357/44/45LC Lever Gun Options

If you handload the .45 Colt is A great performer.

I've got a number of different lever actions, among them a .357 and a .44 Mag. They're all great looking guns. When I go shooting and want to just have fun with a lever action, I grab the .357... it's incredibly comfortable to shoot. The rifle is heavier and the loads are lighter than the .44 Magnum, yet it still packs a pretty good punch. I can't comment on the viability for hogs, but as a nice lever gun caliber, I do like the .357. My .44 Mag is a Browning 92 and it's a very light rifle. Most .44 Mag loads will definitely say "hello" to your shoulder - I don't find it particularly pleasant to shoot.... so I'm also working up some soft loads for it this weekend as a matter of fact. Someone gave me some .44 Special brass, so I'm playing with that as potential "fun" loads. We'll see how that works out.

My .357 is a Uberti 1873 and I have nothing to say but good things about that rifle. It's a relative tack driver for me, it has a very smooth action (more so than the Winchesters I've recently felt, but that's subjective), and it's a joy to look at. The .357 is a bit cheaper to shoot I suppose, but I've never bought a particular rifle because it's cheaper to shoot than another. If you're looking for a bit of everything, the .357 is a good choice... but of course so is the .45 I think. I'd look for one of those two.

Here's my Uberti - a picture I posted some time back:

Love my Rossi Model 92 in .45 Colt with the large loop lever and the 16" barrel. Action is nice and smooth and the gun itself has great overall fit and finish. Really like the short barrel as it makes it very quick and handy to use in tight quarters.

I went with a new Marlin 1894 44mag earlier this year. I wanted something to go with my S&W 629 and already reloaded for 44mag. Many naysayers about the new Marlins but mine is great and shoots very well. I added a few things like a new Wild West Guns trigger and sear kit, a big loop lever and skinner sights and again just love this gun. I bought some 44 special brass and have been loading it and it's a hoot to shoot!

I also load .357 so my next lever gun will probably be that caliber.

I have a 1981 Marlin 1894 in .357. It's a great gun, love it.

Well, as long as we're adding some pictures, here's another that I posted a while back. I can also update my post above... this afternoon I experimented with some very soft shooting .44 Special loads in this .44 Magnum, just for fun. The rifle required a fairly long Lyman (#429421) cast bullet in order to reliably function with the shorter .44 Special case. As it happens, the COL of this bullet in the shorter case is the same COL as my .44 Magnum loads - 1.600". I've found that the Browning is fairly picky about overall cartridge length. It needs nice long cartridges or they will hang up before they're fully chambered. This bullet worked great.

Here's the Browning B92, in .44 Magnum, made in 1981.

Don't forget about Henry!

RainDodger

Nice looking B92 there along with some truly beautiful wood grain in that stock.

I can only comment on the Marlin in 44 mag. We had two we used for cowboy action shooting and they were great rifles. We loaded 44 specials and had a lot of fun with them. Quit shooting cowboy action and have since sold one of them. Will never sell the other. Have a 44-40 Marlin on the way and wanted to get a .357, but new ones are not available and older ones are commanding as much as the cowboy models. So I ordered a Rossi with 24" octagon barrel. Anxious to get it and try it. Came close to buying a Henry Big Boy. Also, probably would have bought a Uberti '73, but they were in the $1100 range and I wanted just a plinking rifle. Uberti's are top of the line for cowboy action shooting, with Marlins as a somewhat distant second now.

I have both a .357 and a .44 in the old Marlin 1894 series. Love both guns and don't really notice much difference in recoil. They both have micro-groove barrels and I haven't been thrilled with their performance with hardcast, probably due to velocity. I shoot mostly jacketed or Berry's with no problem. When I slow them down with .38 spec and .44 spec, the hardcasts work fine. I have taken a nice whitetail with each and didn't see much difference in results... two dead deer, full pass through and very little meat damage. Both shot at about 75 to 85 yards.

get a 45. -70

yes a henry is good. shooting buddy has one, would like to have myself.

.45LC is not legal here for deer, only 400 fp of energy. The ..357 is legal over 500 fp, the .44 mag has over 900 fp energy. That is what I would use. But really I use a 30-30.

400 FP??? What is that with? Cowboy loads from a 4 3/4" SAA?? My load ( 250 HornadyXTP, IMR 4227 ) from my 24" barrel are still over 500 FP at 250 yards according to Sierra Infinity.

