Description
The Smith Wesson 1854 High Grade Walnut is the 1854 in its limited high grade walnut configuration, with a blued 19.25 inch barrel and a large loop lever. High grade walnut means stock blanks selected for figure rather than taken as they come, so the grain pattern on any given rifle is unique to it.
Smith Wesson 1854 High Grade Walnut Walnut and Finish
Standard production stocks are cut from whatever the blank supply yields, and the result is serviceable but plain. High grade blanks are chosen for grain figure, the kind of curl and colour variation that follows the wood rather than the machining. Because it depends on how the tree grew, no two rifles finish identically, which is much of the appeal for buyers who see a lever gun as something to keep rather than merely use.
Paired with a blued barrel and receiver rather than stainless, the result is a rifle that looks the way lever actions looked before polymer and Cerakote arrived. That is a deliberate choice on a design that is otherwise thoroughly modern underneath.
Modern Mechanics
The 19.25 inch barrel has eight groove rifling with a 1:20 twist for 44 Magnum, and the muzzle is threaded 11/16×24. A threaded lever gun sounds incongruous until the first time one is fired indoors or under a covered range: magnum handgun cartridges from a rifle barrel are genuinely loud, and having the option matters.
The magazine tube holds nine rounds and is removable, which is the useful departure from traditional lever design. Unloading a conventional lever gun means cycling every live round through the action; here the tube comes out with the cartridges still in it. Sights are XS, with an adjustable ghost ring rear and a gold bead front, and a Picatinny rail is fitted for an optic. The single stage trigger adjusts to roughly four pounds six ounces.
Ammunition and Care
Two practical notes. The tube magazine calls for flat or round nosed bullets rather than sharp pointed ones, since cartridges sit nose to primer in the tube. Nearly all 44 Magnum ammunition is already flat nosed or hollow point, so this rarely restricts anything in practice. The rifle will also chamber 44 Special, which is mild and much cheaper for practice, though it is worth confirming the shorter cases cycle reliably in your particular rifle.
On the wood: figured walnut is no more fragile than plain walnut, but oil and moisture will darken it unevenly over time, particularly around the grip where hands rest. Wiping the stock down after handling and keeping it out of prolonged damp preserves the contrast in the grain that the blank was selected for.
Specifications
- Model: 1854 High Grade, large loop
- Caliber: 44 Magnum
- Capacity: 9 round removable tube magazine
- Barrel: 19.25 in., eight groove, 1:20 twist
- Muzzle threads: 11/16×24
- Overall length: 36 in.
- Weight: approximately 6 lbs 13 oz
- Sights: XS adjustable ghost ring rear, gold bead front
- Optics: Picatinny rail
- Trigger: Single stage, adjustable to approximately 4 lbs 6 oz
- Stock: High grade figured walnut
- Finish: Blued
- UPC: 022188896770
Why Buyers Choose the Smith Wesson 1854 High Grade Walnut
Figured walnut on a production rifle is increasingly rare, because selecting blanks costs money and most buyers shop on price. A limited run with chosen wood is the way manufacturers still offer it, and those runs do not repeat once they are gone.
Underneath the wood everything that makes the 1854 worth owning is present. This is not a display rifle with a compromised action; it is the same threaded, removable magazine, adjustable trigger design in nicer dress.
Who Should Buy It
The Smith Wesson 1854 High Grade Walnut suits the buyer who wants a lever gun with wood worth looking at, the hunter who will carry it and still wants it to be handsome, and the collector drawn to limited runs that will not be repeated.
Learn more from Smith and Wesson, or browse the rest of our firearms selection.
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