Smith & Wesson 1854 Lever Rifle | Review

“A lever action rifle? C’mon – this isn’t the 19th century. – why would anyone want one of those museum pieces?” I’ve heard that from time to time, and I’m amazed every time I hear it. Modern lever actions, like the Smith & Wesson 1854 Lever Action Rifle, have everything necessary to take this thumper from deer hunting to self-defense.

Deer hunters have never given up on them. Companies such as Winchester, Marlin, Mossberg, and Henry, bolstered in more recent years by Rossi and now Smith & Wesson, continue to make rifles that have always been popular with hunters. Levers are not only good for hunting. There are new self-defense-purposed rifles chambered in 9mm that use a lever action for those states that don’t allow AR-type rifles. I’ve owned a few levers in both .22 and centerfire calibers and like to shoot them. My brother had a Winchester 9422 .22 Magnum lever rifle that he could pick a gray squirrel off a limb with at 50 yards. (I was going to say “Shoot the nuts off a gnat” but that didn’t sound politically correct…). They tend to be accurate, easy to pack, and fast into action.

We’re going to narrow our lever action focus on the new Smith & Wesson 1854 in .44 Magnum. This is one interesting rifle!

Smith & Wesson 1854 Lever Action Rifle

Live Inventory Price Checker

	Smith & Wesson 13812 Model 1854 Stainless Steel/ Black Synthetic 44 Rem Mag 19.25 9+1	Shooters Choice	$ 1699.00 $ 1199.99
	Smith and Wesson 1854 Walnut / Black .44 Mag 19.25 Barrel 9-Rounds	GrabAGun	$ 1299.00
	Smith and Wesson 1854 Flat Dark Earth .45 Colt 19.25 Barrel 9-Rounds	GrabAGun	$ 1238.99
	Smith and Wesson Model 1854 Black / Stainless .44 Mag 19.25 Barrel 9-Rounds	GrabAGun	$ 1179.00

Most shooters have at least some knowledge of lever action rifles (and shotguns, too), particularly those made by Winchester, Henry, Marlin, Rossi, and Mossberg – these are the big players. Suffice it to say that this new Smith and Wesson rifle (the 1854 line was introduced in January 2024) brings some interesting, new features to the mix. This ain’t your grandaddy’s deer-thumper.

Specs

• Width: 1.6 in
• Length: 36 in
• Weight: 6 lbs., 12 oz. empty – my measurement
• Caliber: 44 Magnum (also offered in .45 Colt, same price)
• Capacity: 9
• Barrel Length: 19.25″
• Stock/Grip: Polymer
• Sights: Aperture rear, gold bead front
• Optic Ready: Yes (rail section on top)
• Safety: Cross-bolt
• Color/Finish: Black/matte stainless
• Threaded Barrel: Yes
• Barrel Material: 410 SS
• Frame: Stainless steel
• 11/16-24 Threaded Barrel
• Accepts mounts compatible with Marlin® 1894 hole patterns
• Black synthetic stock with textured grip panels
• M-LOK® synthetic forend with textured grip panels
• Gold bead front sight
• XS Sights ghost ring rear sight
• 1:20″ RH Twist 8-Groove Rifling
• Large loop operating lever
• Forged 416 SS Receiver
• 19.25″ 410 SS Barrel
• thumb hammer extension included

And, if you want a fancier walnut/blue version, they make one for $120 more.

Musings

The rifle is interesting in my hands. It weighs over 6 pounds, but it doesn’t feel heavy – actually, it’s pretty light to carry around. The sights are interesting – a large XS ghost ring coupled with a gold bead up front. Of course, if you want something else, you have a nice-size Pic rail, which makes adding a light or laser easy. You might consider doing that, as that huge rear ghost ring aperture allowed for quick target acquisition but made precision shooting hard. The included M-Lok slots up front are new, for a factory-stock lever gun. And, if you need to clear the rifle, you can pull the mag tube off without having to jack all the rounds through the chamber. That’s a nice feature.

