Ever want a 357 Lever Gun?

I had a Marlin .357 lever gun and sold it '06. Thought I needed money, but didn't. It was a lot of fun to shoot out in the woods. I've been looking for one the past few years and haven't seen one. If I ever come across another one, I'll probably buy it. Same as you, I'd want it for fun, sharing the caliber with my SP101 and short range hunting. I think with the right bullet it'd take a deer at just about any range we'd find them at close to home.

You can up the velocities in standard .357 Mag loads by roughly 400-500 feet per second, along with down-range energy figures, over a handgun.

Right load, 150 yards hunting through a levergun.
Much better'n a handgun.
Denis

We use them for deer hunting here in Indiana.

I have used them in carbine classes as well (trained with a buddy from Chicago who could not have a pistol at the time).

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Milkmaster

I have a Rossi Model 92 in .45 Colt (same caliber as my Ruger Vaquero and Beretta Stampede), and it's such a handy little carbine I could see getting one in .357 to go along with my Ruger Blackhawk.

I bought a .357 rossie 92 awhile back. It is a blast to shoot, dead accurate and the action smoothed up nicely after a couple of hundred rounds.

I don't hunt but I would recommend one just for the fun factor.

Yep,I want one one of my friends has a henry big boy and he loves it. and I do LIKE a lever action rifle. a .357 or .44 either way I would be happy

If you reload already then it's a really fun filled plinking gun when shooting .38Spl like loads. And as noted already with 158's up to 180's pushed to Magnum speeds it can serve as a pretty darn good close in tight woods hunting arm.

I've got one that I use for my cowboy action shooting. Even if I were to stop playing at that I'd still keep my Rossi 92.

I had the same wish so I bought a Rossi 92 that was suggested to me at the Marlin forum. I love it. I cleaned up the action and trigger and it is slick as a well used Marlin.

If you get a Marlin make sure it has the JM stamp on it. After they fired all their employees and moved the factory the guns can be pretty bad. Although it's been a couple of years so maybe they are better now.

Anyway I also had a .44 magnum and it kicked like an .06 so I sold it. If you are young and have good shoulders it would be a good round.

The action and trigger on my Rossi are excellent but it did take me a couple hours to do it. You can get lighter trigger springs also.

I have a old Marlin 1894c. I have taken deer at 60 to 80 yds.

I hear 50/50 good and bad reviews on the Rossi lever guns. Now, I personally only know a handful of people that have one, but none of them ever complain. I have one in .357, and it has been excellent with probably 500 rounds of .357 Magnum and .38 Special of various bullet types. I have yet to have a problem. It's fun to shoot, easy to handle, and quite accurate.

For hunting, the .357 will be good for deer and probably pigs too. I think you should keep around 100 yards or less.

122 grain cast Cowboy Action 38 Spl and 180 grain cast 357 reduced loads are an absolute blast to shoot. I think my Marlin is my grandkids' favorite for steel plates.

If you use cast bullets, keep the MV under 1250 or accuracy suffers severely.

The only problem is that a few grandkids can go through 100 rounds before you know it. Load plenty.

There is a nice JM stamped Marlin 1894C for sale on gunbroker right now.

Been there, done that, still doing it.

I have a Marline 1894C that I bought new in the early 1980s. It shoots 158 grain JHP full 357 magnum loads very well.

Great round in a rifle

I have a Marlin and a Winchester lever .357. Great cartridge in a rifle. I have pistols chambered for .357 too, but it really shines in a longer barrel. Great for deer and hogs. Low recoil, low muzzle blast and little blood shot meat. I now use a little Ruger 77/357 with a scope more than the lever guns on account of my very old eyes. If you can get within 125 yards, this it the combo for medium sized game. I use 158 grain jacketed flat nose exposed lead bullets, factory and hand loads. This would also be a good self defense rifle, light handy package, and very effective.

.357 lever

A Rossi M92 is good for the price. You won't be able to use it in Cowboy Action, but it's good for slower feed hunting. My M92 in .357 is fun and with iron sights to 75 yards is no problem, but it can be fussy with hollow point ammo. Kind of a plane Jane, but she'll get you shooting. So to speak.

A Winchester '73 in .357 was high on my wish list for years - until I got a close look at a few and realized the design wasn't updated to handle the pressure of actual .357 Magnum. (Some internet searching after that led me to stories of bent workings and to this piece by Paco Kelly where he says the modern examples are good only to 23,000 PSI.)

Love the performance possibilities out of a 20" barrel, love the portability, love the lever, love the capacity, love the ammo for being shared with my main wheelgun (and for the prices I get on brass stuff out of Europe compared to the price of .30-30), love the classic lines of the 1873. Don't love that the 1873's are actually .38 Specials sold as more.

Maybe someday I'll join the Marlin or the 1892 band wagon. The Rossis I've seen have never impressed me for the prices they've been offered to me. But if I ever ran across one of the original Winchesters modded like this one on Youtube, I'm pretty sure I'd be instantly in love.

I bought a Marlin 1894c on an auction about ten years ago. I had never seen or held one in person. Turned out to be a good instinctive purchase. It's a great rifle. I reload for it using Lil-Gun and Hornaday 158XTP, the combination is accurate and fast.

Marlin 1894C in 357

Has anyone seen what JM stamped Marlin 1894C rifles are selling for lately ?
HOLY COW.... the prices have gone through the roof.
I have one I bought back in 1998 for $300.00.
The last one I saw on Gunbroker had a bid of over $800.00

kemper said:

HOLY COW.... the prices have gone through the roof.

Click to expand...

Yep. There are a couple reasons for this. First, they weren't produced in high numbers to begin with. When I bought mine, I had to search for quite a while to find one.

Secondly, they are terrific and versatile little guns and those who have them are rarely willing to sell. I bought mine around 2006 for about $375, and it'd take a lot more than that to part with it now just because I like it so much.

On top of all this, the JM stamp now carries a special provenance, as the Remington-produced rifle have (had?) some real and/or perceived QC issues. Pre-Remington Marlin lever rifles have generally gotten more desirable as a result.

Love mine
1894 ae

My new production winchester 1873

Yup I would like to have one . Bought a ranch hand a while back in 44 mag . if it were not for the dumb SBR thing I would buy a second stock . 357/38 would be just as sweet .

Yes.

Unfortunately, my wants coincided with a lack of newly produced Marlins in that caliber. So, I never got one and spent my money elsewhere.