Marlin Model 1895 SBL (.45-70)

The Marlin 1895 SBL is the rifle that set the template every other modern big-bore lever now chases. Ruger reintroduced it from the Mayodan, North Carolina plant with the best build quality the 1895 has seen: a 19.1-inch cold hammer-forged 410 stainless barrel, a receiver, lever, and trigger guard plate CNC-machined from 416 stainless forgings, and a polished stainless finish that shrugs off weather a blued gun cannot. The gray laminate stock is dimensionally stable in wet timber, and the big-loop lever clears gloved hands.

The SBL ships ready to fight out of the box. The receiver wears a full-length Picatinny rail for a red dot, scout scope, or LPVO, the muzzle is threaded 11/16x24 for a brake or suppressor, and the sights are a tritium fiber-optic front paired with an adjustable ghost-ring rear that works in low light. A side loading gate lets you top off the 6-round tube without dropping the rifle off target. For dangerous-game backup, brush hunting, bear defense, and anyone who wants one .45-70 lever to do everything, the SBL is the pick. It costs more than a 336 and kicks harder, but nothing in the class is more complete from the factory.