Hunting in winter is perpetually a challenge when it comes to keeping your hands warm. Stiff, frozen fingers aren’t the best way to manipulate a rifle. So, S&W decided to include a large loop that allows you to wear your favorite warm gloves.

I own a Henry Big Boy in .44, the shiny brass receiver/luxurious-blued barrel version. I hesitate to take it to the deer woods because I don’t want to scratch it, and I also don’t want to cover that mirror-like, shiny brass with tape that might leave goo all over. So, I use other guns. I would not be afraid to take the Smith & Wesson 1854 outside, though. The stainless finish is tough and easily fixed if it gets scratched. Would I prefer a fancy walnut stock with old-school-blue metal? Sure, but plain ol’ polymer has its place. There’s no beating yourself up if you scratch that nice walnut stock because there is no nice walnut stock. This rifle is briar-patch-friendly in terms of scratch resistance and short enough to fit through the brambles.

One last thought concerns the barrel length. At 19.25 inches, you have the best of two worlds. Many lever guns have barrel lengths of either 16 or 20 inches. A few stretch to 24 inches, but I have never been interested in those. For deer-caliber rifles in our close-range woods, the shorter barrels work just fine. This gun, with its under-twenty-inch barrel length, is good the way it is. Or, you could add a suppressor and still have a rifle that handles well. The caliber is very good for our close-in Indiana whitetails… I mentioned above that I don’t know how many deer I’ve killed with my S&W 629 8-3/8″ revolver stoked with my homemade mid-range cast bullet loads. This 19.25-inch barrel will be better. I placed my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph beside the rifle when we shot it to see just how much faster the bullets are flying than from my revolver. Talk about knock-down energy from a pistol cartridge! I’ll have those results below.

Range Time

Speaking of shooting, how did the Smith & Wesson 1854 do? My supply of factory 44 Mag ammo is a bit limited, so I shot what I had. Once upon a time, I was an unrepentant .44 hand loader, but factory ammo is what interests shooters who do not live next door to me.

I am blessed to have a 100-yard range in my backyard, so I headed there. I set up targets relatively close-in at 25 yards to check the zero – I had to adjust the rear sight quite a lot, so I kept the targets close. At any rate, deer we shoot around my house are usually no more than 50 yards out, so a 25-yard zero is workable. Anyway, the final zero was towards the top of the target so bullet drop at 50 yards would not be an issue. I used a Caldwell Ultimate Target Stand which makes it easy to spread three targets out at a time.

Caldwell sent me a couple more items that made it easy to test the rifle – their Stable Table Lite and the Rock Deluxe Shooting Rest, as shown here. The rear bag came from Ransom Rest.

The table is portable, has five locking legs, and is sturdy. As for the Rock Deluxe rest, they’re not kidding – once you lock that puppy down, it’s not shifting. Caldwell surely made this shooting session easier.

Anyway, my oldest son and I put some factory .44 loads through it. We shot the following from my supply of .44 Mag ammo:

• PMC Bronze 180-gr JHP — 2174 fps/1889 fpe
• Hornady Leverevoltion 225-gr FTX — 2165 fps/2342 fpe
• Fiocchi Range Dynamics 240-grain JSP — 1478 fps/1164 fpe

Accuracy Results

I think that if I take this rifle into the woods come deer season, I might buy a box or two of the Hornady Leverevolution. The poly tip keeps the rounds safe in the tubular magazine, and the accuracy potential – coupled with over a ton of energy – would make quick work of a whitetail. The 180-grain load did very well, too… another option!

Sighting The Accuracy Solution

I purposely did not put an optic on the rifle, as I tried to test everything as it came from the box. However, as I found out, this rifle will benefit from an added optic. I set up at 50 yards, and we both fired groups with all the ammo. The groups were not that great, to be honest. It shot low and not very tight.

