357 Magnum: Lever vs. Bolt Action

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sergei, it's an Israeli made IMI Timberwolf. They were made in the 80's in both .357 magnum and .44 magnum.

Mine is a .357 magnum and the tube magazine holds 10 .357 magnums.

Colt also made a pump .357 called the Lightning and I think Pedersoli makes a reproduction.
 
Thank you all for the great input!

I see the passion is alive for the levers! :)

I still have, for some reason, a desire for the 1894C over the other levers. And, if their quality holds true, one may come home with me some day.

As horsemen61 suggested, I may have to get them both.
 
I have a Marlin CP and a Ruger on the way. hopefully I will get some time over Christmas break to do a side by side comparison...I picked up the Ruger, because I am not 100% sold on the levergun chioces these days...I would love a Timberwolf!

EDIT:

I actually have a Winchester 94 and an H&R Topper Trapper in .357 as well, I guess I will have to take them all...
 
Last edited:
I never been much of a lever action guy, at least until recently. Like most I have a 30-30 lever, but I never shot it much. I always did the normal things such as sighting it in for deer season and such, but I never really shot it just for the fun of it. It was replaced after a few deer seasons by a 270 winchester so it has been just sitting in the safe.
Last year I did some trading and and got a marlin in 35 remington. I never shot it and I ended up trading it back to the same person for 1894 marlin in 44 mag.
I shot it a few times with the factory ammo I got in the trade and then put it in the safe.
About three weeks ago I decided to load some light plinking ammo for it for an upcomming range shoot. 10 grains of unique, S&B LP primer and 240 grain Berrys FP bullet. Man I was HOOKED after the first few rounds. This was the first time I really shot a lever for fun. Well I caught the lever bug and ordered a Henry Big Boy with the steel frame last week in 357 mag. Being short on cash I had to do some trading in order to afford it. I actually traded two guns for two guns (made the wife happy). I traded in my Beretta carbine and a Springfield xd(plus a little cash) for the Henry and a smith model 65 with a three inch barrel. I have been looking at the skinner sights and I have a .357 bullet mold on the way, since all of my 357 molds dont have gas check bases.
 
I have the 77/357 and a 1894c, both are fun.

The 77/357 fed well on mine, I still polished the ramp on the Mag though with #2000 paper. The trigger is heavy, so consider the cost of having that worked on and the crown on mine leaves a lot to be desired asci can cut myself on it!

They are very light, and full loads will slap you as bad as a 12ga. Accuracy is hard to gauge so far. I reload and only have one brand of hard cast that worked well in the 'Marlin, I found I couldn't put a bipod on it as the stock seems to move too much.

I'm left with it in the safe at the moment, my smith is busy and I figured its a waste of ammo shooting it until I get the trigger and crown done. I'm also considering a nice timber stock in a good Aussie hardwood.

Despite these things, I still like it more than the 'Marlin, maybe I'm just a bolt guy ;)
 
This one is out of the general price range in this thread, but I fell in lust with (and bought) a gorgeous Uberti repro of a Winchester '73 in .357 Magnum. Very nice shooting rifle, octagonal barrel, pretty wood with excellent cut checkering. The receiver is case hardened. Nice rifle and an incredibly smooth lever action, but it will run upwards of $1,000 now. On the other hand, I have a much handier Browning 92 in .44 Magnum that is a joy to handle... and I wish it was in .357 (and the heavier Uberti in .44 Mag!). If you can find a Browning 92 in .357 I would snap it up in a second. They'll probably run around $700 or so.
 
had an chance to pickup a marlin 1894 in 357 here about 6 weeks ago. didnt feel the need to duplicate calibers, it was running 500 for a pre safety, deals pop up from time to time.
If you can put hands on all the ones your interested in and put a budget on what your willing to spend, then take some time and watch as many places as you can. might take a few years but eventualy you will find it.
yes i have a few marlins, but i typicaly pay alot less than most people talk about, havent broken 300 on any of my 39a's. but i wait....
 
From a practical point of view, the Ruger is much, much easier to field strip....
Click to expand...
Non-issue. I've been shooting leverguns quite extensively since childhood. I can't remember the last time I 'needed' to strip one, in the field or otherwise.


The Ruger has more potential accuracy of the lever action.
Click to expand...
Not from what I've seen.
 
My Ruger shoots well, but doesn't have much flexibility on the bullets that will feed well. Prefers 158gr Hornady XTP's.
 
My son's first deer rifle was a Ruger M77/357 and he dropped a large 6-pt with one shot driven through the shoulder at 40 yards. The deer collapsed where he stood.

It is light, carries well, shoulders well, is accurate at 100 yards with 158gr JSP .357 Magnum and is really fun to shoot.

Still have the rifle.
 
I have a 77/357.

I went through this same dilemma a few months ago. For me it comes down to buying a gun to fit what I do. I don't hunt anymore so I don't need it to do that. I do shoot a lot from a bench though as I belong to a private club. If it were to be used as truck/home defense gun I would have to go with a lever.

If you shoot from a bench you can take advantage of a scope. I put a nice 4X Leupold on mine and it's a 2 moa gun if you can find a good load. I don't think the action limits the accuracy as much as the cartridge itself because it isn't a rifle cartridge.

