“model 71”

The Model 1886 remains at the top of the heap of excellent lever-action rifles. Whether new or vintage, having one in your safe is never a bad idea, and it’s a great choice for nearly any big game at ranges suitable for the big rimmed cartridges.

Let's take a closer look at five of the best lever-action rifle cartridges.

The .348 Winchester gives a good balance of striking energy and moderate recoil, and among the rimmed lever-gun cartridges, possesses impressive terminal ballistics.

Hornady has added the classic .348 Winchester to its popular LEVERevolution line, using the 200-grain FTX bullet. With its proprietary Flex-Tip meplat, the FTX bullet is perfectly safe to use in the tubular magazine of the Model 71—and many other lever guns—yet offers the downrange benefit of a spitzer bullet.

Deer rifles and the cartridges loaded in them have run the gamut the last 50 years, from the Winchester 94 in .30-30 Win. to the Weatherby Mark V in .30-378 Wby. Mag. and the DPMS ARL in 6.5 Creedmoor.

If you’re looking for something out of the norm, which can be housed in a handy rifle that hits hard, give the .338-06 a look. If you spend a bit of time with it, you’ll become a fan rather quickly.

What Winchester sought to do in 1958 was to provide those hunters who pursued the great bears and larger cervids of North America with a perfect choice for their endeavors, as well as developing one the most logical choices for an African light rifle. The result? The .338 Win. Mag.

What is it about a lever-action rifle that still appeals to us all?

It was 150 years ago that the name “Winchester” was first stamped on a rifle. But Winchester’s narrative began well before that, and it is a tale tied to the American West, to the wars of the 20th century, to big personalities such as John Browning and John Olin, and to the manufacture of billions of cartridges and millions of rifles and shotguns beloved by generations of Americans.