We decided that the XS ghost ring rear sight, which was very large, would be really good in the woods with lower levels of light since it is so big and allows quick target acquisition. However, it wasn’t easy for us to get extreme precision from it, since it was designed for fast shooting at closer-in ranges. A snap shot at a doe 30 yards away? No problem… both the ammo and the rifle would be up for that. A closely-aimed shot at the same deer at 75 yards? You might want to wait for her to get in a little closer. At least the targets showed promise with the loads I used…all three targets show groups of slightly more than an inch at 25 yards.

The ultimate sighting solution, of course, is to stick a scope or a red dot on the rifle. S&W has made that dead-nuts easy with the Picatinny rail on the top of the gun. Here’s where side-ejection shines. I noticed that they designed the 1854 to use side ejection and not top ejection (a la Winchester), so any optic you want to use is acceptable. As our Aussie friends might say, good on ya, S&W!

After testing the rifle more carefully at the range with its open sights for the review at closer range, I will put some sort of optic on it and really wring it out. I have zero doubt that the groups will tighten up and add yards to my effective range. Those of you who are used to using an aperture sight like the XS will probably not have any trouble at all shooting the rifle as it comes out of the box. But, my aged eyeballs need a bit of a boost.

One other thing… a six-pound-plus rifle in .44 Magnum will not kick very hard. Oh sure, it let you know when you pulled the trigger but it wasn’t bad. I figured it delivered around 10 pounds of recoil energy, depending upon the load. That is tolerable. The efficient rubber butt pad helped tame the recoil. Also, the threaded barrel will accept a muzzle brake or suppressor which may further help lessen the kick you feel.

Alternative Sighting

I am adding this paragraph later, as I just received a Burris Fast Fire 4 red dot sight from that company. This is a sight that works on handguns and long guns. I can’t wait to sight it in, although I’m not sure I could improve on the iron sights in terms of accuracy. The FF4 is a continuation of the Fast Fire series, has four reticles and four brightness settings, and comes with a weather shield. This is one nice sight for a rifle like this.

Photo Time

To Sum Up

Since I was a very young whipper-snapper and a family friend brought my brother and me lever-action BB rifles for Christmas one year, I’ve been a fan of that style of action. I once owned a Winchester 94 in .30-30. I kick myself every time I think of it for selling it back in the ’80s but at that time, you couldn’t hunt deer with centerfire rifles in Indiana. That’s changed now. I also own a Henry Big Boy in .44 Magnum.

Even with the pistol-caliber .44 Magnum, you are getting some serious oomph in the ballistics department out of this rifle. Consider that a .30-30 170-grain bullet will fly at around 2200 fps. Now, I’m not knocking the ol’ warhorse – plenty of freezers have been filled by hunters using that caliber. All I’m saying is that you can come close to the .30-30 with a 180-grain .44 Magnum load in terms of velocity and energy out of this long barrel. Granted, the .30-30 bullet is more streamlined and provides better down-range ballistics but at across-the-hollow deer ranges, that hardly matters. If you already own a .44 revolver, this rifle makes a great companion for it in terms of shared ammo. Add in the additional speed this rifle’s 19.25-inch barrel provides and you have a winner.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a lever-action rifle to your gun safe, you might want to check out the Smith & Wesson 1854. It is very light, handy, and versatile in terms of adding optics, lights, lasers, etc. – that adds to its value in my opinion. Plus, it is practically weather- and scratch-proof. Even if you want the fancy walnut-shiny-blue version, you’re covered. This one is not going back. Let’s hear from you below if you’re a lever fan!

About Mike Hardesty

With experience spanning over 45 years, Mike Hardesty has long enjoyed shooting and reloading. An inveterate reloader, he casts bullets and reloads for a diverse array of firearms, each handled with long-practiced precision. Living in rural Indiana, his homestead boasts a personal 100-yard range where he shares his love for guns to his four sons, their wives, and eleven grandchildren. As a recognized author, his writings have been featured in notable platforms like Sniper Country, Bear Creek Arsenal Blog, Pew Pew Tactical, TTAG, Dillon Precision’s Blue Press, and Gun Made, revealing his ongoing passion for firearms at the age of 72.