A web recent article got me thinking. Would my lever action rifle be good for self-defense? Is there a role for it in a tactical situation, like a riot, or home defense?
So I got out my Henry Golden Boy rifle chambered for pistol caliber .357magnum and took a closer look at it.
I purchased this a number of years ago because, it’s fun to shoot, and I reload .38 spl/.357 mag. But perhaps a more important reason is perceived recoil. The relatively heavy weight of the rifle makes shooting easy and painless. That is especially important to me with my bum shoulder.
I had a rail installed and topped it off with an old BSA RD30 I had laying around. It was a fun gun to take out to the range and punch holes in paper and make steel ring. I zeroed it at 25 yards, mostly because of the ranges available to me.
Let’s talk tactical.
The rifle holds 10 rounds of .357 magnum ammunition in an under barrel tubular magazine. There isn’t a loading gate so to fill or top off the magazine. You need to unlock the cap under the muzzle and remove the spring piston.
Here is the first complication, the piston doesn’t latch in the open position so you have to hold it open while you drop rounds down the barrel. The piston isn’t fixed in place and can be completely removed. If you drop this while reloading or lose it, your rifle is converted to single shot fed by dropping a single round into the loading chamber before levering the action closed. I can easily buy a second magazine for just about any gun, but not the piston for this one.
There is no mechanical safety. So you could be screwing around at the muzzle of a loaded weapon without a safety. The prudent approach is to fire your last round and with the empty cartridge still in the chamber, top off the weapon.
Not having a safety, you will need to lower the hammer on a live round. This is done by holding the hammer with your thumb on its aggressive serrations and pulling the trigger. You can then lower the hammer. Should it slip, and I let the hammer slip , the gun can fire, so make sure you are pointed in a safe direction.
Performance
The .357 pistol cartridge has a lot going for it. It’s a proven man stopper. I expect you’ll get a few extra feet per second out of the longer barrel, but it’s still a pistol cartridge. You can hit steel out to 200 yards, but with the 158 gr HP and FM truncated cones I shoot I get around 1,240 feed/second I’m not going to see rifle performance. I calculate it will take about 0.48 second to travel that distance as compared to a .223 Remington at 0.19 seconds.
You must be careful not to use a pointed bullet as recoil could slam a round backwards and set off the primer creating a chain explosion. That’s why I reload hollow points and truncated cones. They are both significantly bigger than the primer.
Shooting off a rest I found I was very happy with the grouping. The lever action has to be utilized aggressively or you’ll get a feeding jam. And the nature of the loading mechanism makes operating the rifle very close to upright position a necessity. Tilt it to the right too far and your fresh round could fall out. Title it too far to the left and the empty may not eject cleanly.
Going around corners, through doorways, up staircases creates the same problem as with an AR. Muzzle control and awareness is critical, you will need all your tactical skills. Yes, you can tuck it under your arm, place it over your shoulder and across your chest all to reduce the apparent length. The lever does make some of these positions a bit of a wrist bender and reduces some of your control over the weapon.
Legal Perception
Well, it’s doesn’t have the image that has been forced on ARs as an assault weapon. It doesn’t have a detachable magazine, and there are very few if any reports of a drive by shootings using a lever action rifle.
It is the classic cowboy gun you grew up with in comic books and movies. And you are shooting a pistol caliber round some states claim are not powerful enough to hunt deer with.
But you know what, it doesn’t matter. If you shoot someone in self-defense the lawyers will twist it to make you appear a monster. You could shoot them with a rubber band gun and if they fall from the surprise and hit their head, you got it. You will be blamed for it.
What did I find out from my range time? The older BSA Red Dot is too dark. It sucks light out of the image and creates a dark green image. This might be fine for the bull’s-eye shooter with well illuminated targets, but in low light this will be a hardship. I’ve replaced it with a bright Bushnell TRS-25. I need to zero it before I can use it.
You run through 10 rounds faster than you think and there is not an empty indicator. Accept that you will lose count and your first indication you are out of ammunition is a click. There are few things louder than a click when you are expecting a BANG.
Since there is no loading gate you really can’t top it off. But ask yourself how many rounds do you realistically expect to need? Most videos of shootings I’ve seen show everyone disappearing when a gun comes out.
The lack of mechanical safety is a concern. Since all mechanical devices can fail, I see them as one more level of safety. Still it is nice to have a that level when the brain momentarily fizzes out on you. I suspect the lack of a safety would be an issue at trial.
Would I use it as a self-defense option? When all is said and done the best defensive tool you can have is the one you have on you. So yes, if that’s what I had, that’s what I would use but it would not be my main plan.
So I got out my Henry Golden Boy rifle chambered for pistol caliber .357magnum and took a closer look at it.
