The subject of weapons for survival is hot and heavy in the prepper community. Magazines and blogs offer all kinds of opinions and solutions. If you follow the mainstream “Prepper press” you would be convinced that unless you own the most modern military style battle rife, then you are SOL when SHTF. Not necessarily so.
There are as many opinions about which firearms a prepper should acquire to survive a SHTF episode or even TEOTWAWKI as there are firearms. I have written about building a survival battery for beginning preppers as well as oldie military rifles for preppers. But there is one class of firearms that is often overlooked. And that is the lever action rifle. Now, before you start laughing, some very serious weapon instructors such as Gabe Suarez have dusted off the lever-action and shown how it has the capacity to be an effective fighting rifle.
There are basically two type of lever-action rifle generally available to the public. Those with open top receivers and those with closed top receivers. Both eject out the right side.
Winchester Mod-94
The Winchester Mod-94 is an example of an open top receiver.
Marlin 336
The Marlin 336 is an example of a closed top receiver. Open top receivers are easier to access the chamber for single round loading. There are other lever-action manufactures such as Mossberg who makes a factory built combat lever-action and Rossi. 
Almost all lever-action rifles that are suitable as prepper rifles will have the loading gate on the right side of the receiver and use a tube under the barrel as the magazine. So what makes a lever-action rifle a viable prepper rifle?
the sheeple have seen in the movies.The lever-action can be had in two large rifle calibers and a number of pistol calibers. The two larger re the .30-30 Winchester and the .45-70 Government. In handgun calibers they can be had in .357 Magnum, .44Magnum, and .45 Long Colt, depending on manufacturer and model. Personally, I think the only advantage to having a lever-action in a pistol cartridge would be if you were carrying a revolver as a defensive handgun and wanted interchangeability of ammunition. However this seriously limits your range with the rifle. The .30-30 Winchester would be my choice in a lever-action. This cartridge has ballistics very similar to the Russian 7.62×39 round chambered in the AK. The 45-70 is an excellent cartridge and was designed to take animals as large a buffalo. But I personally feel that the .30-30 is a better choice for the prepper due to availability and cost of ammunition.
Most lever-action rifles come equipped with “Buckhorn” style open sights. These are perfectly adequate but a ghost ring aperture sight would be an improvement. Also, an Aim Point type sight could prove to be 
useful at relatively close range. I am not a big fan of bandoliers as they expose your
Tactical Tailor Dump Pouch
ammunition to the elements, but many people do like and prefer them. I prefer a dump pouch similar to one that Tactical Tailor makes. Slings should be a simple two point strap sling.
The standard lever-action carbine with 16″ barrel in .30-30 could be a serious asset to your survival armory.
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The 30/30 is all you need if you know how to use it. Common sense is the best tool a person can have in their kit.
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By Anonymous on April 26, 2024 at 10:29
Don’t forget Henry in .41 Mag, incredible cartridge
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By Anonymous on March 5, 2024 at 22:02
[…] https://azweaponcraftprepper.com/the-lever-action-rifle-for-prepping-and-survival/ […]
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By Are Lever Action Rifles Good For Survival? - Safety Hunters on June 9, 2023 at 20:51
The 30 30 lever action hard to find in current sales market the 357mag and 45 long colt and 44 mag still available; that’s so.ething think about at 100 yards the damage a 44 mag does is almost same as 3030 rifle
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By terry j redfearn on June 25, 2022 at 19:12
i like the 3030 and a22 lr
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By Anonymous on July 28, 2018 at 20:26
You can also get older rifles in pistol caliber such as 38-40, 44-40, 32-20, 25-20 and larger calibers like 38-55, 45-90, and 50-110
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By Anonymous on August 22, 2017 at 19:27
Have a Marlin 30 30 and a Marlin 44mag love them equally
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By Anonymous on July 4, 2017 at 16:26
I keep a Henry Big Boy Steel in 357 ready to go next to my bob at all times. It goes well with my GP100.
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By Anonymous on April 8, 2017 at 23:03
I own a couple of Henry’s 22lr and 22magnum i feel like id do ok with these two .
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By Anthony M Holmon on March 18, 2017 at 13:39