Out of Curiosity...

[FireMedic]

I have always wondered why, with rare exception, lever guns are rifles and pump guns are shotguns. I have found a couple of guns that break this mold but overall (98%) they appear to follow this trend. So I am hoping one you you smarter folks can educate me as to why that is. 

[KahrMan]

Never really thought about it. I used to have a Browning Pump Rifle for deer hunting but other than that all the pump rifles I have seen have been .22s. 
I am sure there is a reason why but I do not know it. 

[gary_boom]

That is a good question. You have got me thinking. Maybe advertising and marketing many years ago.

[gregintenn]

Because God and John Browning said it was to be so.

 

I've handled a Winchester lever action shotgun and several bolt action shotguns, and unwieldy is the term that comes to mind.

Although Remington made some pretty cool pump rifles, I expect it was difficult to get top flight accuracy out of such an arrangement. Colt also made some really nice Lightning rifles, but for whatever reason, they were never as popular as the levers.

[OldIronFan]

In general exposed rim cartridges don't feed or load all that well in box style magazines. 
Traditional cartridges' and shotgun shells from the period of transition from percussion fired weapons (powder, patch, ball) were typically straight wall and with an exposed rim. These feed just fine from a tube magazine and a lift mechanism or could be easily extracted/ejected from a break action. 

As higher power "modern" cartridges came into play things shifted. Now there was a concern that the modern jacketed and point tip bullets were not safe in a tube magazine however with their traditionally rebated rims they would load and feed in a box style magazine. The spring loaded box magazine lends itself to bolt action as the bolt will compress the magazine spring when closed and then strip that next round from the magazine when cycled. You can do this with a pump action but there would need to be a rotational aspect designed into the action, such as a cam, to rotate the bolt and lock the lugs into the barrel/extension since you do not have the manual rotation of the as you would in a bolt action. 

[bubbadavis]

I've got a couple of pump action 22 rifles.

One of my prized possessions is a bolt action shotgun. It was the first shotgun I ever shot. Eventually I inherited it from my Grandfather. It's probably a $200 shotgun to most people but to me it's priceless.  

[Grayfox54]

I think more than likely that the customers made the choice. Its all about what would sell. 

I never liked a bolt action shotgun, but I kinda want a lever action Winchester 1887 shotgun just for the cool factor.  However, a pump shotgun is probably a little faster. 

Likewise, I've never been fond of pump rifles. But I do own a  Rossi 62A pump .22. That thing, a set of spinners and a few boxes of ammo make for a fun day. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Grayfox54

[Gurn]

I believe Henry makes leaver shotguns. Never tried one though. 

[Jeb48]

I have lever Marlin .410 made around 1929 as best I can tell and of course pump .22s and shotguns. What I would like is a lever or pump that takes AR15 magazines.

[Garufa]

12 minutes ago, Jeb48 said:

 What I would like is a lever or pump that takes AR15 magazines.

If that’s your thing you could start here:    

https://worldoftroy.com/product/troy-pump-action-rifle-optic-ready-2019/

[Jeb48]

Very interesting, I didn't know someone was actually selling them. I saw an article on a one off someone built. Bit pricy just to have something different but tempting. Thanks for the link.

[Garufa]

11 minutes ago, Jeb48 said:

Very interesting, I didn't know someone was actually selling them. I saw an article on a one off someone built. Bit pricy just to have something different but tempting. Thanks for the link.

They are silly IMHO, but necessity is the mother of invention...like AR’s without pistol grips.

[BigSatt]

Very interesting. 

[FireMedic]

A pump action AR is very interesting. I would love to disassemble that just to look at it and play with that. 

[Chemgeo]

From what I understand, the lever mechanism puts more strain on the case itself. Lever action shotguns often have reliability issues because the plastic shotgun shell deforms under load. Pump actions seem to place less stress on the case. But I could be wrong about that.