Lever-action rifle

A lever-action rifle is a weapon in Fallout 3, its add-on Point Lookout and Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
A lever-action rifle is a repeating rifle or carbine that uses a lever to cycle the action. This "figure-eight" shaped lever, which is typically integral to the trigger guard, cycles the breech bolt rearward in the receiver when rotated downward and forward. As the breech bolt moves rearward, an attached extractor pulls the spent cartridge from the chamber and an extractor propels the empty cartridge either from the top of the receiver or through a port on the side. As this occurs, an unfired cartridge is pushed from a magazine by a spring-loaded follower and presented to the carrier assembly that will then lift the new cartridge up in line with the breech bolt to be chambered when the lever is pulled rearward and upward to lock the action. The rearward motion of the breech bolt cocks the hammer and engages the sear in the trigger, preparing the firearm to fire.

Once fired, the cycle can be repeated as fast as the shooter can cycle the lever until the magazine is emptied. Magazines on lever-action rifles are typically tubular magazines slung under the barrel or sometimes fed though the buttstock, but can be box or integral box magazines mounted directly under the action. Tube magazines can be fed from a loading gate on the side of the receiver, or from the end of the magazine accessed by removing the follower or end cap. Sights on most lever-action rifles tend to be buckhorn or semi-buckhorn, but more accurate aperture sights can also be used. Optics can be mounted on side-eject lever-action rifles directly over the bore-line, but top-eject rifles necessitate off-bore mounting to allow the action to properly eject a spent cartridge without interference from the scope or optic.

Lever-action rifle stocks can be found in pistol grip style, or straight ("English") style. Fore-ends are typically short, leaving the barrel and tube magazine uncovered for a fair portion of their length. Carbine length rifles are common, with barrel lengths from around 18 to 24 inches, while rifle length barrels can range over 30 inches. Lever-action rifles are normally light by comparison to other rifles of similar caliber, are well balanced and often used for hunting in woods, brush on and open range.

Calibers chambered by lever-action rifles vary widely. Pistol cartridge calibers are often seen, with a corresponding increase in magazine capacity due to the smaller cartridge size, as well as higher-velocity rifle cartridges. Calibers from .22 long rifle up to .45-70 are common, allowing lever-action rifles to be used for hunting anything from small game to dangerous big game. Lever-action rifles are uncommon as military firearms, primarily due the need to fire prone and the lever needing reasonable clearance to cycle the action, as well as the necessity of using non-spitzer pointed bullets in a tube magazine, although lever-action rifles with box magazine solve this problem.

Unnamed lever-action rifle


The lever-action rifle is a high-powered rifle using the common 10mm round. It has a rather low rate of fire, as the action needs to be cycled after every shot, but makes up for it by being highly accurate, and having a large ammunition capacity. However, it is delicate, and will break easily.
 * For the unique lever-action rifle found in the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout, see: Backwater rifle

Lincoln's repeater


Lincoln's repeater, a unique hunting rifle is a very high-powered lever-action rifle, dealing 25 more damage than the hunting rifle. It lacks a scope, but accuracy at long range can be maintained by ignoring the bugged scope auto-aim. It also has three times the ammunition capacity of the hunting rifle and is very effective at long range in V.A.T.S.

Unnamed brush gun


"Brush gun" is an informal umbrella term used to refer to any large-caliber, lever-action hunting carbine. The name refers to the fact that these carbines are designed to be handled easily in brush, or in any tight spaces where a long-barreled rifle would be unwieldy or impractical. Brush guns are chambered for large cartridges powerful enough to take down big game at close to medium range.
 * For the unique brush gun found in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Gun Runners' Arsenal, see: Medicine Stick

Unnamed cowboy repeater


The cowboy repeater is a lever-action rifle firing small-caliber .357 magnum rounds. It has a peep sight similar to that of the brush gun and This Machine. Due to the gun having a tube magazine, it is reloaded by hand one bullet at a time, as such it can be interrupted mid-way through reloading and fired if needed. Because of this, it gives the gun the added advantage of being quickly available to fire again if only a single/few rounds are needed.
 * For the unique cowboy repeater found in Fallout: New Vegas, see: La Longue Carabine

Unnamed trail carbine


The trail carbine features a good ammunition capacity, great balance of damage and damage-per-second (DPS), brisk rate of fire, and high accuracy. The weapon is also inexpensive to repair, and incredibly durable, withstanding 2495 shots before breaking. Its tubular magazine is reloaded by hand one round at a time, as such it can be interrupted mid-way through reloading and fired if needed.

Rusty lever-action rifle


A weather-worn variant of the lever-action rifle, dealing sub-optimal damage.

Enhanced lever-action rifle


A modified version of the lever-action rifle with increased damage.

Hardened lever-action rifle


An improved lever-action rifle with increased combat effectiveness.

Armor piercing lever-action rifle


A lever-action rifle equipped with armor piercing rounds for increased damage against armored opponents.