Are there any ultralight 357 or 44 single action rifles with 16" barrels?

Midland ( they make little shotguns now) are coming out with rifles. They should do 357 and 44. These should be less then $200 the barrels are replaceable. I want a 357 to ream out to 357 max. T/c have some rifles to.

Contender Carbine

Ironhand

Some advice I might offer, since you asked for it - a 4lb 44mag rifle won't be very shooter friendly. Be careful what you wish for. A 240grn 44mag pill out of a 4lb rifle will have the same recoil energy as a 150grn 30-06 out of an 8.5lb sporter, with 50% greater recoil velocity, meaning a much sharper "kick" impulse for the 44mag. Obviously, the 357mag recoils far less, but is also far less capable than the 44mag.

If you don't want a 20-22" barrel, spend the extra $75 to have any of these existing models cut down by a smith. Personally, if I were buying a break action 44mag in 2019, the only thing on my list would be a G2 Contender pistol, converted to carbine configuration, in which case, a custom barrel is easily procured from multiple sources.

I can appreciate you've pulled some numbers out of a hat and target a 4lb rifle, thinking it won't be so different than your 6.5lb Marlin 1894 or your 3" slug 12ga, but I bring this up for good reason. The recoil energy of a 4lb 44mag will be considerably greater than your 1894, nearly double the recoil energy (21 vs. 13), and 60% greater recoil velocity. The recoil velocity will be almost identical to a Rem 870 pushing a 1oz slug at 1760, so that same "snap", even though it has less energy. Your 77/357 and 1894 are heavy rifles, so when you cut their mass nearly by half, things change a lot. I bring it up because I recall how unpleasant I found my first Contender carbine in 44mag - I'm a big bore fanatic, not unfamiliar with dangerous game rifles of extremely high recoil, and I found a ~5lb 44mag with 300grn bullets unpleasant. 240's are more manageable (which is what I've been using as the basis of these calcs), but still a remarkably high recoil velocity.

I assumed your desire was exactly what you described - pack hunting in back country. I can say, with a honey hole of my own 11miles backcountry, I'd rather tolerate an extra pound on a 44mag rifle and either pack extra weight, or sleep in a bivy instead of a tent, instead of tolerate the recoil velocity. If I'm going to get the snot knocked out of me, I want a lot more out of the front end.

The best options would probably be a TC contender, or a CVA Scout. You can order custom TC barrels in whatever length you want, and for the CVA just take it to a gunsmith and have him cut the barrel down for an hour of shop rate.

I'll second the ultralight comments above -- my 77/44 bolt action is a little too light for comfort, particularly given its rather narrow buttpad. I prefer to handload down a bit for it. On the other hand, my little Marteenie is shorter overall (32") but heavier and far more comfortable to shoot with stout .44 handloads.



As to a potential choice of carbine, how about the CVA Scout? It's under 6 lbs., relatively cheap, stainless steel and break open. The standard barrel is 22" but could be shortened easily enough if you don't mine how the flutes look.

https://cva.com/product/scout-44-magnum-stainless-steel-with-black-stocks/

have a contender carbine with a 21" tapered barrel in 7x30 waters with a leupold 1x4 scope that runs right on 5 lbs, a good walking rough brushy terrain and shoots a 120 gr bullet 2500-2600 fps.

Macchina said:

I have been looking for a while and would love to find a stainless (ideally) break-action rifle with a 16"-18" barrel that weighs around 4 pounds. Most all break action 357 and 44 rifles tend to have long barrels (22" or so) such as the new Henry single shot but these revolver rounds reach their full potential long before that.

Any advice?

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You might consider a 5.5 lb. 18.5" Bbl'ed Stainless RUGER 77.





GR

Dave DeLaurant said:

I'll second the ultralight comments above -- my 77/44 bolt action is a little too light for comfort, particularly given its rather narrow buttpad. I prefer to handload down a bit for it. On the other hand, my little Marteenie is shorter overall (32") but heavier and far more comfortable to shoot with stout .44 handloads.

View attachment 831842

As to a potential choice of carbine, how about the CVA Scout? It's under 6 lbs., relatively cheap, stainless steel and break open. The standard barrel is 22" but could be shortened easily enough if you don't mine how the flutes look.

https://cva.com/product/scout-44-magnum-stainless-steel-with-black-stocks/

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Sweet looking rifle in the picture--thanks for sharing. The Martini Action is a classic.

For a lb. more, 5lbs., you can have a Rossi 92 lever action with faster second shot, 16" or 20" barrel.

Speedo66 said:

For a lb. more, 5lbs., you can have a Rossi 92 lever action with faster second shot, 16" or 20" barrel.

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I use my 16" 44 R92 for deer, it's a dream to carry and plenty of thump at both ends with its steel butt plate. If I went any lighter, it'd HAVE to have a rubber butt pad to shoot hot loads.

Came to mention the Rossi 92, and it looks like that party's just started...

5 pounds, slick sided, and lets you carry multiple shots in case you ever need them. I guess you could carry loose rounds for a single shot, but I'd rather pack them in a magazine tube.

do you guys now off any place online that have rossi 92's in stock.

