357 : 20" or 24"?

[AJC1]

I have both a 24 octagon and a 16.5 marlin. For woods walking and SD I prefer the 16.5 but I put on a recoil boot/pad to get a longer lop. Steel butt stocks don't stay in place on my shoulder well so the boot really helps with that as well. For a fun gun Silhouette shooting the 24 is a hoot but I'd hate to carry it walking around.

 

[.45Coltguy]

I believe I've read that in .357 mag, the prefered barrel length[rifle] is 16", as that is the optimal burn length for said cartridge. Anything longer really does no good for .357.
No link, just something I seem to remember reading.

 

[Pat Riot]

BTW, a 16" barrel lever gun being overrated is something I don't think I've noticed folks saying before this thread.

I'm probably blind to the situation as I pick 16" barreled carbines mostly for size reasons without going the braced "pistol" or SBR route. Those SBR levergun packages at Grizzly Custom Guns always caught my eye. But I'll never have one, so 16 inchers it is.

Awe gee, thanks @chicharrones
I really didn’t need to see that link. I started thinking…(queue wavy lines)…I could send off my 1894 for some modifications. It would look so cool and it would be great fun to shoot…or maybe my 336. Wouldn’t a short 30-30 be fun?…

Then I snapped back to reality to make this post.

 

[WisBorn]

1st choice 20" good balance and capacity and will get the most out of the 357.
2nd choice 16.5" light handy would still make a nice woods gun for deer, hogs, and range fun.
3rd choice 24" really no advantage except capacity. You may see a little velocity gain over the 20", but you will give up the nice balance of the 20" rifle.

 

[CraigC]

BTW, a 16" barrel lever gun being overrated is something I don't think I've noticed folks saying before this thread.

I'm probably blind to the situation as I pick 16" barreled carbines mostly for size reasons without going the braced "pistol" or SBR route. Those SBR levergun packages at Grizzly Custom Guns always caught my eye. But I'll never have one, so 16 inchers it is.

A 20" carbine is plenty short and light enough and I'd rather have the extra four inches of sight radius than whatever perceived handiness the 16" brings. I find the 16" guns to balance too much in the middle and they don't hang very well for off hand shooting. Of course, hunting with 30-40" barreled muzzleloaders for 15yrs kinda changes your perspective on such things.


My favorites are 20" carbines, 20" short rifles or 24" rifles.



A 24" round barrel is hardly any heavier than a 20" carbine. A button mag helps and I find the Marlin 1895SS to be the perfect configuration for that rifle.

 

[BrazilianSnowMan]

I believe I've read that in .357 mag, the prefered barrel length[rifle] is 16", as that is the optimal burn length for said cartridge. Anything longer really does no good for .357.
No link, just something I seem to remember reading.

The .357 is a handgun round, it was originally designed for shorter barrels.
The 16.5" is handier and the 24" is one the most beautiful firearms of all times.
I would like to have both, but since I can only afford one right now its the 20".

 

[chicharrones]

The .357 is a handgun round, it was originally designed for shorter barrels.
The 16.5" is handier and the 24" is one the most beautiful firearms of all times.
I would like to have both, but since I can only afford one right now it’s the 20".

A light weight 20” Rossi sounds like a great choice.

My Marlins are porky by comparison.

 

[Picher]

Hello to all.
Im going to buy an Inox Puma .357.
There are 2 to choose from: 20 inches, normal barrel and a 24 inches and bull octagonal barrel. The 20" is more than 2 pounds lighter.

My intended use is for teaching classes and HD in some situations.

What are your opinions, gentlemen?
Any input is appreciated.

The 20" length seems best, especially if you're going to use .38 spl. loads for training.

 

[BRatigan]

My preference is for 24 inches. I get velocity advantages, complete powder burn depending on the powder and really great accuracy. I use a Model 1873 Win.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Stuff that mag tube up and let us know. Rossi's website says 10 .357s in a 20 incher.

I will defer to ten. Was just flying on memory. But, I'll stick with eleven rounds in the gun being enough for a hike.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

My preference is for 24 inches. I get velocity advantages, complete powder burn depending on the powder and really great accuracy. I use a Model 1873 Win.

I like 24" barrels also, but a heavy 24 sounds like a bit too much. Two additional pounds is quite an increase. A light, round 24" barrel, that would be another story, to my mind.

