Our great grand father's lever action rifles

[Ironworker]

My gunsmith says our grandfather's hand-fitted lever actions were of higher quality than today's production lever actions. What about the new Ruger/Marlin lever actions, are they inferior?

 

[CCM]

I work on lever actions daily.

I've had quite a few of the new Marlins through the shop, they've all been really good quality, minimal tool marks, good fit and finish. They've updated a lot of parts too. No more square barrel threads, and several other internal improvements. The Henrys are good too. They do use more MiM parts, but the metallurgy is good. The new Winchesters are mostly good, some fitment issues here and there. Rossi are rough. Pedersoli have reliability issues in their 86/71 line.

The levers from the late 1800s were good quality. They did generally take the time to clean up the internals and fit and finish was good. The industrial revolution took it's toll on quality. A lot of guns, not just levers, were pretty damn rough from the 20's clear into the 70's. Guys seem to talk about those old guns with rose colored glasses. I think it's more the nostalgia of "Grandpa's gun" than the actual gun. Functionally and outward appearance, yes. They're still nice. Once you start taking parts off you see some ugly stuff.

 

[RPSGuns]

I work on lever actions daily.

I've had quite a few of the new Marlins through the shop, they've all been really good quality, minimal tool marks, good fit and finish. They've updated a lot of parts too. No more square barrel threads, and several other internal improvements. The Henrys are good too. They do use more MiM parts, but the metallurgy is good. The new Winchesters are mostly good, some fitment issues here and there. Rossi are rough. Pedersoli have reliability issues in their 86/71 line.

The levers from the late 1800s were good quality. They did generally take the time to clean up the internals and fit and finish was good. The industrial revolution took it's toll on quality. A lot of guns, not just levers, were pretty damn rough from the 20's clear into the 70's. Guys seem to talk about those old guns with rose colored glasses. I think it's more the nostalgia of "Grandpa's gun" than the actual gun. Functionally and outward appearance, yes. They're still nice. Once you start taking parts off you see some ugly stuff.

I'll second that.