New .357 lever gun

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Roknstevo

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I recently purchased a Rossi .357 levergun. Is there any .38 or .357 ammo that I should not use in the tubular magazine? This is my first centerfire with tube mag. Don’t want any surprises going off in the tube. I have a lot of flat point, soft nose and fmj ammo already as I carry a .357 revolver. Thanks for the help. Glad to be here, finally.
 
Won't have any issues. 38/357 fun shooter. Should you want to hunt deer or hog you will most likely feel the need for 44mag or 45lc.
 
I just purchase a Rossi 92 as well, mine has the 24" octagonal barrel.

Anyway, I was told to avoid round nose bullets, I am not aware of pointed 38/357 but those should be avoided to with the exception of lever revolution.

My Rossi fed SWC right out of the box, my handloads have a flat point.

I was surprised how smooth mine was, I did some action smoothing but it didn't really need it. Gave me an excuse to break it down anyway.
 
My original, reinstalled to 357 doesn't feed wide swcs but if there is a little taper it does fine. No pointed bullets except for the flex tips and you'll be fine. Those flex tips are the best thing going.
 
Won't have any issues. 38/357 fun shooter. Should you want to hunt deer or hog you will most likely feel the need for 44mag or 45lc.
I’ll hunt hogs with it. Don’t deer hunt any more. Meat hunter only. My wife and I have already eaten our lifetime ration of venison. Just take pictures of em now, but hog is still on our menu. Have shot many hogs with .22, so the .357 will be plenty for me. Thanks for the help.
 
I just purchase a Rossi 92 as well, mine has the 24" octagonal barrel.

Anyway, I was told to avoid round nose bullets, I am not aware of pointed 38/357 but those should be avoided to with the exception of lever revolution.

My Rossi fed SWC right out of the box, my handloads have a flat point.

I was surprised how smooth mine was, I did some action smoothing but it didn't really need it. Gave me an excuse to break it down anyway.
What is “SWC” ?
 
My Rossi 16” .357 is a good shooter. I went to Steve’s Gunz and ordered the safety delete, the metal mag follower and the DVD on takedown and action tips. The DVD was worth its weight in gold!

The only issues it had was an extractor that was so stiff it would chew up the case rims. I lightened it with the DVD instructions.

You guys will like shooting these pistol caliber lever guns, so much so I’ll predict you’ll be in the market for a second one in either .44 Mag or .45 Colt soon :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
My Rossi .357 feeds everything I've tried in it.

Each gun seems to be a little different, I'd try different loads to see what works.

Replacing your ejector spring with a Century C-530 spring, available at hardware stores, will have your empties falling at your feet, and reduce the action effort.
 
My Rossi .357 feeds everything I've tried in it.

Each gun seems to be a little different, I'd try different loads to see what works.

Replacing your ejector spring with a Century C-530 spring, available at hardware stores, will have your empties falling at your feet, and reduce the action effort.
Thanks for the info.
 
I don’t have a Rossi, but they seem to feed about the same things as my Henry. The only thing I’ve had trouble with is .38 Special Wad Cutters. I tend to stay away from FMJ round nose in .357 Magnum just because “Why take the chance?” The recoil on .357 magnum is way less than 30-30, and the curvature of the nose is about the same on .357 RN, but you never know. Any flat points or hollow points will be fine. I’ll shoot anything in cast or coated.
 
Mine has trouble with round nose flat point bullets if the nose is too wide when shooting 357 loads but handles SWC just fine. Hornady make a 140 grain RNFP jacketed bullet that works and gives pretty good accuracy. I tried some 38 special FWC out of curiosity. Nope, they just lay on the lifter and won't feed. No round nose bullets for me.
 
Won't have any issues. 38/357 fun shooter. Should you want to hunt deer or hog you will most likely feel the need for 44mag or 45lc.

Have the 45lc Leverrevolution loads for deer, but hesitate to use them... Don't think that I would use a .357 either. I suppose that up close either would be OK... My "experts" have guided my thinking on this.... Pistol caliber rifles, except maybe the .44 mag, seem to be more for fun shooting or SASS than anything else. Hey, I could be -and probably am, wrong - so go easy on me.....
 
