Will lever action rifles become the new AR's?

Once they get the semis, pumps and levers will be right behind. They wont be satisfied until the State has a monopoly on the means of lethal force, at least that which is a threat to the power of the regime.

Last I checked levers are still legal in Australia. It's why a bought a couple Rossi R92s (and they're fun to shoot). They're a hedge against an AWB.

Get a lever gun if you want one, not because you're hedging your firearms bets.

So the general tone so far is that the question itself is capitulation.
Edit because I posted before finishing my response…
To the original question something older can’t become the new something newer. They may share a use, and they may eventually become the go-to for that use. I think when people talk about ar popularity they often leave out real reasons for their popularity and only focus on the idea that they are more lethal and functional than others. I don’t believe that to be true, or a reason for their popularity. It comes down to the fact that they are cheaper to make and buy, and they are everywhere. People use them well because they are familiar with them from military/le training, video games and movies. They are the firearm of our time like the lever action was the firearm of the early to middle 1900s. I suppose I eisegeted a little there. Sorry for reading my assumptions into your question. Short answer: no it’s not the new AR.

I miss my 7.62X39 AK, but for what
they bring now I'll not be replacing it.
Same for levers. I get scoffed at all
the time, but there's not one that was
ever made or yet to be made that I'd
pay a thousand dollars for.
I wouldn't mind having an AR to use
afield. A friend and his sons use them
successfully every year for hunting.
But I'll not give a thousand for one
any more than I would for any other
tool I have. I've killed too many animals
with fifty and hundred dollar pawn
shop and flea market guns and bows.

As far as what the gubmint does,
if the apathetic citizenry allows a
ban to take hold, we'll just have to
coat them with grease and have
an accident in the garden. You
won't be able to go to a range, or
shoot any game without alerting
the authorities, and if you had to
use one in self defense, you'd be
SOL as well. Too many apathetic
no-GAS sit-on-their-thumb people
today

If we, the free, allow tyranny then we get what we deserve.

“They” may ban whatever they want. Compliance is another matter.

Buy the AK.

All indications point to continued allowance of State governance for local bans. Many of our more level headed States have passed and are passing laws which prohibit infringement upon gun rights, directionally opposing the pop culture trend of certain left-leaning States. So the topic remains divisive among States, and fundamentally, there isn’t sufficient momentum or public support for another Federal AWB.

Unless you live in a State with immediately pending infringing policy, then your energy is better spent advocating and voting within your Local, State, and Federal districts to 1) oppose infringing policies and 2) support policies which protect our uninfringable Rights, than to waste energy buying, let alone theorizing about buying, some concession firearm. If you are able, buy an AR or AK and stand firm in your rights as a wall against infringement.

Frankly, recently watching what happened with pistol braces, a Federal AWB would most likely remain to allow possession but require FREE registration under the NFA… I took as many free SBR stamps as I could get.

And even in the context of some impossible Federal AWB, I wouldn’t revert to leverguns, certainly not any model which most folks consider today. For any purpose I currently carry an AR, if I suddenly could not, I’d much rather carry a 10-16” bolt action with DBM than a tube-fed levergun chambered for conventional levergun cartridges. Saying that as a lover of leverguns - I simply recognize the limitations of the platform.

chicharrones said:

Get a lever gun if you want one, not because you're hedging your firearms bets.

Click to expand...

Adding a 5.56 Levergun such a Long Ranger or BLR just because they are fun guns is never a bad answer.
IF Savage ever brings back the M99, a .223 version would be mandatory and Ill be the first standing in line with a wad of cash.....

A lever gun is great.But never give up your possessions to any one.We are the only ones who can push back remember that!

I'm with @hso on this.
An argument can be made for an AK in 5.45x39, but, that ammo is going to dry up and wither away (or only be steel case if/when PSA gets their steel case factory running).
So, that really recommends the 5.56 AKs out there. Most are built by companies that also make them in 7.62x39. And there are some very good examples of those out there.

Getting a lever action is a separate question.
Choosing which ammo is going to be an issue, though.

I think the only way lever guns obtain the popularity they once had is through new laws or another POTUS that figures out it doesn’t take a floppy plastic stock to bump fire all semiautos thus claims all of them are “machineguns”. Following the path Trump laid out…

Given a little time they will try to outlaw the double rifle as a "high Capacity Weapon".

". . Get a shotgun. . . "
Brandon

All of the lever actions available and popular today are either antiquated designs, or built similarly to those antiquated designs for familiarity purposes. A quick throw lever where you basically flick your fingers rather than move your trigger hand would be faster. Think something along the lines of a marlin 62 levermatic mated to a doublestack magazine full of something like 223. 45, 10mm, or 38 super would be even shorter and faster since bolt throw would be less so an even shorter lever motion would be doable.

Or even better, just remake the 62 in 30 carbine and make it take m1 carbine mags.

Funny you should ask. I had owned lever actions in high school, but didn't have any by the time Clinton's 1994 crime bill was in the works. I bought a Rossi 92 in 357 Mag, partly because I wasn't sure what the fate of my semi-autos and high capacity mags would be.

Turns out nothing changed for those of us who already had semi-autos and high cap mags. Most were grandfathered in. I still have everything I owned then, including old high capacity mags from the 1980s that are still working fine.

I still have my Rossi 92 as well. It's a fun gun. Glad I bought it anyway. It's also a deadly serious defensive weapon with 10 full power loads in the tube and one in the chamber. I had considered both lever actions and pump action carbines back then, including the Israeli made (IMI) Timber Wolf.

EDIT: If you're really worried, buy a Mini-30. The Ruger Mini-14 and Mini-30 weren't even on the ban list, and they're not on many proposed "AWB" lists I've seen lately. I had a Mini-30 back then, and I still have it. It's been good to me.

I have quite a bit of experience with an Arsenal and a Saiga in 5.56. Both of then ran 100%, and are much smoother than 7.62x39. Magazines were a little harder to come by but that seems to be changing.

Palmetto has had some good sales lately on their 5.56 AKs. I'm very tempted...

MarshallDodge said:

. . and a Saiga

Click to expand...

Siaga has some good hardware
A friend has had 2 (or 3 ?) and
hasn't had any malfunctions
whatsoever with any kind of
ammunition that's been run
though it. Very reliable

MarshallDodge said:

Palmetto has had some good sales lately on their 5.56 AKs

Click to expand...

Among other things that are good deals. PSA has become a huge makers brand without being recognized as a manufacturer. I say that exactly as I mean it because I’m sure somebody else is making the parts and PSA is branding them and marketing them as their own. They have absoutely StoOpidt deals on their own AK, AR, and poly pistol lines. If they keep up their current trend of ripping off proven designs as soon as the patents expire then we can expect to see some more nice stuff coming relatively soon making them even bigger.

But to your point, the 556 AKs seem to be a bargain for some reason. Less desirable than a 7.62 “standard caliber for platform” chambering?

Any excuse to buy a gun is a good excuse. In some states it may matter. I would be more interested in a BLR or Winchester. No I don't think lever actions will ever replace ARs and AKs for most people. They are not a tactical weapon.

Best advice I have ever heard: Never give up your guns.

Followed by one of my favorite comments on a similar subject:
"If it's time to bury them, it's time to dig them up."