Marlin Model 57 Levermatic

About the Marlin Model 57 Levermatic

The Marlin Model 57 Levermatic is an American .22 rimfire lever-action rifle produced from 1959 to 1965. Its defining feature is the Levermatic action, a short-throw lever mechanism using a cam-and-roller accelerator that requires less than 1.5 inches of lever travel, allowing exceptionally fast follow-up shots. Chambered for .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle, it fed from a full-length tubular magazine holding up to 18 Long Rifle cartridges and wore a 22-inch barrel with a Monte Carlo pistol-grip stock. The tubular-magazine Model 57 proved more popular than the earlier box-magazine Model 56, and 34,628 were built.

Marlin marketed the Levermatic as the fastest lever gun made, its ultra-short throw letting a shooter cycle the action almost without shifting the rifle off the shoulder.

Marlin Model 57 Levermatic specifications

The Levermatic mechanism was developed by Marlin engineers Ewald Nichol and Tom Robinson, drawing on the earlier Kessler Lever-Matic concept. The follow-on Model 57M, chambered in .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, outsold the Model 57 with 66,889 units.