I tried some 38 special FWC out of curiosity. Nope, they just lay on the lifter and won't feed. No round nose bullets for me.

In case FWC is another unfamiliar term, here's what a full wadcutter cartridge looks like:

wadcutter-bullets.jpg

Some lever actions are more sensitive to cartridge length than others, but from the other postings it would appear that the Rossi version of the Winchester 92 is relatively tolerant. The only way to avoid surprises with firearms is experimentation and practice -- and even then there are no guarantees. I'd shoot some full magazines of various types and see whether your gun has any dislikes or preferences regarding cartridge length and shape.

I would also steer clear of light bullet defensive loadings under 125 grains in a carbine. They should function just fine but are likely to underpenetrate when pushed at higher velocities from a longer barrel. This video shows some interesting ballistic gel results from a carbine barrel:

 
I tried some 105 grain bullets. I would have been about as accurate throwing them as the gun was shooting them. 125 grain bullets have been some better but not worth messing with so far. I have some 158 grain LSWC loads made up to experiment with if I ever make it back to the range. Things just keep cropping up to put the kebosh on my shooting.
 
Have the 45lc Leverrevolution loads for deer, but hesitate to use them... Don't think that I would use a .357 either. I suppose that up close either would be OK... My "experts" have guided my thinking on this.... Pistol caliber rifles, except maybe the .44 mag, seem to be more for fun shooting or SASS than anything else. Hey, I could be -and probably am, wrong - so go easy on me.....

45lc and 44mag 240 JSP will put deer down fast. 75yards fair shot, 100-125 good shot. Would trust up around 175-185 yards to be very sufficient. First I took with 44mag I was like wow. Knocked it down and it didn't run or get back up. Shot was just over 50 yards. Exit sucked the lungs out. Exit hole bigger than my xxx glove size thumb. For sure don't want to hit meaty parts. Don't get me wrong. A 357 will kill a deer but a 45lc or 44mag will flat knock them down and they carry plenty of energy down range.
 
My Rossi 16” .357 is a good shooter. I went to Steve’s Gunz and ordered the safety delete, the metal mag follower and the DVD on takedown and action tips. The DVD was worth its weight in gold!

The only issues it had was an extractor that was so stiff it would chew up the case rims. I lightened it with the DVD instructions.

You guys will like shooting these pistol caliber lever guns, so much so I’ll predict you’ll be in the market for a second one in either .44 Mag or .45 Colt soon :thumbup:.

Stay safe.

I'll also recommend the DVD. My Rossi in 38/357 had a rough action that wasn't as smooth as I wanted. Following the video I used some smoothing stones to work on the action. Now it's much smoother and enjoyable to shoot.
 
I tried some 105 grain bullets. I would have been about as accurate throwing them as the gun was shooting them. 125 grain bullets have been some better but not worth messing with so far. I have some 158 grain LSWC loads made up to experiment with if I ever make it back to the range. Things just keep cropping up to put the kebosh on my shooting.
These rifles seem to like 158 to 180 gr bullets best. Mine will shoot 125 gr bullets ok, but it doesn’t like anything below 125 gr either.

Stay safe.
 
I would also steer clear of light bullet defensive loadings under 125 grains in a carbine. They should function just fine but are likely to underpenetrate when pushed at higher velocities from a longer barrel. This video shows some interesting ballistic gel results from a carbine barrel:



To flip that, I could say that the light loadings are less likely to overpenetrate, which could be useful for in the house self defense use.

Thanks for posting that video. Worth watching, IMO. :thumbup:
 
I'm surprised anyone can find leverguns out there right now in .38/.357 -- my dealers tell me either can't get 'em in, or keep 'em in stock. Folks looking forward to the coming AWB next year?

I've been seeking a Marlin 1894C for a while but would settle for a Rossi for now if I could just find one around.
 
I'm surprised anyone can find leverguns out there right now in .38/.357 -- my dealers tell me either can't get 'em in, or keep 'em in stock. Folks looking forward to the coming AWB next year?

I've been seeking a Marlin 1894C for a while but would settle for a Rossi for now if I could just find one around.
Anybody.....and I mean anybody coming for my guns had better think long and hard. Nuff sed.
 
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