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I have nothing against leverguns. In fact I own three Savage 99's, two Winchester 88's and a Winchester 94 and a 71, but I really question their appropriateness for dangerous game. Their weakness in my opinion is in the area of primary extraction, where the mechanical advantage is on the order of 2/1, as opposed to the bolt action 8/1, which is not always enough to remove a recalcitrant case from the chamber. As far as rapid fire is concerned, it is mainly a matter of practice. A trained bolt gunner can get off as many aimed shots as a lever gun shooter while at the same time enjoying a much larger selection of ammunition to use.

The speed attributed to the lever gun appears to me to be misleading. Actuating the lever pulls the rifle away from the shoulder initially, which is only partially compensated for by the less vehement action of returning the lever to its original position. With a bolt gun, the initial motion pulls the butt back into the shoulder and the reciprocating motion of closing the bolt requires far less effort. The same could be said of a pump action, but the only pump actioned high power, the Remington 760, has extractor issues in common with other Remington products.

I am not sure what the mechanical advantage of the Model 88 Winchester, which is essentially a lever actuated bolt rifle, might be with regard to primary extraction, but the shortness of the action of both it and the Savage 99 create a severe limitation on the length of the cartridge it can accomodate. I have mentioned before a long delayed project involving a .40 caliber cartridge based on the .284 Winchester case, resulting in a sort of short actioned equivalent of the .400 Whelen, but barring that, I would be hesitant to use any currently available lever action for dangerous game.

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