TAMING A BIG HORNED BEAST - PT 1 - 500 S&W Magnum Model 89 SPIKE DRIVER

PART 1 - PRACTICALITY & PASSION

The American Bison and the lever-action rifle are each enduring symbols of the great American West. The bison, nearly hunted to extinction, now lives on robustly because of thoughtful herd management. 30 years ago, the lever gun was grandpa’s gun. Fallen from grace to the back of the closet because it lacked modern sporting rifle cool “factors”. Lever guns are in a renaissance and far from extinction!

Passion and practicality fuel the lever gun revolution!

Practicality - many citizens, from states where semi-automatic rifles with box magazines are restricted, want a proven, reliable, easy to run platform.

Passion - from guys like Greg Buchel (pronounced buckle) of Big Horn Armory. The passion for Greg’s gun was born in 2008 when he set out to make a “pistol caliber carbine”, which would shoot THE most powerful production handgun cartridge in the world. Inspired by a suggestion from a neighbor, he wrapped up 150+ years of lever gun evolution into a brand of rifles with the backbone to take down any game animal walking the planet.

Powerful lever-action rifles are nothing new. Lever-action rifles grew to shoot powerful rifle cartridges. An example is the Winchester ‘94 and the iconic 30-30 Winchester round. That was evolution.

Historically, one of the biggest attractions to the iconic Winchester ‘73 - was that it was chambered in pistol caliber. One reason that gun “won the west”, was because a cowboy only had to pack one kind of cartridge. Several hundred more feet per second, greater accuracy, and greater range all come from pushing that pistol round through a rifle. Longer barrel = more complete powder burning. No loss of gas at the forcing cone/cylinder gap of a revolver either.

Taking inspiration from guns of old, the Big Horn Armory Model 89 became THE production lever gun built specifically to shoot THE most powerful handgun cartridge in the world. The BHA family of lever guns, Models 89, 90 and 90A spit out 500 S&W Magnum, 460 S&W Magnum, and 454 Casull.

We had a chat with BHA founder Greg Buchel. We also had the amazing chance to take the Model 89 “SPIKE DRIVER” for some test drives. The Model 89 was 4 years in the making and there are more than a few stories we can tell about it.

Check back as we talk to Greg Buchel and learn about Big Horn Armory; we meet the inventor of the 500 S&W Magnum and share our own experiences with this beautiful rifle.

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