Most powerfull lever action cartridge & rifle?

[Ds J]

• What is the most powerfull lever action cartridge?
• What is the strongest lever action?

I have found the 70-110, and also the 45-70, but nothing like a .416 Rimmed or 458 R, just to thumbsuck a possible name.

My reason for asking: lever action are fast shooting, easy pointing, short and reliable rifles. Very ideal for follow-ups on dangerous game, or am I missing something?

Take a 404 Jeffery case, neck it down to .40 or .41, put on a rim and put it in a suitable lever action. Why not?

[Treeman]

The .348 Win was once quoted as the most powerful round chambered in the lever action, I then once saw the claim attributed to the .358 Win.
Somewhere in Cartridges of the world there is a line that reads, "properly as much power that can be packed into and lever action", I always remember this line because I always wondered who thought to note that and what was stopping someone from just upping that cartridge - and someone else just one upping that and so forth.
I do believe the exponential affect of strengthening a already "weak" kind of action would make for a rather cumbersome ugly action area of an rifle, weight may become an issue. It must be remembered that lever actions need to be relatively loose in fire arm terms to function - this may not be enough lock up insurance for Magnum - Express type moment of truth after primer comes to life.

As for facing up to dangerous game - simply not reliable enough IN EVERY WAY to be trusted. Short stroking the lever, stroking to fast for cartridge smooth transition to chamber, stove piping, and case head separation. 

[Ds J]

There is a company in the northern US which makes beefed up lever actions for big bores, but I cannot find then any more.

And I guess building a magazine onto a falling block like the Ruger #1 would be really cumbersome?

[oafpatroll]

There is a company in the northern US which makes beefed up lever actions for big bores, but I cannot find then any more.

And I guess building a magazine onto a falling block like the Ruger #1 would be really cumbersome?

I think the company was called Dakota. They made very high end lever guns around all the crazy newer ultra pistol cartridges like the 500 S&W. They were regular advertisers in a number of the US mags but assuminng I got their name right I don't find reference to them any longer. 

Adding a magazine to a No. 1 would be the smallest part of turning it into a repeater. You'd need to create all the cartridge handling gubbins and given how it locks up with a solid falling block all of it would need to be beside the action or more realistically on top of it.   

[Tripodmvr]

The most powerful lever action cartridge is the .50-110 WCF, which can deliver up to 4,000 foot-pounds of energy1. This cartridge is only suitable for modern 1886 Winchesters with modern steel barrels, as the original rifles cannot handle the high pressure12. The .50-110 WCF has more power than the .458 Winchester Magnum, a popular big game cartridge

[big5ifty]

Take a 404 Jeffery case, neck it down to .40 or .41, put on a rim and put it in a suitable lever action. Why not?

The limit is how strong the hook on the lever is. To push the limit of that is to invite a Darwin award.

I used to have a Marlin 45-70.

When I realised how small the hook on the lever was preventing the bolt from entering below my eye socket, I sold it.

[oafpatroll]

I got the new manufacturer wrong. It's called Big Horn Armory.

[BBCT]

Because I am familiar with this cartridge, I just provide a link to the Wikipedia article that also gives a good summary and some links on the topic of powerful lever actions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.405_Winchester

[Treeman]

46000 PSI

Pity that these old beauties are so pressure governed. Wonder how many of them can be upped to 50 -60 000 psi in modern actions and modern production brass.

[Ds J]

I just compared the 405 Win to the 458 Win. The former has a max SAAMI  pressure of 46000psi, whereas the latter has a max SAAMI pressure of 60000psi. The results are obvious: the 405 drives a 300gr bullet @ 2200fps, and the 458WM drives a 300gr bullet @ 2600fps.

Where the 458 was considered the bare minimum for a long time, the 405 would fall below that.

And I agree with Treeman, it would be great if kne could push the 405 Win to 60 000psi.

[JamesNotBond]

I just compared the 405 Win to the 458 Win. The former has a max SAAMI  pressure of 46000psi, whereas the latter has a max SAAMI pressure of 60000psi. The results are obvious: the 405 drives a 300gr bullet @ 2200fps, and the 458WM drives a 300gr bullet @ 2600fps.
Where the 458 was considered the bare minimum for a long time, the 405 would fall below that.
And I agree with Treeman, it would be great if kne could push the 405 Win to 60 000psi.

I am not sure that I agree. I would venture to say that these old cartridges are what they are and are to be used as and for what they are. They would not be what they are if we changed them.
The .405 is a mild shooting moderately heavy bullet calibre, we have a .458 Win for above that requirement.

[oafpatroll]

I believe that there are a number of old cartridges that have 'modern' loading specs for use in firearms built with higher standards of metallurgy etc with the 45-70 coming to mind. 'Lever action' is also not one thing, There are numerous patterns with some being inherently stronger than others.   

[Ds J]

I just compared the 405 Win to the 458 Win. The former has a max SAAMI  pressure of 46000psi, whereas the latter has a max SAAMI pressure of 60000psi. The results are obvious: the 405 drives a 300gr bullet @ 2200fps, and the 458WM drives a 300gr bullet @ 2600fps.
Where the 458 was considered the bare minimum for a long time, the 405 would fall below that.
And I agree with Treeman, it would be great if kne could push the 405 Win to 60 000psi.

I am not sure that I agree. I would venture to say that these old cartridges are what they are and are to be used as and for what they are. They would not be what they are if we changed them.
The .405 is a mild shooting moderately heavy bullet calibre, we have a .458 Win for above that requirement.

To a certain extent, yes. They would not be what they are if we change them. In the same sentence one needs to add that it has been done quite a few times:

- the 45 Webley MkI is basically identical toe the 45ACP;

- 303 Brit and 7.62 Russian were  changed to nitro cellulose

It can be done, but it basically becomes a new cartridge with new performance, although the dimensions stay the same.

[BBCT]

Miroku made some copies of the Model 1895 Winchester in .405 Winchester in around 2000. I don't know if they were designed to handle modern pressures but I don't see why they wouldn't be.

Winchester M1895 had a reputation for kicking like the proverbial mule with full power loads.

By the time calibres like the 458WM came along, plenty of dangerous game had been shot with far "lesser" calibres. I'm not saying I would prefer one of those lesser calibres for DG hunting but if it did the job before, it will do the job now. Teddy Rooseveld was quite taken by the M1895 in 405Win during his African Safari.

The 405 was a smokeless cartridge from the start, whereas 45-70 and it's various length cousins were black powder rounds.

[oafpatroll]

Teddy Rooseveld was quite taken by the M1895 in 405Win during his African Safari.

I seem to remember that he referred to it as his 'big stick' and it and it's battery mates accounted for an eye watering tally of game on that safari from the smallest to the largest.