<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards . The specific problem is: poor grammar, incorrect and incomplete data Please help improve this article if you can . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Lever action is a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked . This contrasts to bolt - action, semi-automatic, or selective - fire weapons . Most lever - action firearms are rifles, but some lever - action shotguns and a few pistols have also been made . One of the most famous lever - action firearms is the Winchester Model 1873 rifle, but many manufacturers--notably Henry and Marlin--also produce lever - action rifles . Even Colt's Mfg. Co. produced 1883 until 1885 6403 lever - action Colt - Burgess rifles . Mossberg produces the 464 in centerfire . 30 - 30 and rimfire . 22 . While the term lever - action generally implies a repeating firearm, it is also sometimes--and incorrectly--applied to a variety of single - shot or falling - block actions that use a lever for cycling, such as the Martini--Henry or the Ruger No. 1 . </P> <P> Probably the first lever - action rifles on the market were Colt's 1st and 2nd Model Ring Lever rifles, both cap and ball rifles, produced by the Patent Arms Mfg. Co . Paterson, N.J. - Colt's Patent between 1837 and 1841 . The ring - lever was located in front of the trigger . This loading - lever, when pulled, would index the cylinder to the next position and cock the internal hidden hammer . </P> <P> Multiple lever action designs including the Volcanic pistol were designed before the American Civil War, but the first significant lever - action designs were the Spencer repeating rifle and Henry rifle . The Spencer was a magazine - fed lever - operated breech - loading rifle designed by Christopher Spencer in 1860 . It was fed from a removable seven - round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another, and which, when emptied, could be exchanged for another . Over 20,000 were made, and it was adopted by the United States and used during the American Civil War, marking the first adoption of a removable - magazine - fed infantry - and - cavalry rifle by any country . Unlike later designs, the early Spencer's lever only served to unlock the falling - block action and load a new cartridge from the magazine; it did not cock the hammer, and thus the hammer had to be cocked after the lever was operated to prepare the rifle to fire . </P>

When was the first lever action repeating rifle made