There was a time when the lever-action rifle was the pinnacle of rapid-fire weapons technology. Technology may have moved on from manually operated designs, but lever actions nevertheless remain a popular choice for hunting, target practice, and cowboy-action competition.
Throughout their long and prodigious history, lever-action rifles have been chambered in a massive variety of calibers suitable for a huge range of purposes. These rifles are available in rimfire chamberings for plinking and small-game hunting, big-bore powerhouse rounds capable of taking down anything in the lower 48, and even revolver cartridges for ammo commonality with your sidearm.

Rifle Cartridges
The most popular chamberings for a lever-action rifle are, naturally, full-power rifle rounds. There are many available, but .30-30 Winchester and .45-70 Government tend to be far and away the most common. You may notice that the nomenclature for these rounds is a bit different from modern cartridges. Older rounds such as these used their name to denote not only their caliber, which is indicated by the first number, before the dash, but also their powder load, measured in grains, which is indicated by the second number.
Of course, modern powders are now so numerous and varied that cartridges can no longer denote a single powder load in their name because different powders can require significantly different charges to achieve the same velocity.
The .30-30 Winchester is perhaps the most iconic of the lever-action rounds. It was one of the most popular chamberings for the Winchester Model 1894—the iconic Rifle That Won The West. Since it’s introduction in that legendary rifle in 1895, it has become an exceptionally popular hunting round for medium-sized game.
While lever-action rifles and their characteristically flat-nosed cartridges are a poor choice for truly long-range shots, they’re fully capable of accurate hits within normal hunting distances, and the .30-30 offers an excellent balance of ballistics—enough energy to take down a deer, but not so much excess as to spoil an unnecessary amount of meat.
Even with the wealth of options available in the modern day, a .30-30 Winchester lever action remains one of the most popular rifles for whitetail deer hunting. For very large game, though, the .30-30 can leave something to be desired. For that purpose, the .45-70 Government exists.
An even older round .30-30 Winchester, the .45-70 Gov’t first came about all the way back in 1873 and originally wasn’t even designed for a lever action rifle. It was first utilized in trapdoor rifles and wouldn’t be adapted into lever action designs until much later.
.45-70 is a powerhouse of a cartridge, with some loads generating over 3,000 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. While the heavy, low-ballistic coefficient bullets utilized by the cartridge offer poor ballistics at extended ranges, they hit hard at shorter distances and are a popular choice for personal defense against grizzly bears.

Handgun Cartridges
While a handgun cartridge is never going to rival the firepower of a proper rifle round, there’s a logistical value in having both your rifle and sidearm chambered in the same cartridge. Only having to buy and carry one type of ammo just makes life simpler.
For that reason, and more besides, lever-action rifles chambered in handgun rounds like .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum are among the most popular on the market.
.44 Magnum offers near-rifle levels of ballistics, with some loads producing nearly 1500 ft-lbs of muzzle energy—more than enough for most medium game at reasonable ranges. But, being substantially shorter than full-size rounds like .30-30 or .45-70, it also allows for a substantial increase in capacity.
The same is true for .357 Magnum. While not as powerful as .44 and definitely a step down ballistically, it’s still capable of harvesting quite a few different game animals, or taking care of troublesome predators like coyotes, all while offering more rounds on tap than would be possible with a rifle round.
Handgun cartridges like .44 and .357 Magnum also benefit from lower recoil, owing primarily to their smaller size and powder charge, as well as being more economical on average. This makes them an excellent option for teaching new marksmen or for lower-cost target practice.
The reduced recoil and increased capacity of .44 and .357 cartridges also make them a popular choice for modern tactical lever action rifles. These cartridges have a decent variety of high-quality self-defense loads available as well. Outfitted with a weaponlight and red dot, lever action rifles make a very viable setup for home defense. Henry Repeating Arms offers a variant of their Big Boy rifles outfitted with modern polymer furniture and sporting a section of Picatinny rail, which makes for a perfect starting point for a tactical lever action build.
Additionally, these rounds benefit from being able to chamber certain smaller cartridges as well. .357 Magnum can make use of .38 Special standard or +P loads for even less recoil, while .44 Magnum has .44 Special available for the same purpose. These cartridges even have the benefit of being subsonic with many loads, making them an excellent choice for suppressed use.

Rimfire Cartridges
Still, not every situation or use case calls for a cartridge that can bring down a deer. Rimfire cartridges like .22LR are perfect for low-cost plinking, suppressed target practice, and small game hunting.
For casual target practice, there are few better choices than .22LR. The nearly nonexistent recoil and mild report make it perfect for new users, and at just a few cents per round on average, long range sessions won’t leave a hole in your wallet.
.22 cartridges also make an excellent platform for suppressors, owing to the availability of subsonic ammo and their extremely low caliber. Manually-operated rifles like bolt- and lever-actions take maximum advantage of the caliber, avoiding the action noise created by semi-autos. A suppressed rimfire lever-action is likely to be the quietest gun in your collection.
Rossi Firearms‘ Rio Bravo Tactical rifle is a perfect example of an optimal .22 suppressor host, coming from the factor with an optic-ready receiver and threaded barrel.
Lever-action rifles chambered in .22LR have a unique versatility not seen in autoloading rifles—that is, the ability to fire not only .22LR but also smaller .22 variants like .22 Long and .22 Short. It’s a rare rifle that can chamber three different rounds without a single modification, but .22 lever actions are up to the task.
For a more powerful cartridge well-suited to small game hunting, many lever-action rifles are also available in .22 Magnum. As its “Magnum” designation would suggest, this cartridge shares the same .22 caliber bullet as the aforementioned smaller rounds, but with considerably increased case size and capacity, achieving much higher velocities.
The greater firepower offered by .22 Magnum can be a particular boon for those hunting small game, especially at extended ranges.

Conclusion
Lever-action rifles have been around since before the days of the Wild West, and have garnered a huge catalog of available calibers. While many are sadly no longer in production, there’s still a healthy range of options for anyone in the market for a new rifle.
From powerhouse cartridges like .45-70 that are fit to handle the toughest game in the continental U.S., to versatile handgun rounds like .357 Magnum, there’s a lever-action cartridge out there for every application.