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The Resurgence of Lever Action Firearms: Old West Meets Modern Tech

Modern lever action rifle with custom modifications and optics"
Modern lever action rifle with custom modifications and optics"

In recent years, there’s been a noticeable uptick in the popularity of lever action firearms. These classic rifles, long associated with the American Old West, are experiencing a renaissance among modern shooters. But what’s driving this trend, and how have these traditional firearms adapted to the 21st century?

A Blend of Nostalgia and Innovation

Lever action rifles have always held a special place in American gun culture. Their connection to frontier history and their iconic status in Western films give them an undeniable appeal. However, today’s renewed interest goes beyond mere nostalgia.

Modern manufacturers and custom shops, especially Midwest Industries and Mad Pig Customs, have breathed new life into the platform, updating these classic designs with contemporary materials and features. Lightweight alloys with modern machining techniques, improved optics, and enhanced ergonomics have made lever guns more practical and versatile than ever before. We just had the pleasure of doing a “modernized” lever action. This particular one was a Henry Model X 45-70, customized with Midwest Industries parts, shown in the pics on this article.

The Mad Pig Customs Effect

One of the companies that’s played a significant role in this lever action revival is Mad Pig Customs, owned by Steve Tyliszczak. This innovative custom shop has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with lever action rifles, creating eye-catching and highly functional builds that have captured the imagination of gun enthusiasts.

Mad Pig Customs has become known for their unique approach, which often includes:

  • Modern optics mounting solutions
  • Custom cerakote finishes
  • Enhanced furniture and ergonomics
  • Improved action work for smoother operation

Their builds, showcased all over social media, and even making it onto the big screen in John Wick 3, have inspired both individual gun owners and other manufacturers to explore the potential of modernized lever actions. And let’s be honest, have caused a lot of drool on phone screens from gun guys who’ve stumbled across their awesome designs. Check out more about Mad Pig on their website and an article from Free Range American here.

Why Lever Actions Now?

Several factors contribute to the current popularity of lever action rifles:

  1. Versatility: Modern lever guns have became huge for hunting, target shooting, and we’ve even seen them used by some for home defense, although that’s not something we generally recommend in the age of semi-autos and higher capacity options.
  2. Legal considerations: In some regions with strict gun laws, lever actions face fewer restrictions than semi-automatic rifles.
  3. Ammunition compatibility: Many lever actions can use common handgun calibers, simplifying ammo logistics for some shooters.
  4. Shooting experience: The unique manual of arms provides a different and often enjoyable shooting experience compared to semi-autos.

As more shooters discover the potential of these updated classics, it’s likely we’ll continue to see innovation and growth in the lever action market. The fusion of Old West charm with modern firearm technology has created a category that appeals to a wide range of enthusiasts, bridging the gap between tradition and contemporary shooting sports.

So while we here at Schiwerks can’t think of a reason we really NEED a modernized lever action, it’s more of a issue of want for us. And we definitely see one of these in our future. How about you?

~Sam


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Spike’s Warthog & Samurai

Spikes Tactical Warthog Receiver

Spike’s Tactical is one of the companies putting out these awesome face lowers.

They’re extremely popular, especially in the cerakote industry. There have been countless cerakote jobs put on them, but we like to think ours is a bit different from all the rest. We spent a lot of time on the details of this and are extremely happy how they came out.

What do you guys think? How’d we do?

As usual, props to Ballistic Imagery for the photos.

~Sam

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Cordless hole puncher??

milwaukee glock

A lot of what we do for our customers is bring their ideas to life.

So many of our customers work with a specific product and want that conveyed in the artwork on their firearm. This is what we specialize in.

This particular Glock was the perfect canvas for the job, and with Cerakote, laser stippling, frame undercut, memory cut, horn removal, and a custom backplate, this custom piece turned out amazing.

And of course, the photography by Ballistic Imagery certainly helps.

Sam
Schiwerks

Make sure you check out some of our other media at the links below, and our gallery.

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Patina Bronze Overthrow Set

Rainier Arms Overthrow
Rainier Arms Overthrow

Recently got the opportunity to cerakote a Rainier Arms Overthrow AR set. These are really cool designed AR lowers, machined to look like an old knight’s or crusader’s metal helmet. The customer just told us he wanted it to look old and worn and gave us free reign to make it look awesome. (We love getting free reign.)

Well it definitely turned out bad ass, so we had Ballistic Imagery come in a snap some pictures for us. Let us know what you guys think and leave a comment below!