 

[mcb]

My Winchester 9410 is a 24 inch barrel and that works really well with 410 shotshells and even better with 410 slugs. If I was to get a lever gun in an actual rifle cartridge I would lean toward longer, 20 at least, maybe 24 depending on use and cartridge. On the other hand a pistol caliber carbine I want as short as I can manage. My Rossi M92 is a 16 inch and if the NFA was not a factor it would be another two inches or so shorter. A 16-inch 92 is a wonderfully handy little gun, very little weight, short enough to get stuff in a variety places and so handy for really rough and dense terrain.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

BTW, a 16" barrel lever gun being overrated is something I don't think I've noticed folks saying before this thread.

Well, I don't think that's a bad term, perhaps "more popular than one would think" or something? Perhaps "handy" is a bit confusing. I have not found longer barrels to be "un-handy" in very thick brush, and in fact had to chase a wounded black bear around in it with a 30" barrel, but being a single-shot, probably the same overall length as a lever action with a 24" barrel. The problem in that situation was that the brush was so thick, that it deflected two of my shots, there were no "openings" to shoot through. As far as pointing/swinging/crawling through the brush, no problem. It has always seemed to me that the biggest advantage of short barrels was lighter weight, handiness being mostly confined to if you needed to pack one on horse, snowmobile, dog sled, dirt bike, etc.

But, to show I am not ANTI-TRAPPER, here is my '94 Half Magazine "Trapper" that I made out of a junker. It is ultra-light. 1949 '94 Carbine for comparison. (the Carbine has a 19" barrel I think...maybe a 20"? Whatever is standard on them thar things) The "trapper" holds three in the mag, but I usually just load two, as the third one just seems to be a very tight squeeze.

 

[mavracer]

Wouldn’t a short 30-30 be fun?…

I have a Legendary Lawmen Commemorative it's a 16" 30-30 one of the coolest ones Winchester made IMHO this isn't mine just a net pic.


As to the OP I'm a lever gun enabler get a 20" 357 then go back and get a 16" 44 and a 24" 45 Colt.

 

[Old Hobo]

Have had a Winchester Trapper (16" barrel) loved it.

For instruction and home defense, a 16" barrel is more handy and maneuverable.

For hunting, maybe one would wish to go with the 20" barrel for the longer site radius. I currently have a Rossi w/20" barrel. Increase in velocity is ammunition-dependent. You can actually be some gain in velocity; however, it's not going to be fabulous.

One could forward-mount a scout scope on a 16" barrelled lever for tree-stand hunting. For hunting at such short distances, velocity differences aren't going to matter, not worth a hill of beans. Note that I'm speaking about Southern Appalachian hunting scenarios. The deer here are nowhere near the size of deer west of the Mississippi. People go handgun hunting from tree stands and that's plenty enough power to humanely drop whitetail deer. Proper shot placement and the deer folds where it stands.
.

 

[Pat Riot]

I have a Legendary Lawmen Commemorative it's a 16" 30-30 one of the coolest ones Winchester made IMHO this isn't mine just a net pic.
View attachment 1143017

As to the OP I'm a lever gun enabler get a 20" 357 then go back and get a 16" 44 and a 24" 45 Colt.

I have a Winchester 94 AE carbine in 30-30. I would like a pistol caliber carbine. I am waiting to see what the new Marlins look like.

 

[Mars5l]

Ya'll are making me want a 24" levergun badly.

 

[WisBorn]

Ya'll are making me want a 24" levergun badly.

They have me missing the 3 model 94 carbines in 30-30 I have owned and traded off

 

[Old Hobo]

Forty years back, I had a Winchester NRA Centennial Musket. Then, I traded it. Dang stupid of me. Should've kept it and not as a collector, but as a shooter. And it just looks good. And could use the tangent rear sight.



Thirty-plus years back, I had a Winchester Legendary Lawmen Model 94. Then, I traded it. Dang stupid of me. Should've kept it and not as a collector, but as a shooter. Handy little carbine, that. Downright beautiful furniture.



Now that I'm more mature, very mature, actually downright old, I have no collectors that I don't take out and shoot. Firearms are meant to be used, not just looked at.
===============================================================

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Now that I'm more mature, very mature, actually downright old, I have no collectors that I don't take out and shoot. Firearms are meant to be used, not just looked at.

