Lever action .357 opinions.....

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Tinman357

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Been reading everything I can on this site as well as others, so I have it down to 2 models from 3 different manufacturers. The purpose for this rifle is just an all around general purpose woods bumming gun. Not a serious hunter, though this rifle may be pressed into that role from time to time. Punching tin cans and such. I'm quite happy with the .357 and know its limitations. I do reload that round but I keep it reasonable. I have a 1894 but the long action adapted to the short rounds does have issues. That dinky, cheesy little cartridge stop has caused me no end of trouble. Would like a suitable fix for it but no luck so far.

So, to shorten this up, this is what I'm looking at and would like to hear your opinions on these. Looking for tough, rugged, reliable, But most of all, QUALITY. Think months on end in the wild places with no spare parts. Pretty is good as long as I get the other priorities met first, but pretty is far from the deciding factor. Not mounting a scope so that doesn't matter either. Has to be a side loader. I'm open to a higher price as long as it's what I want.

Model 1873 or Model 1892. 20 or 24 inch is good either way

Winchester/Miroku
Uberti
Cimarron

I'm open to suggestions as long as they meet my listed requirements and are high end quality.

What say you??
 
Sorry about that.. Winchester 1894. Never thought about the Marlins. Heard of lots of troubles after the Remington buy out.
 
I lucked into a JM marked 1894 Marlin .357 last year that has become my favorite rifle. Based on the feedback of actual purchasers of the newly released 1894 marlins I would buy one with confidence.
 
I've owned several different brands and I liked all of them for one reason or another except the Henry. Great gun, but you can't shoot .38 special in it unless you load and put them in .357 cases. I probably like my Rossie 92 that I still have as well as any of them and it was the cheapest.
 
Reason I asked was due to the fact that I have a JM Marlin 1894C that has been excellent. I have heard plenty of bad things about the .357 Wincehster 94's.

I have a Rossi 92 in .45 Colt, and that seems like the sweet spot for that carbine, while the same can be said about the Marlin 1894C in .357.
 
I'll chime in and say that IMHO the Marlin 1894, or Rossi 92 would be good choices.

I do really like the Winchester 1873 clones. I have two, a Uberti 1873 saddle-ring carbine in .44-40 and a Uberti 1873 short rifle in .45 Colt. As pointed out, they are heavier. My other concern is that, while both Uberti and Miroku make excellent products and their .357 magnum 1873s are , I'm sure, good reliable rifles, I just really question magnum rounds in the old toggle-link Winchester designs. Maybe it's me .... a hang up maybe?

The 92 Rossi is a much stronger design. So is the Marlin.
 
MEHavey said:
The new-run Marlin 357s are excellent -- and would be my first recommendation.
Click to expand...

I will second this.

I bought one for Cowboy Action Shooting. So far I have put a few hundred rounds through it with no issue whatsoever. It will feed .38 Special and .357 Magnum with no issue.

I would, however, recommend bullets that are flat point (RNFP) versus round nose in any pistol caliber lever gun. I only say this because I had issues with round nose bullets in my Winchester 94 Trails End and, dare I say it? A JM stamped Marlin 1894 years ago. Some folks believe JM stamped Marlins never malfunction. ALL guns malfunction at some point but JM Marlins went a lot longer before malfunctions.

I just looked on the box that my Marlin came in for a manufacturing date. There is none. I bought mine from Rifle Gear in March 2019. If that helps. I would look for one at a store that has a high product turnover.

Also, I owned a Rossi 92 in .45 Colt. My gun was very sensitive to cartridge length. Also, the internal parts looked like something that was built in China back in the 80’s. I had to do some “cleaning up” in there. I also found, after about 500 rounds, that I needed to shim the right side cartridge alignment rail. Weirdest thing. It didn’t look worn but all of a sudden it needed shimming.

Regarding Winchester 94’s in .357. If you shoot .357 length cartridges with RNFP bullets and you are not going for a speed record levering the gun they work just fine. They got a really bad rap from CAS shooters and that somehow carried over into general use opinions. I started with one in SASS and as long as I used RNFP bullets in .357 Magnum length cartridges it worked great. It worked great for a couple of thousand rounds and then I had to replace the Link, which by the way, is a part that is very hard to come by these days.

You said you were going out into the wild for extended periods of time. Regardless of what you buy you should run 200-300 rounds through it before you consider it trustworthy.

If I were heading out I would definitely trust my new Marlin 1894. As much as I love my Winchester 94 Trails End it would stay home (you mentioned no spare parts) and a Rossi 92 wouldn’t even be a consideration.

My 2 cents
 
I'd take a Miroku every day and twice on Sunday. That being said, if I was looking for a shooter, and I didn't have a gazillion dollars for a new Winchester/Miroku, I'd find a JM Marlin, or I'd even take a chance on a very well inspected before purchase Remington Marlin.

I don't really have an opinion on the Italians... I have a Pedersoli 1885, it's a fine rifle, but I don't know about the repeaters.

I would snarf up an older Browning 92 if one ever surfaced, and I think the Rossi 92's are decent as well, if not quite the level of the Browning.
 
Thanks Guys........ I've just about settled on the Win/Miroku 1892. But with that said I will check out the Marlin. I haven't picked on up in years, but any company can recover from a bad run.
This is the 1892 I've got my heart set on. Pricey and way too pretty, but it got the 24" barrel I want, though I would prefer the crescent butt stock.
http://www.winchesterguns.com/produ...rrent-products/125th-anniversary-sporter.html

But the Short Rifle has my attention as well. http://www.winchesterguns.com/produ...-current-products/model-1892-short-rifle.html

Wonder if I can get that crescent stock on the sporter rifle........ MMmmmm
 
Jimherb; .357 is what I load. Don't know what I may have said to indicate otherwise. I have no intention of using .38's.

You didn't indicate who you were responding to, so I assumed me, the OP.
 
I will say, that's a pretty rifle.
Other than a couple rounds, you don't gain much over a shorter carbine.

You won't gain much if any velocity, the extra sighting plane of the longer barrel won't make much difference at the ranges involved. With a smaller 357 bore, and a half octagonal barrel, that's gonna be a pretty hefty gun. The 16" round barrels are where it's at for walking around carbines IMHO.

Being said, I do want a case colored 24" full octagonal barreled, tang sighted range toy. So I do understand the desire. My 16" is the ideal working gun I feel though.
 
Gotboostvr;

The desire for a 24" is mostly for the weight, same for the half octagon barrel. 2 or 3 extra rounds won't hurt. Good looks may be last on my list, but being a long time gun guy, it don't hurt. As long as the rugged reliability is there.

Tough and reliable make a rifle pretty to me. But nothing wrong with a pretty work horse. Then again, I'm the fool who bought a very collectable Luger in minty 99% condition 30 years ago and have been trying to wear it out ever since.:rofl::eek:
 
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