Lever action rifles have made quite the comeback in recent years. A lot of us got bored with our AR-15s and decided to go retro. Along the way, we decided we wanted some of those convenient AR touches on our lever guns. We view these modern, tactical (for lack of a better term) lever-action rifles as a new invention, but they’ve been around longer than you might expect. The first being the Mossberg 464 SPX.
Okay, it’s probably not the first, but it was the first tactical lever gun produced by a major company. Mossberg introduced the 464 series in 2008. In 2012, they expanded that with the SPX series, which gave us the “tactical” features. There might be lots of tactical lever actions these days, but none have done it quite like the 464 SPX.
Breaking Down the 464 SPX
The Mossberg 464 series was discontinued a few years ago, but it’s left behind quite a legacy. I remember two distinct things about the 464 SPX series back in 2012. The first was ridicule. People reacted to it with disgust. It was seen as sacrilege in the lever-action world.
The second thing I remember is seeing one in the wild at a gun show. I enjoy weird and unusual guns, so I liked the 464 SPX and remember wanting one, but never pulled the trigger, so to speak. Until recently, obviously.
The 464 SPX is a bit of a mash-up of lever-action rifles. The gun is largely based on the Winchester 1894, but it’s also influenced by the Marlin 336.
The .30-30 version has a side loading gate, but they also produced a .22LR that loaded through a magazine tube. The gun top-ejects like a Winchester ‘94. Internally, the 464 is simple, but externally, that’s where things get a little weird.
Let’s start from the muzzle end. The gun has a 16.25-inch barrel that’s topped off with an A2 flash hider. Underneath, the magazine tube holds six .30-30 rounds. The forend has three short sections of rail for adding accessories. The gun has high-visibility fiber-optic sights that are quite bright.
There’s both a Mossberg-style tang safety and a grip lever safety and there’s no half-cock position for the hammer.
As we get to the rear, the most prominent feature of the gun, the stock. It’s a six-position, collapsing stock design ripped from an AR and slapped into a traditional format. It’s jarring, interesting, and surprisingly effective.
The 464 SPX – More Than One
Mossberg made a few variations of this gun. It came in both .30-30 and .22 LR, as well as a few different furniture configurations. My model has the three small rails on the handguard and an AR stock from ATI. Other models have full-length Picatinny rails, and still others have a Blackhawk stock instead of the ATI stock.
Let’s remember 2012 was an interesting era for guns and ammo. The zombie craze had hit the US hard, and the gun industry got involved in a big way. We had ammo, accessories, targets, and even guns. Mossberg released a series of ZMB firearms, with a 464 ZMB option. It’s essentially the SPX with the letters ZMB in lurid zombie green.
Mossberg was ahead of the game with the tactical lever action, but what exactly is the purpose of such a thing?
Why a Tactical Lever Gun?
From a practical perspective, the purpose of the 464 SPX and the entire tactical lever-gun world is to be a more modular lever-action rifle. The features allow for much easier accessory integration, better stock fit, and a break from the wood furniture of the classic lever gun. And they’re also a great suppressor host.
Guns like the 464 SPX are lightweight, short, and fairly handy. It’s a good brush gun with some modularity. There are arguments regarding the use of a tactical lever-action rifle in ban states, and it would work, but you’d probably still be better off with a neutered semi-auto AR or similar rifle.
For me, it’s just a gun. A lot of fun. It may be a little silly, a little weird, and I’ll always take any break from the norm.
At the Range With the 464 SPX
Let’s go ahead and get the bad news out of the way. My example of the 464 SPX isn’t a reliable rifle. I’ve shot a standard 464 in .22LR plenty and it always worked. That’s not the case with this 464.
I had a lot of feeding issues. Live rounds will often eject with spent casings. The rounds will flip upward as the action closes and jam between the bolt and the receiver. Sometimes the rounds would do a flip like an amateur parkourist and end up with the projectile facing backward.
The gun only worked reliably when I babied the action, moving it just slowly enough to eject the empty and load the next round. It’s not really tactical to have what’s essentially the world’s slowest repeater.
Beyond the feeding and ejecting issues, the gun always went bang when a round managed to be loaded in the chamber. Still, reliability is a big issue. If your gun doesn’t cycle reliably, not much else matters.
Hitting Targets
The open fiber optic sights are bright and easy to see. Your eye snaps right to them, making them easy to get on target quickly and effectively. Those bright sights make snapshots quick, which is a good trait for a .30-30 in its famed role as a brush hunting cartridge.
From a low ready, I can hit an eight-inch gong at 25 yards in less than a second. At 50 yards, it takes a couple of ticks, but I feel my own skills are slowing me down. I need a red dot to get the most out of this rifle.
The trigger is very crisp and exactly what you expect from a lever-action rifle. It’s a bit stiff, but there’s no take-up and the trigger feels great. I’m able to print 3-inch groups at 50 yards with iron sights. It’s not the most accurate rifle, but I don’t think many folks buy a lever gun for its precision capabilities.
A Whole Lot of Safety
Manual safeties are a touchy subject in the lever-gun world. Many feel the half-cock is good enough and I don’t have a dog in that fight. I don’t mind the tang safety, but the grip lever safety feels unnecessary. If you don’t grip the lever upward, the gun won’t fire.
The lever action itself is smooth until a round begins to load into the chamber. Then you feel the pressure required to increase the action. It takes a bit of effort to get the breech to close, almost as if it’s a bit tight, but it’s not. You can easily pull the round out of the chamber, and it doesn’t feel stuck. It’s just a stiff action at certain points.
The stock is quite comfortable. The .30-30 recoil isn’t intense by any means, and the M4-style stock absorbs enough of it to make shooting it very comfortable. The ability to adjust for length of pull is a plus regardless of how ugly it might be. The cheek riser is a nice touch too, since it’s not exactly an inline stock.
If you want to swap the stock for something else, you can, but Mossberg used a commercial-spec tube, so you’re limited in your options.
Interestingly enough, the furniture has the waffle-like pattern you see on a standard M4-style stock. That provides a decent grip, but also plenty of places for dirt and moisture to accumulate if you’re a clean freak.
Call Me Disappointed
I like the weirdness of the 464 SPX. It’s pretty much the closest we have to a retro tactical lever action. For me, it’s interesting, but it also needs to work. Sadly, that’s not the case here and it’s frustrating. I want to like this gun, but to like it, I need it to cycle reliably. That’s simply not the deal we get with the 464 SPX.