The Best Lever Action Rifles of 2025

Above, a collection of classic lever-action rifles on display
 at the Billy the Kid Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Originating in the 1800s, lever-action rifles have been around ever since. Some are classic old favorites. Some are new on the market. Regardless, lever guns are here to stay.

Field & Stream (Richard Mann) tested and reviewed lever action rifles currently on the market and posted the best picks for 2025.

They begin with:

Most of the talk in the rifle world these days about bullets with high ballistic coefficients, high-magnification trajectory-compensating riflescopes, and rifles guaranteed to deliver one-hole groups. But while today's long-range practitioners argue about the best high-dollar tripod to shoot from, there are folks out there filling freezers and putting antlers on the wall with lever guns just like their grandad used to use. 

The lever-action rifle has evolved a fair bit over the last century, and with refined designs and modern ammunition, it's now more capable than ever. Maybe somewhat surprisingly, in the midst of today's long-rage craze, manufacturers are still introducing new lever-action rifles, and hunters are buying them up as fast as they hit gun-shop racks. There’s a wider variety of lever guns to choose from now than at any other time in recent memory. So, which one should you get? To help you with that, I've narrowed the field to a manageable number. Below are my picks for the nine best lever guns currently on the market.

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