I purchased this a number of years ago because, it’s fun to shoot, and I reload .38 spl/.357 mag. But perhaps a more important reason is perceived recoil. The relatively heavy weight of the rifle makes shooting easy and painless. That is especially important to me with my bum shoulder.
I had a rail installed and topped it off with an old BSA RD30 I had laying around. It was a fun gun to take out to the range and punch holes in paper and make steel ring. I zeroed it at 25 yards, mostly because of the ranges available to me.
Let’s talk tactical.
The rifle holds 10 rounds of .357 magnum ammunition in an under barrel tubular magazine. There isn’t a loading gate so to fill or top off the magazine. You need to unlock the cap under the muzzle and remove the spring piston.
 |
| Loading port. The brass colored piston papplies spring pressure to rounds, Don't lose it! |
Here is the first complication, the piston doesn’t latch in the open position so you have to hold it open while you drop rounds down the barrel. The piston isn’t fixed in place and can be completely removed. If you drop this while reloading or lose it, your rifle is converted to single shot fed by dropping a single round into the loading chamber before levering the action closed. I can easily buy a second magazine for just about any gun, but not the piston for this one.
 |
| Rotate the gun sideways and the round could and does fall out. |
There is no mechanical safety. So you could be screwing around at the muzzle of a loaded weapon without a safety. The prudent approach is to fire your last round and with the empty cartridge still in the chamber, top off the weapon.
 |
| If the hammer slips it could fire. Ask me how I know. |
Not having a safety, you will need to lower the hammer on a live round. This is done by holding the hammer with your thumb on its aggressive serrations and pulling the trigger. You can then lower the hammer. Should it slip, and I let the hammer slip , the gun can fire, so make sure you are pointed in a safe direction.
Performance
The .357 pistol cartridge has a lot going for it. It’s a proven man stopper. I expect you’ll get a few extra feet per second out of the longer barrel, but it’s still a pistol cartridge. You can hit steel out to 200 yards, but with the 158 gr HP and FM truncated cones I shoot I get around 1,240 feed/second I’m not going to see rifle performance. I calculate it will take about 0.48 second to travel that distance as compared to a .223 Remington at 0.19 seconds.
You must be careful not to use a pointed bullet as recoil could slam a round backwards and set off the primer creating a chain explosion. That’s why I reload hollow points and truncated cones. They are both significantly bigger than the primer.
Shooting off a rest I found I was very happy with the grouping. The lever action has to be utilized aggressively or you’ll get a feeding jam. And the nature of the loading mechanism makes operating the rifle very close to upright position a necessity. Tilt it to the right too far and your fresh round could fall out. Title it too far to the left and the empty may not eject cleanly.
Going around corners, through doorways, up staircases creates the same problem as with an AR. Muzzle control and awareness is critical, you will need all your tactical skills. Yes, you can tuck it under your arm, place it over your shoulder and across your chest all to reduce the apparent length. The lever does make some of these positions a bit of a wrist bender and reduces some of your control over the weapon.
Legal Perception
Well, it’s doesn’t have the image that has been forced on ARs as an assault weapon. It doesn’t have a detachable magazine, and there are very few if any reports of a drive by shootings using a lever action rifle.
It is the classic cowboy gun you grew up with in comic books and movies. And you are shooting a pistol caliber round some states claim are not powerful enough to hunt deer with.
But you know what, it doesn’t matter. If you shoot someone in self-defense the lawyers will twist it to make you appear a monster. You could shoot them with a rubber band gun and if they fall from the surprise and hit their head, you got it. You will be blamed for it.
 |
| No, it's not photoshop. the BSA dot soaks up light and tints everything greenish. |
What did I find out from my range time? The older BSA Red Dot is too dark. It sucks light out of the image and creates a dark green image. This might be fine for the bull’s-eye shooter with well illuminated targets, but in low light this will be a hardship. I’ve replaced it with a bright Bushnell TRS-25. I need to zero it before I can use it.
 |
| The Bushnell TRS-25 is smaller, lighter and doesn't color or soak up light. |
You run through 10 rounds faster than you think and there is not an empty indicator. Accept that you will lose count and your first indication you are out of ammunition is a click. There are few things louder than a click when you are expecting a BANG.
Since there is no loading gate you really can’t top it off. But ask yourself how many rounds do you realistically expect to need? Most videos of shootings I’ve seen show everyone disappearing when a gun comes out.
The lack of mechanical safety is a concern. Since all mechanical devices can fail, I see them as one more level of safety. Still it is nice to have a that level when the brain momentarily fizzes out on you. I suspect the lack of a safety would be an issue at trial.
Would I use it as a self-defense option? When all is said and done the best defensive tool you can have is the one you have on you. So yes, if that’s what I had, that’s what I would use but it would not be my main plan.
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