We're excited to bring you the second installment in our Lever Gun Chronicles Series this week.

As much as we love lever guns for their history, reliability, and unique capabilities, the people who use them are just as remarkable. Case in point? Our first personality feature in the series is Kristin Alberts.

A true authority on lever-action rifles, Kristin is a world-class hunter and a respected firearms journalist whose passion for lever guns is impressive. If you know her, you agree. If you don't, what are you waiting for?

In addition to this week's feature on Kristen Alberts, we also have another leadership story from Jeff Buchanan of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, along with the latest industry news and updates.

Enjoy this edition of The Hunting Wire!

— Jay
jay@theoutdoorwire.com

Kristin Alberts with a cape buffalo she took with a Henry All Weather Picatinny Rail 45-70 Side Gate rifle.

There may be some amongst us who limit lever gun mystic to images of strapping young men topped with cowboy hats and finished in boots with spurs. They’d be wrong. Kristin Alberts is one reason why.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Kristin Alberts as part of our year-long Lever Gun Chronicles campaign. As one of the most respected voices in the firearms and hunting industry today, Alberts embodies everything that makes the lever-action rifle special—heritage, practicality, and a deep connection to the outdoors.

It’s no coincidence that she is the first personality featured in this series. Kristin’s passion for lever guns isn’t just nostalgic—it’s functional, tested, and true. Whether she’s taking on big-game hunts with a .45-70 or reviewing the latest production models, she brings real-world experience and insight that both seasoned hunters and newcomers to the lever-action platform can appreciate.

Are you a lever-action rifle fan?

Alberts – “No question about it, lever action is a uniquely American firearms design that helped shape our country. Many of our parents, grandparents, and ancestors used lever actions. My fondness for lever actions starts with the nostalgia but continues to grow due to levers being downright enjoyable guns.”

What's your favorite lever-action rifle?

Alberts - “Oh, this is a heck of a difficult question. I cannot pick just one. So, I’ll share one old one and another newer design. In a throwback, it’s difficult to top the Savage 99. I have one that was generously passed to me in a roundabout way via my great uncle, great grandmother, and dear cousin. Because of its history, that ‘ol .300 Savage is one my most treasured. In newer production guns, I am absolutely in love with my Henry All Weather Picatinny Rail Side Gate .45-70 Gov’t, as I’ve staked my life on that rifle, and it has never once let me down.”

Kristin Alberts with her favorite lever-action rifle, her Savage Model 99 chambered in 300 Savage.

Does the lever gun have any unique traits which makes it the gun of choice for you as a hunter?

Alberts – “First and foremost, I’m drawn to the nostalgia of the lever action. As I mentioned earlier, lever actions are slick, fast cycling, and generally a more compact build that’s handy in tighter quarters. With the rise in threaded barrels, lever guns are becoming fine suppressor hosts. The platform is practical, plain and simple.”

How has the lever gun impacted the hunting community?

Alberts - “It warms my heart to see more and more people buying their first lever guns and giving this platform a try. There’s no bad way to do it, whether it’s a rimfire, handgun chambering, or bigger bore. Lever guns are equally as capable as any other action for hunting everything from varmints to dangerous game.”

What is, or are, your fondest memories of hunting with your favorite lever action rifle?

Alberts - “Once again, I have trouble choosing just one. Hunting squirrels with my grandfather and a well-worn Marlin .22LR. Taking my first Cape Buffalo with one well-placed shot from that Henry .45-70. Bagging an American bison with a .38-55 Marlin. I have fond memories of all those rifles, along with taxidermized reminders, but at the end of the day, the lever gun was the tool that brought together some great people, places, and really made those memories special.”

Do you ever feel handicapped as a hunter with your lever-action rifle?

Alberts - “I don’t necessarily feel handicapped. In many situations, a lever action in the hands of a practiced shooter is just the opposite. It’s a fast cycling, smooth the running tool. A trickier proposition can be longer-range shots with lever guns and their most common chamberings, but that brings two factors into play. First, the biggest joy of hunting for me is using woodsmanship and getting close enough to your quarry. And secondly, there are some fine lever actions out there capable of impressive performance. No matter the action type you choose, it’s just a matter of knowing your ethical limitations, as well as learning the capabilities of the specific firearm.”

If you could only have one lever action, which one would it be and why?

Alberts - “Why choose just one? If I had to narrow it down, I’d hang close to any number of Savage 99’s, Henry’s 45-70’s, and close behind is my fondness for many of the classics--Winchester 1873, an original Marlin 39, and the sweet Colt Burgess carbine. At the moment, I’m pining over a Winchester 1895. As you can see, it’s difficult stop with just one.”

Why do you think lever guns have surged in popularity over the past few years?

Alberts - “I really don’t know why, but it has certainly been a pleasant surprise. There are companies jumping aboard the lever action train that I never would have expected, and we can’t fault them for cashing in on a trending market. I have my favorites, just as I’m sure everyone else does, but having more options on the market is never a bad thing.”

Do you expect that surge to continue?

