View Full Version : How difficult is it to clean lever actions?????

December 7, 1999, 11:35 PM
How difficult is it to clean lever actions????? I've heard horror stories of jams and other things including the difficulty of cleaning them. What's the score?

"Stop forest fires--ban matches."

George Stringer
December 8, 1999, 07:36 AM
Antenna, lever guns such as the Marlin and the Winchester are so easy to disassemble/assemble that there is nothing difficult about keeping one clean. Dirt will eventually cause problems in any gun but pumps and autos are more finnicky about it than lever guns. If you don't have disassembly instructions for your rifle, e-mail me and I'll send them to you. George

James K
December 8, 1999, 08:27 PM

I seldom would disagree with a real expert, but I have to take exception to the idea that lever guns as a group are easy to disassemble and reassemble. The Marlins are pretty easy, but the Winchesters are not easy for the average guy. Things have to come out in the right order and be put back the right way. For folks like us who have done it hundreds of times, it seems easy, but the guy who just starts removing every screw in sight is going to be in trouble. Even with instructions, a rifle like the 94 Winchester will get sticky for the average guy, and a 95 is a challenge for any except the most experienced.


George Stringer
December 8, 1999, 11:42 PM
Jim, I agree unless they have good instructions and follow them step by step. Where most folks get into trouble is just as you mentioned by doing it in the wrong order. George

James K
December 9, 1999, 12:10 PM
George, you are right. But lever actions remind me of the alarm clock I took apart at about the age of twelve. It isn't getting the darn thing apart that is the problem, it is getting it back together. And this is where most of the "assemble in reverse order" instructions fail. Worse, some of them seem to be written by the same people who do the books for Microsoft.


P.S. I never did get that clock back together.