It had a full-length stock to dampen barrel vibrations, a removable box magazine that allowed hunters to take advantage of better ballistics pointed bullets provided, and combined lever/trigger assemblies, which eliminated the pinched fingers and snagged gloves known so well to lever gunners. It had no external hammer, no side-loading tubular magazine limited to flat-nosed rounds, and no rear breech lock-up. First revealed in 1955 as “a bolt action rifle with a lever,” it shared few features with levered Winchesters made up to that time.