Yep, I have a Luger my grand-dad brought back from France, had it appraised and the appraiser told me it was too valuable to shoot, and to never shoot it again. I still shoot it. I also shoot the long-rifle that has been in the family since 1846, and was with the Donner party before it divided. (the Donners to California, the others to Oregon) I shoot it once in a while.

Forty years back, I had a Winchester NRA Centennial Musket.

A musket style Winchester in .45-75 is one of my dream rifles. But...not gonna happen.

 

[Charlie98]

Have had a Winchester Trapper (16" barrel) loved it.

I bought my brother a Winchester Trapper in .45 Colt many years ago. We both went out to break it in... and I fell in love with the silly thing. It's about as handy as a long arm can be, yet still takes advantage of the barrel length with the right powders. In pistol cartridges, yes, you lose a little velocity compared to a 20" barrel, but I don't think it's significant enough unless you just have to have every fps. I considered it the 'M1 Carbine' of lever-actions. I eventually paired it with a .45 Colt Ruger Vaquero... which could handle the heavy loads I was loading for the rifle, too. It became my favorite camp and knock about rifle... and I would borrow it whenever I was going somewhere where I wanted a handy rifle with me.

Some years ago I bought a Marlin 1894FG... a 20" .41MAG. That rifle was pretty handy, too, just not quite as handy... and I seriously toyed with the idea of having the barrel and magazine cut back to 16" ...but never did, which was a good thing. In the end, with the .41MAG, I actually DID need every bit of the fps the 20" barrel delivered... I started shooting it at steel targets at distance. With the 20" barrel, I was able to hit steel out to 600yds fairly reliably... I don't think I could have done that with a 16" barrel. I understand my instance is a special one... but it really depends on what your purpose is for a rifle.

 

[CraigC]

The .357 is a handgun round, it was originally designed for shorter barrels.
The 16.5" is handier and the 24" is one the most beautiful firearms of all times.
I would like to have both, but since I can only afford one right now its the 20".

Regardless, they all tend to peak at 18-20". Despite what BBTI's limited testing would seem to indicate.

 

[Pat Riot]

Forty years back, I had a Winchester NRA Centennial Musket. Then, I traded it. Dang stupid of me. Should've kept it and not as a collector, but as a shooter. And it just looks good. And could use the tangent rear sight.

It may seem “stupid” now but I am sure at the time it was the right decision for you. I sold a Colt Combat Gov’t series 70 for $285 in ‘88. I was unemployed and my family needed food. I regretted it for a long time. I no longer do. It was a good decision at the time.

I have only seen two of those Centennial Muskets in real life. One was at a gun show for what I thought was a very reasonable price at the time. I cannot remember what the seller was asking for it. It was not excessive. Trouble was, I was on a limited budget and I was acquiring guns for Cowboy Action Shooting and I could not use 30-30 for SASS. I wish I would have bought it anyway. I just loved the way it looked.
The second one I saw was in a collection and not for sale “at any price” per the guy that had the collection.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

It may seem “stupid” now but I am sure at the time it was the right decision for you. I sold a Colt Combat Gov’t series 70 for $285 in ‘88. I was unemployed and my family needed food. I regretted it for a long time. I no longer do. It was a good decision at the time.

I have only seen two of those Centennial Muskets in real life. One was at a gun show for what I thought was a very reasonable price at the time. I cannot remember what the seller was asking for it. It was not excessive. Trouble was, I was on a limited budget and I was acquiring guns for Cowboy Action Shooting and I could not use 30-30 for SASS. I wish I would have bought it anyway. I just loved the way it looked.
The second one I saw was in a collection and not for sale “at any price” per the guy that had the collection.

Ha. I'm the king of stupid. Traded a 1947 Knucklehead Harley for a newer Harley, about a year before the Knuckleheads became worth their weight in gold. I thought: "oh, I'll pick another one up in a couple of years." Not.!!

On that musket fore-stock, I got to thinking it would really look cool on a shorter gun, like a 20" or even a 16". So I did some surfing but could not find any replacement fore stocks for the 24" barrels, which I thought would be easy to cut down and fit to a shorter barrel, and didn't see any ready-mades for the shorter barrels. But again, I bet a 20" "musket" would really look cool and give some added protection to the magazine tube. ? Just an off the wall thought I had.

 

[CraigC]

I've got the NRA Centennial rifle and it's one of my favorite hunting rifles. The 24"/half mag model 64 configuration is fantastic.