I like the fact that it's easy to clean, you can bore sight it by removing the bolt, and it is very light with a composite stock. Feeding and ammo is also less of an issue. Scope mounts and sling studs come with the gun also which makes it an easy set up for a 100 yd deer rifle if that's what you are looking for.

I still like levers but for me this was the 357 rifle. I think I paid $725 new.
 
Last edited:
Have both and it all comes down to the application your using it for. For plinking/fun I'd definitely stay with a lever action. Bolt guns, to me, are more for precision work. Hunting, MOA, bench competition, etc'. I've hunted with lever actions as well, but overall they can't be beat for pure fun. Though in some aspects the action in a new lever gun at times needs to be worked in. Getting a new round loaded in a new action can be hard at time. Nothing a little polishing of the feed ramp can't take care of. Neather rifle though is made for quick follow up shots as you typically need to break your cheek weld on the stock to cycle either action.

I picked up a very nice stainless Rossi 92 in 357 last year that came with a 24" octagon bbl and light walnut stock. It's a sharp looking rifle and accurate. The only slight complaint I have is that if you are really working the action the hot spent casing flies out of the top and right at your head.
 
Bought a Rossi R92 in 44mag, sold my 77/44 the next week. I found out I prefer lever over bolt.
 
I give up, what is that pump-action rifle?
Click to expand...
That, dear Sergei, is a Timberwolf! Made by IMI(now IWI) and imported into the US by Action Arms and Springfield Armory. They came in both .357 and .44M. Production on the blued units was around 11/12K. The SS versions were mostly in 44 and probably less than 1500 were made. These days neither caliber is cheap to obtain, SS even more $$.

(I have two blue in .357)
 
The Marlin does shoot. Sold mine a few years ago when I needed money. Now they are too expensive.

Then I found the Ruger. It shoots too...


M
 
Last edited:
I like my Rossi '92 in .357 caliber. Holds plenty of ammo and is fast on the second shot. I did have the internals slicked up a bit when it was new. I would not sell it unless I came across a better or higher grade rifle. It is a lot better than the Uberti 1873 I had when it comes to shooting .38's. The Uberti just would not hardly cycle those .38 rounds. This Rossi doesn't seem to matter either way. Both .357 and .38's cycle fine. I am sure it has more to do with the difference in 1873 vs 1892 design.

Just another thought... I like that the lever guns offer fast second shot without being a semiauto. Cleaning is mostly limited to a bore snake and an exterior wipedown. There is no gas or burned powder traveling backwards, so the workings rarely need detailed attention unless you are shooting in a dirty or wet situation. Just a plus I appreciate anyways.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3091.jpg
    IMG_3091.jpg
    41 KB · Views: 87
Last edited:
I couldn't see a situation that I'd sell my Rossi 92. I picked up a spring kit for it and lightly sanded any burrs on the insides. Made it much smoother and lightened up the trigger to a great weight. It has feed everything just fine and shoots great. The Ruger may be just as nice, but I wouldn't enjoy it more. Plus, I have plenty of bolt rifles to fill that desire. Getting a nice center fire lever gun that I use more than on a deer hunt once a year really does put this as a special rifle to me. It's a blast to try cowboy action style shooting.
 
Milkmaster said:
I like my Rossi '92 in .357 caliber. Holds plenty of ammo and is fast on the second shot. I did have the internals slicked up a bit when it was new. I would not sell it unless I came across a better or higher grade rifle. It is a lot better than the Uberti 1873 I had when it comes to shooting .38's. The Uberti just would not hardly cycle those .38 rounds. This Rossi doesn't seem to matter either way. Both .357 and .38's cycle fine. I am sure it has more to do with the difference in 1873 vs 1892 design.

Just another thought... I like that the lever guns offer fast second shot without being a semiauto. Cleaning is mostly limited to a bore snake and an exterior wipedown. There is no gas or burned powder traveling backwards, so the workings rarely need detailed attention unless you are shooting in a dirty or wet situation. Just a plus I appreciate anyways.
Click to expand...

NICE RIFLE, Milkmaster!
Rossi has sure improved the quality of their lever-actions in recent years, IMO.
I have a 92R carbine in .45Colt with 16" barrel and it is a nice, well made rifle.
I have a Miroku made Winchester 1892 takedown in .32-20 that looks very similar to yours save it has checkering. But otherwise as far as I can see from the photo the quality is pretty similar.

I have a .44 magnum 1892 B-92 ....... I wonder how the recoil of that compares to a .357mag. version ....:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Sighting in a .357 Lever Action
Replies
22
Views
9K
baz
B
S
  • Locked
lever action rifle ammo
2
Replies
25
Views
2K
monkyboy1975
M
edmo01
  • Locked
Lever Gun in 357 Magnum
2
Replies
42
Views
4K
H&R Glock
H&R Glock
Macchina
  • Locked
Stainless 357 Rifles: Ruger 77/357 vs. Rossi M92 Carbine?
2
Replies
43
Views
6K
Saleen322
Saleen322
B
  • Locked
Lever-action .357
2
Replies
41
Views
2K
CraigC
CraigC
Back
Top