magazine on a 16-inch barrel is a hikers best friend. Loaded from 200 grain up to 300 grain utilizing a wide variety of projectiles it is effective for most purposes. Open sight use would be my preference for fast action. Everyone traveling a foot outdoors could use a nice little stainless Trapper for a security blanket.

Its fantastic because it has a great amount of energy in a shorter cartridge. So in states where the straightwall or pistol cartridge limits you can have a significant thumper with another round or maybe two in the tube.

WTF do you need a " significant thumper" for in those States ? Are there grizzlies around ? Sure as hell don't need one for deer.

First S&W wasn’t going to jump into the fray of 444 Marlin loadings or 45-70 loadings in lever guns. Both are rated around 42Kpsi. Marlin and Winchesters have been loaded to higher pressures using the 375 Win. S&W has a rifle that is designed currently for a 44 Rem Mag operating at 36Kpsi.

There has always been some apprehension from manufacturers to deal with the 45-70 and it’s SAAMI listed psi at 28Kpsi limitation, even though loading manuals now stipulate three load variations for Trapdoor, Winchester and Marlin lever guns and Sharps models, and the Ruger No.1.

As stated above only Bighorn makes a lever gun capable of 60K+psi. The 500 S&W is rated at 60Kpsi, the 460 S&W at 65Kpsi. The Bighorn is a fine, highly crafted Win 92/86 design utilizing the latest and greatest refinements by design and materials. It is worth the cost if you seek such a firearm.

The S&W model would not and could not match that type of quality or SAAMI rated pressures in an action as their price point would sky rocket. Truthfully both of their models are overpriced for a 44 Rem Mag lever gun, the exotic stock/wood is ridiculously priced. For that kind of money I could buy a WWG Co-Pilot Takedown tricked out with much higher quality in a 44 Rem Mag lever gun.

I wouldn't kick one out of the safe but already have four stainless Marlin 1894SS models, one of which was converted to 45 Colt. Seems like S&W is late to the party.

Having been in marketing for several firms…

You want to get into the market with what sells.

OTOH a stubby Trapper-style is less than ideal for use with irons for hunting or other use where accuracy matters. Maybe, if these sell well, they’ll offer more configurations

Unless that mag tube band on the 1854 has some kind of synthetic washer around the inside circumference, you can't tell me removing/replacing it repeatedly isn't going to mar/scratch up the mag tube.

Pappy,

My point was you’re charging $1,500+ for a 44 Rem Mag chamber. That kind of money can buy lever chambers in 444 Marlin, 45-70, 375 Win, 356 Win, 307 Win, 7-30 Waters, etc.

I get the hunt comment for the 44 Rem Mag. It and the 30-30 Win as well as the 35 Rem are all good game getters in the same ballpark. You can buy a slew of 357 Mag, 44 Rem Mag, 30-30s and 35 Rems with 20”-22” barrels for $600-$1,000. In general I look at the 44 Rem Mag first and foremost as an outdoorsman’s carry firearm just in case, hence the Trapper.

And that's it in a nutshell. Speaking for myself- if I wanted something with tac rails etc. it would be a bottom feeder.

I think Bugger nailed it, you gotta make what will sell, to start at least. I imagine they did some market research before settling on that configuration. The 1854 has some modern features, but not so many that it’s a big turn-off to my taste. The rail is kinda oogly, and if I had one I was going to scope I’d swap it for something more seemly, but it’s a starting point right out of the box. I like the option of dumping the mag from the front, provided that tube is secure, which time will demonstrate. Everyone has their notions about stuff; I sure have mine, but I have no illusions that anyone shares them. I do think that if you check into current prices on new LGs, $900 seems to be the bottom for quality new ones.

An added feature is the "last ditch defense".

Go to 11:23. You can put a broadhead on the end of the magazine tube and, well, you'll see...

Local gun store recently got one in, and as much as I wanted to like it I couldn’t. The stock is just too short for me and I’m not a tall man. The flat trigger was nice, and the action was better than decent. Over all metal finish and fit was fine, but we are talking about modern CNC machine work now so it should be expedited.

I wouldn’t spend the asking price for it over a JM Marlin given the choice.

S&Ws specs don't list a length of pull. I wonder what it is.

With the bolt, lever, hammer, trigger, sights, mag tube band, safety button, loading gate, the end of the mag tube and all the screws being black, it's not really all that "weather proof" unless those parts are nitrided. The removable mag tube is just stupid as designed.

I handled one and liked it. Trigger was a little heavy and I don't particularly like the straight trigger but those are my only gripes about the one I looked at. Seriously thinking about it. Thinking a threaded .44 would be nice. I particularly like the mag tube. Seems it would be easy to dump ammo out at the end of the day. If Marlin would do a .44 SBL, would consider that to.

Unless I covered or filled those M lock slots with something I'd end up with ice, snow, seeds and spruce/hemlock needles getting in there between the mag tube and forend. If they were going to do a removable mag tube, I'd have preferred an inner/outer tube arrangement like Henry. You can see in the video that the trigger has a lot of creep in the final stage and it's going to need work if a crisp break is important to you.

Surprisingly I found one of these in my LGS this week. Action was good and trigger not bad at all. I’m 6’3 and it shouldered like any other Marlin did, I liked the XS sites but would prefer a front blade/post over the blade with a bead top. Price was $1100 and some change pretty decent compared to gunbroker prices.

I was impressed and if I wanted a stainless lever action pistol carbine I’d highly consider this over competitors.