Subject line says it all; hopng for a more correct look in a .22 lever gun.

Thanks!

Any specific reason?

Looked this up a while back- seems the only one is a specific model of the 1866 yellowboy made by cimarron. I believe it is the 24" version. It seems the way the loading mechanism works makes it easy for the user to misfeed the .22lr so most companies won't make their .22lr replicas with a loading gate. I'm not even sure that this model actually possesses a working loading gate, it may just be cosmetic

The way a 22 cartridge is constructed makes it easy to bend the bullet when you apply side pressure to it which would cause misalignment  and accuracy problems.
You can see this by pushing on the lead bullet against something hard like a loading gate or table top.
I can pull 22LR bullets from the case with my fingers.
Loading gates are sometimes very hard to operate unless custom fitted.

The lead on .22s is too soft to push through a loading gate.

A-ha, I see said the blind man!  I was just after a more "correct" replication of a centerfire lever. I like my Henry just fine, just was thinking a loading gate would be as easy and more correct looking to load the tube mag.

Oh well, Will have to look at that "Cimaron" lever.

Here is the discussion I found: http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-466541.html

But I think (if the model even existed in the first place) that the model w/ loading gate is now discontinued because the link they give is expired, and the one you can find on Buffalo Arms is clearly without a loading gate:
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Firearms_Buffalo_Arms_Company_it-158839.aspx?CAT=3933

No, it's not that simple.  The reason that no rifle manufacturer makes a 22lr rifle with a side loading gate is because of the basic weakness to side loading the 22lr with it's heeled bullet design has.  Unlike most other cartridges where the bullet is a smaller diameter than the brass case it fits into, the 22 family (22lr, 22long, 22short, 22 CB, and 22 BB.  Early cartridges were designed with heeled bullets so that old, black powder cylinders could be used by simply cutting off the rear, machining in a recess for the case rim, and then adding a different hammer.  





The issue with a heeled bullet is that very little of the bullet need be inserted into the case for the cartridge to function.  This is the case with the 22 family of cartridges, however, this leads to a basic weakness to side loading.  It is easy to push a 22lr bullet out of it's case simply by pushing on the side of the tip.  When removed, one can see how little of the bullet was inserted into the case.  So, the act of pushing the round through a loading gate would result in damaged or separated bullets thereby causing failure to feeds, jams and misfires.





 

Thanks all for the replies and explanations! Makes perfect sense now! Hope others who had a similar question see this thread!

I don't know about you, but I find it a real pain in the ass loading the tube when I'm out in the woods.

Yup.  The top end loaded tube isn't such a big deal at the bench, but it's a pain in the field.  It's hard to pull the inner tube out far enough to load without removing it completely or it falling out.  If you remove it completely, what do you do with it while you load the tube?   You can't exactly put it in your pocket.

There's other reasons for no .22LR lever rifles with loading gates.

1. The cartridge is small and it would be very difficult to load the rifle with such tiny rounds, especially if your hand were cold.

2.  It's a rim fire cartridge.  Too high a risk of getting the rim pinched and firing the cartridge as it's loaded into the magazine.