if willing to put up with ridicule from others, and willing to feel ashamed of yourself (even if just "only for hunt" or gun rag writer "to see what it can do")
just how much X power do you plan on for hawg hunting with a handgun round, friend ?
(if you are looking for 200 yard shots on big pig, you might want to reconsider handgun rounds, but that's your choice, of course, as it should be)
ever tried a receiver mounted 1" tube 3 MOA red dot on a Marlin lever ?
ever tried a <3X compact IER "shotgun" scope on a Marlin lever ?
ever put a 1" tube red dot on a browning BL22 receiver to play 22 golf ?
just too gosh awful big & bulky ????
fun is, as fun does... or mebbe not
True they look just as utterly ridiculous on a NEF single shot as they do on a lever action carbine, even if neither is in the way of the external hammer on either one... thankfully not ridiculous looking on a Marlin model 60, though
(well, only a little bit ridiculous)
either can be sight/target acquired both eyes open, and fired at least as fast as irons, (apparently works for a lot of handgun speed competition shooters)
not meaning to be nearly as nasty as all that sounds, but if I were you, I would
NOT do any of that
no sarcasm, no BS
your gun, not mine
I actually
have shot 357 lever actions with any/all of the above, though
(which I thunk was the subject of your OP, also thunk you asked somewhere there if you could scope a Marlin, but mebbe that was someone else)
there is no NEED for you to look ridiculous !
(let me do that for you, us old fella's like to feel useful too)
what you can
expect for accuracy is 2 MOA
about 1700 fps w/ 158 gr out of 18", up to ~2100 fps w/ 125 gr factory stuff
(but me, I would go with that 180gr XTP, looks like a
serious hawg killer to me, even though I have not actually used it myself)
it does NOT matter what sights you use, it matters what you like
open iron
peep
red dot
scope
laser
because ALL aforementioned 357 carbine/rifles will throw the exact same groups, 1" at 50 yards, fair expectations, ANY sight system
whether you shoot open iron or a 20X scope,
that is what you can "expect", those groups will
not tighten up at 50 yard nor 100 yards with a 20X or 40X scope, not even if your old stiff retinas are
only a "little bit" fuzzy
no need to scope to "see what it can do"...honest, no kidding
these ain't 308s at 300 yards
this is a "burger king thing", you really can have it your way, and no reason you should not
just leave the scope at the gun shop
buy the rifle and throw some downrange
I am thinking you indicated you already have a 357 revolver; if so, believe this if nothing else, you will "double your fun" w/ a revolver/carbine combo come range day
true story -
long lost 40 year old son wandered home from yankee country for a long weekend visit, couple of weeks ago
he not be a shooter, but thought it might just be fun, so we did that
some of this, and some of that, two days in a row, a bunch of guns and calibers, pistol, revolver, rifles, all actions, ARs, bolts, levers, etc.
day one, took along my '92 and '94 357 carbines
had not shot my 1894c in a long time, so needed a few clicks adjustment,
(it has a ridiculous looking compact cheapo 2 1/2X scope on it), to hit as tight as my open iron '92
day two, just brought the Marlin 357 (scoped) '94, to finish burning up some cheapo 38sp range fodder
we
had enjoyed a few "cold beverages" and dad-burnt-BBQ the evening before (south Georgia style)
posted up some 1" shoot-n-see dots at 50-60 yards
son tried out a (extreme accurate) 16X scoped 17 hummer over sandbags
had a little trouble holding on target, dunno why, the boy did pretty good for a newbie the day before
after 4 or 5 misses, I wandered back down line to my station, Marlin 1894c with 2 1/2X scope, forearm on sandbag, and threw one 38Sp round downrange, just to put some
green in the middle of the dot, so he could see the target better; which he did, cause he was still looking thru that 16X trying to get centered when my shot went off
ridiculous as a lever action may look with a scope on it
ain't nowhere as ridiculous looking as a old fat guy great-grandfather looks, giggling like a little girl
as Albert might say, "it's all relative"
for the price of a 357 lever action carbine, there is VISA
for priceless, there are giggles
it is not what you are looking through, it's how you look at it at
"Eat more pork, the other white meat"
