Few people realized that Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, founders of the Smith & Wesson company, were partners in one of the earliest ventures to build lever-action firearms. That history was made apparent with last year’s launch of S&W’s 1854 series of lever-action rifles chambered in classic revolver cartridges. New for 2025, the company is expanding that lineup by offering the 1854 chambered in the legendary .45-70 Gov’t cartridge.
The Smith & Wesson 1854 .45-70 shares many of the features of the pistol-caliber versions, including a crossbolt safety, large-loop lever and flat-faced trigger. A forged stainless-steel receiver is paired with a 20” stainless-steel barrel that has eight-groove rifling with a 1:20” RH twist. Capacity is six rounds in the fixed, underbarrel magazine tube.
A 5.75” Picatinny rail comes attached to the receiver for mounting optics. Iron sights are in the form of a front post with a gold bead and a rear XS Sights “ghost ring” aperture. The front sight base and magazine are set back enough for the muzzle to be threaded 11/16×24 TPI for mounting suppressors and other muzzle accessories. The rifle weighs 7.2 lbs. and has an overall length of 37.8”.
Like the other rifles in the 1854 series, the new .45-70 models will be offered with a matte stainless finish and black synthetic furniture with M-Lok slots in the fore-end, or a “Traditional Walnut” model, with wood stock and a matte black Armornite finish on all stainless steel components. The matte stainless version has an MSRP of $1,399 and the Traditional Walnut version retails at $1,499. For more information, see the company’s website.
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