[SHOT 2025] Chiappa Goes Full Space Cowboy

It could be a quote from a cinematic mash-up of the movie Tropic Thunder and the TV show Firefly: “You went full space cowboy. Never go full space cowboy!” But futuristic lever-action rifles are big business these days, and Chiappa has got in on that action with a new version of their new ‘86 Wildlands Takedown rifle.

Chiappa @ TFB:

• [SHOT 2024] New Single Shot Big Badger, Wildlands 92 Takedown From Chiappa
• [IWA 2022] Chiappa Firearms Releases New 9mm and .45 ACP 1911 Models
• Chiappa 9mm Kalashnikov Pistol Review
• Chiappa 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Lever Action Rifles

Familiar mechanics

There’s not a lot to say about the action here, because it’s been around forever. Since 1886, really, when John Moses Browning descended from his Utah temple of gunsmithing and sold the plans for his big-bore lever-action to Winchester.

Well over a century later, this design is still in production in overseas factories, including Chiappa’s. They’ve been making variations on the Model 1886 design for years, including their current ‘86 Wildlands lineup. Their new tactical lever-action slots into this series, and looking at the action and barrel, it’s mostly the same as their other models, takedown feature and all. The new tactical lever has a five-round tube mag instead of the four-round arrangement on the rest of the lineup. Some of their other ‘86 Wildlands models come with 16.5-inch barrels, some with 18.5-inch barrels; the new tactical lever has a 16.5-inch barrel.

Their marketing material says it also ships with fiber optic Skinner-style sights, same as their other ‘86 Wildlands models, but the gun on display in Chiappa’s booth had no such setup. None of their marketing photos show it either. The rifle does come with a Picatinny rail over the receiver that would allow easy mounting of any kind of optic you want.

The tacticool look

The obvious difference between this rifle and the rest of the ‘86 Wildlands lineup is the skeletonized synthetic stock (with reversible, adjustable comb and ability to store some spare ammo), and aluminum forend with M-Lok slots cut in. There’s a set of QD swivel mount points built into the stock and forend for ambidextrous carry, and Chiappa includes a paracord sling to attach there (they also wrapped the lever in paracord for easier cycling).

At the muzzle, Chiappa included 5/8x24 threads for easy attachment of your muzzle device of choice. And unlike many other lever-actions on the market, there’s no push-button or tang safety on this rifle. You have a half-cock hammer, and that’s it.

Claimed weight is 8.75 pounds.

Asking price? A cool $2,013.33. See it at Chiappa’s website here if you’re interested.