I don,t need no second or third shots(they are for blind hunters). he,he.

eastbank said:

I don,t need no second or third shots(they are for blind hunters). he,he.

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I needed 2 last year. 5 does came walking up a hill and I had tags for 2.

For the OP.
Your goal of 4 pounds isn't likely with a scope even with a synthetic stock. 5 would be doable and won't kill you if you out a shotgun style recoil pad on it. I agree with Varminterror that a little extra weight in the gun is preferred to other equipment.

troy fairweather said:

do you guys now off any place online that have rossi 92's in stock.

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Here's a new .44 mag SS version from a dealer on Armslist, will ship: http://www.armslist.com/posts/95718...e--new-rossi-m92-carbine-44mag-ss-wd-20--10-1

Bfh_auto said:

I needed 2 last year. 5 does came walking up a hill and I had tags for 2.

For the OP.
Your goal of 4 pounds isn't likely with a scope even with a synthetic stock. 5 would be doable and won't kill you if you out a shotgun style recoil pad on it. I agree with Varminterror that a little extra weight in the gun is preferred to other equipment.

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And if recoil is an issue? The .357 Mag. is the way to go.

158 gr's at carbine velocities are like a pop-gun.




GR

I have been looking for this exact same thing in .357, and have given some thought to cutting down a Henry (still pretty heavy), or building a custom contender (spendy). I keep hoping to hear that the Midland centerfires are close to shipping. At the price of one of those, I would be willing to either live with the plastic furniture or make something nicer.

It would be nice to have a light handy rifle that didn't throw shells on the ground for carrying in the field and plinking without having to pickup the empties. To me .357 is the perfect round for that, I can load cheap .38 HBWC at little more than .22 power, or load full power .357 rounds, and could use them in both the single shot and my SP101 4".

You could pick up one of these inexpensive folding 12 gauge shotguns, shorten the barrel to 16", and mount sights on it.
And use it with an 8" barrel insert.
Unfortunately, the company is skittish about offering .357 magnum barrel inserts, but does offer a .45 Colt one, as well as a .38 Special one.
With a 250 grain JSP and 17 grains of 2400 from an 8" barrel you would reach about 1000 FPS.
This load would certainly be safe in any modern Colt single action clone in .45 Colt, so it should be fine in this shotgun, and equals the velocity from a 20" barrel carbine with the factory loaded cartridge. So, at 50 yards it would drop a deer.
You could also use it with 12 gauge slugs and bird shot, making it all the more versatile.

Old Stumpy said:

You could pick up one of these inexpensive folding 12 gauge shotguns, shorten the barrel to 16", and mount sights on it.
And use it with an 8" barrel insert.
Unfortunately, the company is skittish about offering .357 magnum chamber inserts, but does offer a .45 Colt one, as well as a .38 Special one.
With a 250 grain JSP and 17 grains of 2400 from an 8" barrel you would reach about 1000 FPS.
This load would certainly be safe in any modern Colt single action clone in .45 Colt, so it should be fine in this shotgun, and equals the velocity from a 20" barrel carbine with the mild factory loaded cartridge. So, at 50 yards it would drop a deer.
You could also use it with 12 gauge slugs and bird shot, making it all the more versatile.
View attachment 832414 View attachment 832415 View attachment 832413

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Just make sure to stay 18" on a shotgun, 18 is minimum legally.

Old Stumpy said:

You could pick up one of these inexpensive folding 12 gauge shotguns, shorten the barrel to 16", and mount sights on it.
And use it with an 8" barrel insert.
Unfortunately, the company is skittish about offering .357 magnum chamber inserts, but does offer a .45 Colt one, as well as a .38 Special one.
With a 250 grain JSP and 17 grains of 2400 from an 8" barrel you would reach about 1000 FPS.
This load would certainly be safe in any modern Colt single action clone in .45 Colt, so it should be fine in this shotgun, and equals the velocity from a 20" barrel carbine with the factory loaded cartridge. So, at 50 yards it would drop a deer.
You could also use it with 12 gauge slugs and bird shot, making it all the more versatile.
View attachment 832414 View attachment 832415 View attachment 832413

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I've got an older-production, 8-inch long .357 Magnum 12 gauge rifled insert. One thing you might not realize about this arrangement is that the extra length of shotgun barrel acts as an expansion chamber -- think of it as a legal sound moderator with the right ammo. Accuracy is only so-so, however, and reloading is pretty slow unless the cases fall out on their own.

Dave DeLaurant said:

I've got an older-production, 8-inch long .357 Magnum 12 gauge rifled insert. One thing you might not realize about this arrangement is that the extra length of shotgun barrel acts as an expansion chamber -- think of it as a legal sound moderator with the right ammo. Accuracy is only so-so, however, and reloading is pretty slow unless the cases fall out on their own.

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I watched a demo. Cases are easily picked out with a fingernail where the chamber mouth is relieved, and the insert "rim" is cut away so it isn't extracted by the shotgun. Still, you are correct. It isn't fast to reload.
Accuracy was reported as a 5" group at 50 yards, but I don't know if that was with actual sights or just with the shotgun bead.

The only time I should find myself picking cases out of a chamber with my fingernail is if my firearm is broken, and my firearm should not be broken.