Looking for 357mag lever gun, some one here knows what I am looking for.

The problem is none of them will categorically run the shorter cartridge perfectly.

I know my Rossi (in 44mag) will run specials as long as their round nose. I haven't tried JHP/WFN, but know it'll choke occasionally on SWC's.

winchester or uberti, 92 or 73

I have handled Marlins and own a uberti 1873. The 38 sp works in both and actually help them run smoother. The reliability depends on what bullet shape you use. The uberti winchester 1873 your going to spend more than you would a marlin cowboy. I love the Marlins and some of the speed records have been set with marlins. I would get the marlin cowboy in 357 mag. Then take the lever and bolt out. When you do polish the lever and bolt with very very fine grit sandpaper. It's not that difficult but itll turn a new action into a pleasurably smooth action. Plus they are able to handle higher pressures than the 1873 because the way the bolt is made.

I purchased a Marlin 1894 about a month ago. Have gone thru a couple of boxes of .38's with no hitches. Nice little rifle for around $700.

My Marlin 357 cycles 38s as easily as 357 and since I polished the back edge of the barrel to remove the sharp edge it feeds SWC bullets almost as smooth as Hornady XTP bullets. My gun has been buffed and smoothed to the point that you can cycle the loaded gun and can't tell you are cycling a loaded gun until you hear the loaded rounds hitting the floor.

Marlin 1894 carbine did it for me. I added a Williams aperture sight to make it better.

I would check out uberti

Get a Puma/Rossi , especially a Stainless 16" carbine. I have an old Puma 20 " and a 4 year old Rossi/ Tauras in Stainless 16" . Both are great but the newer gun has tapped for scope mount under rear sight and I put a reddot there. The old Puma is reliable and after 20 years is smoothed out like an original 1892 which is a very strong and ideal for pistol cartridge action. New ones are around $500 .

IMHO if you would like a .357 lever rifle, I'd consider the Rossi 92 in that caliber if you could find one, or the Marlin 1894 in some form. Both of these are designed to handle magnum rounds easily.

Uberti toggle-link repros are nice, but expensive (Miroku 1873s are more so) and I'm not going to claim the 1873 won't handle .357 as I'm sure the makers don't like nasty lawsuits, I just feel really uncomfortable thinking about magnum rounds in them. I have 2 Uberti 1873s and neither is magnum chambered. They are stronger than some believe .... but magnum rounds pack a punch in carbine longarms and I just like having the Marlin/1892 Winchester type action.

The rossis are solid guns.

Try a new Marlin 1894 in .357. I have the 1894CB. It cycles .38s just fine in RNFP bullets. I will have to look but I am sure it says right on the side of the barrel “.357 Magnum / .38 Special”.

The key to lever guns cycling shorter cartridges is often the bullet shape. Round nose bullets can be a problem with some guns. RNFP tends to be more reliable.

There are some modifications that can be done to dramatically increase the reliability of 38 special feeding at the cost of not being able to shoot .357 at all.

Not an uncommon mod in the no holds barred world of the higher levels of CAS.

After all the trouble of looking around for or modifying a 357 rifle to eggs all in one basket shoot 38s more reliably one begs the question as to whether it would be better to handload some 38 Spl powered 357 rounds.

I have a Uberti 1873 short rifle (20" octagon barrel). I use it for cowboy action and have never ran. 357 through it. It cycles 158gr RNFP .38 special like butter. Never had an issue and the rifle is not modified from stock.

I also have a Rossi 92 in .44 mag that is a sweet shooter out of the box. No problem cycling 44 special so far.

My new 1894 has cycled 38's reliably so far. They all have been hp or flat point bullets.

It is much happier with 38's than my old used 1894 that I got in the 90's.

I have a 24" octo Rossi that cycles my 38's & 357's without a hitch. They are all SWC coated 158gr rounds.

Same rounds in a friends will only cycle 357's reliably.

YMMV.

My JM marked 1894CS feeds both 38s and 357s reliably despite the fact that I use a LSWC exclusively for light loads. Based on the feedback I've read from actual purchasers of the newer Marlin 1894s I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

My 4 year old Rossi .357 feeds everything including different bullet shapes and weights. I hand load lighter .357 loads because I don't want to hassle with changing dies to different lengths for .38Spl. cases and I have more .357 cases to begin with. But anything will work in it.

My new production Marlin 1894CSBL shoots all the 38's I had perfectly. Even case-height wadcutters.

.38 Special is the most popular cartridge in cowboy action shooting so you are in good company. Occasionally I have heard of a .357 rifle that won’t feed any .38 Special but usually it’s a matter of using a cartridge of a certain OAL and bullet shape. I load a 105 grain TCFP at an overall length of 1.45”. It has fed just fine in every rifle I own or have tried: Uberti 1873, Uberti 1866 and Marlin 1894.

My 90s vintage Marlin 1894 choked every time on 38s. Somebody here told me to check what’s I was using. My FiLs reloads SWCs. Put factory 38s in, no more problems.

Love that gun. I want to move to the woods soI could hunt with it. But its brother 44 would go first.

Greg

I also have a 357 Rossi. It runs 38s very well. Even semi wadcutters are a sure feed.
A lot of people who have issues short stroke the lever.

Lever action rifles can be picky eaters and even rifles of the same model can differ in what they will feed.

I recall a new cowboy shooter who did not reload and who purchased some factory ammo with 158 grain round nose lead bullets for his brand new .38 Special Uberti 1866. It locked up on the first round. We had to disassemble the rifle to unload it. Poor fellow was so disappointed. I dipped into my cart and gave him a box of my match loads with truncated cone bullets and his rifle ran fine.

Bfh_auto said:

I also have a 357 Rossi. It runs 38s very well. Even semi wadcutters are a sure feed.
A lot of people who have issues short stroke the lever.

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Yes, move that lever with authority. Babying it does you no good, treat it like a rented gun and it will work better.