MARYVILLE, Tenn. (July 14, 2026) —Every commemorative gun marking America’s 250th birthday points back to 1776. Smith & Wesson’s points to 1854, too. That’s the year Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson patented their first lever gun—the milestone that named the Model 1854 Series when the company revived its lever actions in 2024—so the new America 250 Limited Edition Model 1854 carries two origin stories on one receiver: the nation’s and its maker’s.
The commemorative arrives chambered in .44 Magnum and .45-70 Government models. The .44 Mag. has a 9+1 capacity and a 19.25-inch barrel that feeds from a removable magazine tube; the long-action .45-70 Gov't holds 6+1 with a 20-inch barrel. Both wear the same engraving, and it’s the engraving that separates this rifle from the year’s crowded commemorative field: an eagle with shield and colors ringed by stars, wrapped around a hand-lettered banner reading “250th Anniversary of the US of A.”
Underneath the artwork sits a working rifle. A walnut stock and fore-end pair with a flat-face trigger, large loop lever and side loading gate, while an adjustable XS Sights ghost ring rear and gold bead front come standard. A Picatinny base accepts optics, and both muzzles carry an 11/16-24 thread pattern for suppressors. Smith & Wesson built the Model 1854 platform to echo the smooth action of its large-frame revolvers, and none of the commemorative treatment gets in the way of shooting it.
There you have it: two ways to own the year Smith & Wesson started building rifles, stamped with the year America started building itself. The America 250 Model 1854 lever-action rifle chambered in .44 Magnum sells for $1,399 and the .45-70 Government for $1,499, both available now at smith-wesson.com.
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