Check out more work by Ballistic Imagery on his website or Facebook page.

Look at our other projects in our Gallery.

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Craftsmanship: Woodworking, Kydex, Cerakote, And What Drives Us.

holster wallet
Over the past five generations, this family’s style of craftsmanship has changed. But the quality has always been there, and always will be.

The Schiwerks Way

(1/28/2018) – First things first, thank you thank you thank you for being interested enough in our company to click on this. We’ve worked hard and come a long way, and along that way, every single person that’s “liked”, “shared”, bought, or commented on any one thing that we’ve done has meant more to us than you’ll ever realize. In today’s world of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., you would think building a website and driving enough traffic to it to generate an income wouldn’t be all that hard. But I’ll tell ya right now, it has not been easy. It has been hard, it has been frustrating, and at times, even a little maddening. We’re not even close to achieving what we know we can, and without you, none of it is even possible. So, sincerely, thank you.

Now, to the reason I’m writing this. We want you to know who we are. What we stand for. Why we’re “different”.

If you’ve had any interest in us prior to this point, you’ve probably figured out that this company consists of Sam, the owner, and myself, Jesse. We’re a couple of brothers who are probably more alike than we’d like to be.

Growing up, we spent a lot of time in Dad’s wood shop. And he did the same with his dad. Four generations of this before us. Somehow, in a town of less than 400 people, he managed to make a living and provide for Mom and their four children. A woodworker. In a town of less than 400. And he made it work. Churning out some of the best damn woodworking you’ll ever see. Hell, his projects have even made the newspaper! It was a horse-drawn hearse, and it was frickin’ impressive. He’s the purest definition of a craftsman.

Sam and I, while we did “dabble” in wordworking a little bit, it just wasn’t for us. Out of high school, Sam went to college for collision repair and mechanics. Up until January 1, 2018 that has been his life.

I don’t know how much you know about automotive paint. But it can be a real pain in the ass. Now, we’ve both been doing it long enough where it just kind of comes naturally, it’s not really something we have to think about. Of course, there are still times when we’ll get our ass kicked by color-matching a white pearl tri-coat, but that’s a whole different story.

What we’ve developed an eye for throughout the years are tiny little imperfections. Imperfections that most people would never notice, or if they did notice, probably wouldn’t even care about. Not only did we develop an eye for these things, we both grew to REALLY hate having an imperfection in our paint. We both know we can create a perfect finish with relative ease. So why let that one little thing fly?

Body work and paint translates perfectly to what both of us do. For Sam, cerakote is just another day in the shop.

Myself, I was kind of a computer guy. I decided to go to college for Computer Aided Drafting. Sam was working in Kansas City, and I had just been accepted down there. A few hours after I graduated high school, I drove down there and moved in with him. That went….poorly, to say the least, and before I even started school, I moved back home and started working construction.

After about a year of that, we were on vacation, and I still had no idea what I was doing with my life. We were sitting on a dock at the Lake of the Ozarks, and my oldest brother said, “Well, why not do what Sam does?”

Yeah, why not? I’d had an interest in cars before, I had just never really thought of it. A couple months later, I was done working construction, and I’ve kind of been unintentionally following Sam’s footsteps ever since.

I’ve been doing collision work now for eight years. I loved it, for a long time. And I probably will for a long time to come. But at this point, I need a challenge. I need a change. I need something bigger, something that matters. I can’t speak for Sam, or why he chose to start Schiwerks. But I do know that he is passionate about what he does, and that neither of us will quit until we succeed.

At first, making holsters was just a nice change of pace from the monotony of beating out dents. A nice hobby. Then Sam asked if I’d like to sell them under Schiwerks. There’s the challenge. An even bigger challenge: helping him create a brand that can make a difference.

Although expert craftsmanship has been in our blood for five generations now, and we’ve both learned to be maybe a little bit over-critical of our work from our time as body-men, giving you a superb product isn’t our lone top priority.

We put everything we have into our products. Our time, our money, and on multiple occasions I’ve put quite a bit of blood into it, never cried though. Man stuff, ya know. And when we’re done putting in, we put out. Err….donate. Sorry.

We recognize that without our military, we wouldn’t be where we are, doing what we’re doing. We aim to give back to those who deserve it most. To support those who defend us. Who’ve literally given their everything.

We’re just a couple of freedom-loving brothers, and we’re just getting started. Just wait until you see what we can do.