357 carbines and rifles?

I also have a Henry Big Boy X. It shoots .357 Mag very well; .38 Spec not so much.

View attachment 1023077

Beck said:

I had a Marlin 1894C 357 Mag in high school (about 1980). One of the poorest decisions I ever made was to sell it as I was getting into other interests.... fast cars and girls.

I bought a Rossi Model 92 (pre-safety - pre-Braztech) new about 1995. 20-inch barrel, 357 Mag. I love it... one of my favs. It's a good shooter with 158gr and a real tack driver with Fiocchi 357 MAG 142 GR FMJTC. Attached are a couple recent pics of the Rossi. Very simple. Nothing fancy. Nice stock though.
View attachment 1023050

View attachment 1023051

Click to expand...

Nice one . I had one of the older 20” models as well, but sold it years ago. (Mine wouldn’t feed well for some reason.)

Man the wood was amazing back then, it’s too bad the wood pattern and figure has dropped off since the 1990’s era. They’re rather plain now .

Stay safe.

Marlin, Uberti and a Contender barrel I built that will shoot 357 Mag but I reamed it for Max. There are games for the lever guns but I can’t say I use any of them a lot.

They all shoot well, depending on my needs/what I feed them. Just have other stuff hat works better for the tasks I want to complete.

trekker73 said:

Anyone else own one, what do you use it for and how well does it shoot?

Click to expand...

JM Marlin 357 was the only gun I owned for 20 years in Los Angeles.

One day in 2004, as a non-gun owner, I was working on a case when I walked into the East LA Big 5 on Atlantic near de la Hoya’s Chevy dealership to ask if they had witnessed something or other.

If I recall right, I saw endless beat up army rifles for 89.95. They came with a shovel and a couple other things (roll of toilet paper?). And they had a cowboy gun just like you see on TV. Only $350, every day low price? And it’s 357 just like a cowboy uses? (I didn’t know anything about Guns or cowboys)

They sold me the rifle and a box of Blazer 38s. When I opened the Marlin box, it had a slip of paper that said “No Blazer Ammo!”

Anyway, great gun for an only gun.

It has been sitting in someone’s garage in downtown LA for many years. They never get around to sending it to me, but they will be happy to hand it off to whoever shows up (with my OK)

If anyone on here is in SoCal and wants to pursue it, enough DMs back and forth and you’ll probably wind up with it.

When I opened the Marlin box, it had a slip of paper that said “No Blazer Ammo!”

Click to expand...

Anyone have any idea why Blazer would be singled out?

Blazer pistol rounds used to generally be aluminum case, especially back years ago.
I have bought Blazer steel case .380 before as well if I remember; don't know about other calibers.


Blazer brass case is actually a relatively recent thing, I believe.
I mostly see it in 9mm.
Maybe that is why...

Going to send some lead down range today with a new Henry all weather side gate 357.
I have high hopes,
Will post a report..

Original 1892 shot out 38-40 rifle we had Koozer rebarrel to 357 back in the sixties. Fun gun and pairs nice with my ss Blackhawk. Couple of woodchucks in the 55 years I've had it. If we ever get straight wall cartridge rifles ok'd here its use will change from safe queen to hunter.

I have a few .357 rifles and really love them. I have a Marlin 1894 CP 16", a Ruger M77/357, and an H&R Handi Rifle Trapper. The Marlin is my favorite due to the svelte size and my overall affinity for leveractions, the Ruger is the most utilitarian and ready for rugged use, and the Handi Rifle is great for plinking with my buddies.

I tend to take the Marlin when I am up in the mountains, not particularly sure why, but there is something neat about being high up in the mountains with a fun lever action that works for plinking or protection. The Ruger is my desert/ATV rifle as it is set up for rough handling. I don't mind it taking on a few scratches here and there. As Grandimal stated is punches clean holes through rabbits and leaves edible meat on the rabbit. The Handi Rifle is my favorite for after bird hunting camp fun. We usually camp in the high desert where we can hunt quail and chukar. When we are done hunting for the day, we sit around the fire and take turns plinking with the Handi rifle. Someone usually has a box of .38 or .357 laying around so we through it all in a coffee can and what you draw is what you shoot. This of course leads to lots of missing, but that leads to lots of ribbing.

What I like most about the .357 rifle is that it punches above its weight. From a rifle the .357 becomes disproportionally powerful in a rifle. There is a ton of information online, but I have shot pigs with my Ruger and at reasonable range they go down quickly. Much quicker that when shot with a .357 handgun.

Anyways all threads are worthless without pics so here is a couple. One of the Handi Rifle at one of my favorite desert camps we call "The Sheep Pens" and one of the Ruger.

A pre-safety Marlin 1894C. Has the Micro-Groove rifling so lead bullets take a little work. Paired with a DA 357 a nice defensive combo.

I have a 20" Rossi 92 in 357. I added a tang sight and did the spring thing which made it much more user friendly. I also added a leather wrap around recoil pad because the stock is a little shorter than I like. Shooting 140 grain Hornady hollow points over a max load of of 296 will get your attention but 105 lead SWC bullets driven by a few grains of Titegroup is about like shooting a 22 rimfire.

I have a Savage 24V (.357 over 20 gauge) bought new around 1983. Wood stock and iron sights. Very accurate with most any bullet and the shotgun patterns well. It was priced wrong at a Walmart @$125. I should have bought a few more.