Since you mentioned value (which involves price), I would go with the Rossi - I bought a 20" round bbl carbine in 44 mag 2 years ago for $425 during a promotion, and it was an excellent value. I had to flush the action with carburetor/brake cleaner & lube it to get it to feed properly, but that did the trick. I also replaced the sights to get it shooting right for me. And BrazTech (the importer) has made a huge positive change in customer service. I tried to buy a screw that was buggered by the assembler right after I bought it & was told I would have to return the gun at my expense & buy the entire magazine assembly to get the screw. Needless to say I was underwhelmed & made my feelings known on the Rossi forum, along with a lot of others. Someone must have put a bee in the CEO's ear, because he called the mod & talked with him at length & even invited him to visit their facility in Miami. Anyway, things changed in a hurry, and when I called back an exceedingly pleasant CSR took my name & address & FedExed the screw gratis. So I believe the bad customer service is history, and I really like my rifle. I own Win 92s & early Marlins, and while it's not one of them, it's well made and an excellent value.

I meant foot pounds of energy not feet per second. Even so your load has me curious, it that load from a manual? I wonder why you would use a .45 LC when you could use a 44 Mag and stay with book specs?

D2wing... Look in the manual for .45 colt Ruger level loads. You will see A major difference from the old standard loadings.

Ok, I am way out of date, thanks. I am guessing you would have to know what guns that is a safe load in. I have a 30-30 but the zone I live in is shotgun only. I am hoping they will do like some other states and allow straight wall pistol cartridges in rifles.

My Marlin 1894c 38/357 is a great all around gun. For deer I load a Hornaday 158 XTP bullet over Lil-Gun, mine is most accurate at about 1850-1900fps. Also check out the Buffalo Bore Heavy 357 magnum loads. I've thought about getting a 44mag lever gun, but the Marlin fills the bill very well.

2 for the price of one

You can pick up 2 Rossi 92s in 357, 44 mag, or 45 colt for the price of one Uberti 1873. I've got Rossi round barrel carbine's in 357 (16 inch) and 45 colt (20 inch). Very light weight (5 lbs and less empty) and handy. No problems encountered with any ammo so far, and function just keeps getting smoother as I use them. I also have a Henry in 357, it's very smooth, but HEAVY at 8 lbs 10 oz. The Rossi's aren't the fanciest rifles (Henry is very nice looking, almost too pretty to take out in the woods), but very serviceable. The Rossi model 1892 clones are plenty strong enough for Ruger only loads in 45 colt.

d2, I was abbreviating FP for ft./lbs. And yes, my load is from the Nosler manual. It is a Ruger only load using IMR 4227. My most accurate load with a 250 Laser Cast is 25 grains launching them at 1583 fps. The XTP load is 24.5 grains. I haven't run the XTP's across the chronograph yet, but they hit higher at 100 yds. so I'm guessing they are faster. I replaced my stock rear sight with a Smith full buckhorn/ladder, and at 100 yds with the XTP's I am shooting point of aim just with the notch and blade. With a standard pressure load, 50 yds. is POA. I can put 5 shots into 1 1/2 at 100 yds. with the XTP load. I've loaded 45 colt for a long time, so I have the components, and I've had 3 pistols and 2 rifles in 45 colt, so going to a 44 Mag is pointless. It never interested me. I only shoot Ruger loads from rifles, because Magnum loads from a pistol never interested me. I don't like handling recoil for fun. Tried it, didn't like it.

Fyi getting one load to run in a handgun and rifle but be prepared for alot of time and effort. My suggestion? A rossi in 454 casull, so you can also run 45lc. Or 44 mag, best of luck.

I like .357/.38 special, but I don't own one.

Another option if you are going to match it with a revolver is Ruger Blackhawk Covnertible. I have the .45 and shoot bulk pack ACP all the way up to Buffalo Bore Deer Grenades out of her. That's a good thing if you go with .45 Colt or .357 as Ruger makes convertibles for both.

Fyi getting one load to run in a handgun and rifle but be prepared for alot of time and effort.

Click to expand...

Why is that? I stuck my 44mag loads for my 629 in the new 1894 and they shot fine. I don't load them too heavy or light, just middle-of-the-road loads and they work great.

Is there normally a problem getting one load to work in both guns and I got lucky?