Alberts -“I don’t know how far this surge can roll, but one thing is certain. It has left us with a wealth of lever actions unprecedented for our time. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

Outside of hunting, what other roles should people consider a lever action for? Are there any which are underrated?

Alberts - “There’s very obviously a growing demographic of folks interested in more defense-centric lever actions with tactical features. Home defense use is not out of the question. Don’t overlook a quality rimfire lever action, or the light-recoiling handgun-chambered lever guns for newer shooters. No gun collection or hunting lineup is complete without a lever action.”

Alberts closed out her interview by saying, “I have been blessed with the opportunity to hunt everything from Squirrels in the back forty to dangerous game in Africa with a lever action, which just helps highlight the capabilities of the design. If you’re reading this, then you must share some of the same affinity for lever guns. If I’m lucky, I’ll have the chance to continue doing what I love with lever guns, and I hope you’ll get to make some memories with yours as well.”

And that’s why I ran Kristin Alberts interview first. She puts the class in classic, and I just don’t know if there’s a more suitable first voice for lever actions today.

Jay Pinsky – Editor, The Hunting Wire
jay@theoutdoorwire.com

By Jeff Buchanan

Most outdoorsmen and conservation professionals I know make a lot of decisions about people: which guide to recruit and hire for my outfitting service, or which game warden should I send for an extra developmentalopportunity or advanced education, or who do I promote and who do I let go? We even face “people” decisions as clients or consumers: guide services, taxidermists, and butcher shops are just a few examples.

When making personnel decisions, there’s a tendency to focus on skills rather than character and that leads to problems. I’ve learned that character beats skills.

In 2017, I was part of a gathering of military leaders and college football coaches. We were there to learnfrom each other. Though we came from vastly different worlds, we listened, learned, and came away richer from the experience. Most of our conversations focused on how we could best recruit and develop elite talent. The following example from that discussion is based on recruiting, but it could apply to nearly any personnel decision. Consider this simple graph:

The people we want to recruit are in the upper right quadrant. They have the most skills and the most character. We instinctively understand that they will have the best possible effect on our team, not only because of the talent they bring to the organization, but also because of their character: they will help tomake the entire team better. Our typical assessment systems, however, usually only measure skills: how much can a man bench-press, how well can a woman shoot (either a basketball or a rifle), how fast this person can write code and how fast that one can run a 40-yard sprint. Because of this narrow assessment, three key insights arise.

The first insight is that we get what I call “false positives.” The false positives are in the lower right quadrant. These are people with tremendous skills but little in the way of character. If we only assess skills, weleaders can become blinded with the potential of

the recruit we are trying to lure to our team: “Wow! He can throw a football 60 yards in the air…if we had him, we could compete for a national championship!” It is not very hard to think of a very highly draftedcollege football player who self-destructed once he made it to the pros. They had a lot of skills but little character. They end up as “has- beens,” or worse, in prison.

The second insight is that we miss the “false negatives.” False negatives are in the upper left quadrant.These are people with tremendous character, but who have far less skills. Since we don’t typically assesscharacter, we are more likely to dismiss or overlook them.

The third insight may be the most important: it’s far easier to move somebody to the right (teach skills) than it is to move them upwards (build character).

I was discussing this insight with one of the coaches I worked with in that workshop, and he agreed that character was critical. I then asked him how he measured the character in the recruits he was pursuing, and he said: “I always take them to dinner. I don’t care what they eat; heck, they could even order a banana split.I can teach them to eat right. What I watch for, though, is how they treat the wait staff. If they don’t treat thesepeople with dignity and respect, I don’t want them on my team and I don’t care how far they can throw a football. Life is too short to coach a turd.”

As a commissioner for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, I’ve seen a number of guide services who regretted hiring a specific guide. Every single time, the regret comes from a lack of character rather than an absence of skills. The guide inevitably gets caught doing something wrong and gets fired, and the reputation of the guide or outfitting service always suffers. Clients may even get caught up in this and suffer consequences as well. A lack of character is never worth the risk, and as I said, it’s a lot harder to build character than teach skills.

The next time you have a decision to make about which of your team gets the nod and the promotion, consider the character of each candidate. You can train somebody to run faster or shoot straighter far more easily than you can teach them to choose the harder right choice over the easier wrong, especially when nobody else is watching.

Character is more valuable to your organization than pure talent. Consider this graph the next time you have a tough personnel decision to make., and good luck in all your outdoor pursuits!

Jeff Buchanan retired as a Lieutenant General from the Army in 2019. He had four combat deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. He also led the military forces supporting FEMA in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and commanded more than 6,000 troops on the Southwest border in support of CBP. He and his wife live on a small ranch outside of Patagonia, Arizona and he is one of five commissioners for the Arizona Game and Fish Department

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and Beretta USA, is proud to release the latest installment in the Partner with a Payer® video series. This new video offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Pittman-Robertson federal excise tax dollars—generated by firearm, ammunition and archery manufacturers—are directly funding conservation, habitat restoration and public access to hunting and shooting opportunities.