I have a Marlin 1894 CS in .357 that's a good steady, accurate little carbine. Replaced the abominable "Safety" with a Bear Tooth Mercantile saddle ring that cleans up the receiver. Mine gets a steady diet of Hornady 158 XTP-FP's over Win 296 for 1660 fps (a fair to 'midlin deer load out to 100 yds), or more often Lyman's 358156 GC with 2400 doing the pushing. This last will produce solid sub 2" groups at 100 yds with carefully selected bullets...it's a 1500 fps load in my use.

I scope mine with a 2.5x Leupold Alaskan for load work up but switch over to a Skinner or Williams peep for day to day use.

The gun's fun to use, short enough to stow on any conveyance and has enough punch for any reasonable chore here on the farm. Tractor work in deer season will see me with one slung from the fender hand holds for 'jump off the seat and let 'em have it' opportunities.

It's the bottom one in this pic down in my shop....Best Regards, Rod

I have a Rossi 92 which I bought for Lever Action Silhouette matches. I drilled and tapped the receiver for an old Lyman receiver sight that was in the drawer.
I bought several thousand 130 gr cast bullets for less than scrap price from a Cowboy Action shooter who was retiring. I have worked up a light load using these bullets that is accurate, easy on the shoulder, and as cheap as 22 long rifle.
I have seen all kinds of horror stories about the quality of the Rossi rifles but I got one of the good ones. Fit and finish are very good and the barrel is slick enough that I never have any leading issues. All round fun gun.

I bought my beloved Marlin Model 94 in 44 Magnum to match my 44 Magnum SA's in CASS. I think my 94 is the best center rifle I own because it's so versatile but in retrospect I think I would have been an even better choice if I had bought it in 357 Magnum.

Rodfac said:

I have a Marlin 1894 CS in .357 that's a good steady, accurate little carbine. Replaced the abominable "Safety" with a Bear Tooth Mercantile saddle ring that cleans up the receiver. Mine gets a steady diet of Hornady 158 XTP-FP's over Win 296 for 1660 fps (a fair to 'midlin deer load out to 100 yds), or more often Lyman's 358156 GC with 2400 doing the pushing. This last will produce solid sub 2" groups at 100 yds with carefully selected bullets...it's a 1500 fps load in my use.

I scope mine with a 2.5x Leupold Alaskan for load work up but switch over to a Skinner or Williams peep for day to day use.

The gun's fun to use, short enough to stow on any conveyance and has enough punch for any reasonable chore here on the farm. Tractor work in deer season will see me with one slung from the fender hand holds for 'jump off the seat and let 'em have it' opportunities.

It's the bottom one in this pic down in my shop....Best Regards, Rod

View attachment 1023260

Click to expand...

I am a fan of the straight grip Marlin's as well. I do have a couple of pistol grip 336's, but the majority of my Marlin's are straight grips. I am hopeful that Ruger brings out a straight grip 1894.

Yesterday, took the new Henry All weather 357 on its first spin. Only tried some federal 38 special “train and protect” 158 grain hollow points. Groups at 25 yards were a dismal 3” off the bench. Did not try any 357.
Had some trouble with the buckhorn rear notch as it is vary narrow, not much daylight on either side of the bead. The bead seems to blend in to the notch. I have many other rifles with buckhorn sights that the rear sights have wider notches and don’t have this trouble.
So, I need to decide to change the sight out or maybe go to an optic.
In Oregon you can not hunt with an optic that has a battery, so a red dot is out. Maybe a skinner or light weight 1 1/12x to 4x scope would be nice with the older eyes. Sacrificing the handiness of the rifle
Did have some significant leading in the bore, have not had this issue with my Miroku built Winchester 357.
Overall the new Henry is well made, fit and finish is very good and the action is smooth.
No feed problems at all.

I've owned a couple Rossi 92s in .357. The first was a pre-safety, EMF Hartford Short Rifle. Unfortunately it got traded off.

The second is a standard R92 20" Carbine on which I replaced the plastic follower with one made of stainless steel, and the safety with a bolt mounted peep, both from Steve's Gunz. It also has a scout rail from NOE Bullet Molds topped with a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot. It's my daughter's deer rifle. She'll probably take it when she moves out so I should probably buy another one.

My lever holds 10 rounds. If AR's ever go by the wayside I would consider it to have enough capacity with a quick handling action to use for home defense. It is light, easy to point, has minimal recoil, and cycles smoothly. And yes, it is accurate.. Mine does NOT have a scope. To me, and this is NOT important, it has much more visual appeal than a "parts" gun.

I would not hunt with a .357 and consider my .45(LC) much less than ideal for deer.

This thread being resurrected prompted me to take out the Henry single shot yesterday and tune it up for hunting season. The same youth shooter will be using it. Sent it in this spring to get the recall work done.

Trigger is significantly improved as Henry stated it would be. Trying out a new "rifle" load to ration my supply of HS-6 and HP-38. With random .38 brass, CCIspm, and 6 gr Power pistol pushing a Penn 158 TC seated to crimp groove and a medium crimp, I was getting 1" groups at 50 yards! Easily dinged the aprox 4x8 steel silhouette I have hanging on a T post 100 yards out in the cattails. Burned up all my rifle practice ammo yesterday I was having so much fun. Dang it, now I have to load more!

Oregontrail said:

So, I need to decide to change the sight out or maybe go to an optic.
In Oregon you can not hunt with an optic that has a battery, so a red dot is out. Maybe a skinner or light weight 1 1/12x to 4x scope would be nice with the older eyes. Sacrificing the handiness of the rifle
.

Click to expand...

I've found a 2.5x shotgun scope to be a pretty good fit for these rifles.