I did a search and didn’t find the info I was looking for. I know this has probley come up like some of the standard questions on other forums so I apologize for the repeat question. I have a guide gun that eats on my middle finger pretty bad. Does any one make a bigger lever? I have fairly big hands and can’t change how I grip the rifle much.
Thank you.
Bill

Search AltaVista on: David Clay (DRC) in Texas, I belive; Wild West Guns in Alaska; Grizzly Custom Guns in Columbia Falls, MT; Brockman's in Idaho. Among their products will be oversize levers for straight AND pistol grips, stainless AND carbon steels.

Hope this helps.

Brownells carries them.

The bottom lever is the wild West guns big loop. The top one is a lever from a 336 marlin that I modified. I have done that with 2 of them now and I like it very much.



The wild West loop feels ugly and seems clumsey after using the 336 modified. The top gun has cut down forearm, peep sight and front fire sight. It is with me any time I am in the bush and is my favorite. Only wish it was not ported.

Rod in Wasilla

quote:

Originally posted by wasilla:
The top one is a lever from a 336 marlin that I modified. I have done that with 2 of them now and I like it very much.

Do you work on the lever cold or do you heat the loop first?

I have large lever loops by David Clay (DRC or DLC, I cannot remember) on my straight grip Marlin 45-70's, including the Guide Gun. It helps the problem you mentin tremendously and is not nearly as big as the Wild West lever shown. They are almost a drop in, one of mine did not fit initially. I gave him a call and he walked me through fitting which was a simple one or two minute process involving a couple of light file strokes on the lever plunger.


Go over to marlinowners.com forum and do a search. There is a lot of information there.

I want to thank you for your help. I went to the range and tried to chronograph some trap door level loads 405 cast at 1532 average and still have a badley bruised finger. The levers recommended all are deeper for a glove ect. My problem seems to be they need to be longer. I am going to take it off and do some grinding to try and get a littlel more room. I will keep you posted.
Bill

I honestly did not compare lengths when I first posted a comment. You got me to wondering, so I pulled out one of the stock levers, opened my safe and compared. The David Clay lever is 7/8" longer, plus it drops down about 3/8" at the rear ( the top part of lever loop not being parallel to the lower tang as compared to the stock lever loop being parallel) giving a slight pistol grip feel. The rear is rounded and becomes larger as it nears the rear portion of the loop ie somewhat pear shaped.

I had the same problems you mentioned and this lever solves them for me.

The picture wasilla posts showing his modified lever is a pistol grip lever on a straight grip rifle. Pleas correct me if I am wrong but the straight grips have the squared grip ( like the guide gun) which hurt in the larger calibers. My standard 1895, pistol grip is just fine with the stock lever.

I'm lucky...I have quite large hands, so this works for me.... I just grasp the standard lever with my middle, ring, and small fingers around the outside of the whole thing, index finger on the trigger. I operate the lever by just dropping my thumb into the loop as my hand moves downward.

You said you have large hands too. Have you tried it that way? If not, it might work for you too.

I have the same problem with my stainless Guide gun. I see Marlin has put a larger lever loop on thier new 1895 SBL model. Being stainless this could solve my problem, if I can get one from them. Would have to straighten the lever as it is made for a pistol grip stock.

Well just an update. I went to the Dallas Safari Club show this weekend and talked to Doug Turnbull of Doug Turnbull Restoration. http://www.turnbullrestoration.com/
We talked about modifying the lever that I have and generally had a great visit. He does have some nice toys in his booth. I need to win a BIG lottery. I was wandering around the show and found Wild West Guns from Anchorage Ak. They have a big lever to for the Marlin. I bought one to try, as it felt pretty good on one of the guns they had on display. They had some interesting customized marlins on display. You should see the compact takedown. http://www.wildwestguns.com/.
They were sold out of levers so I will have to weight till they get home to ship my new lever. I will post how it works when I get it.
Bill