Looking for a lever .357 Magnum Rossi Puma, Marlin or Henry?

[David LaPell]

I am hoping come spring time to have some more money squirreled away and I am looking for a lever action .357 to go with the 1000's of rounds I have on hand with my handgun. I have shot the Marlin 1894 but the prices right now are up there past what I can really hope to afford. The Henry Big Boy is nice, but I just can't get past the brass frame especially if I want this as a house gun / hunting rifle. I have looked at the Rossi Puma's and I love the 1892 design, but I don't know anyone who actually owns one. I have heard things about Rossi's quality over the last few years (can say I have heard the same about Marlin as well) but I am willing to try but I want to see what luck others have had.

[Mike Malat]

I purchased a Rossi M92 .357 24' oct three weeks ago and have been pleased with it after some cleanup, smoothing of the action, and finishing the stock. Out of the box it fed factory ammo as well as reloaded Keith style boolits without any issue in both 38 special and 357 cartridges. Check out the Rossi Rifleman board. they have a lot of information available as well as what to expect if you buy one.

[DeadWoodDan]

I bought a Rossi last yr. and haven't had an issue yet. It has fed all my handloads and a few purchased .38spl thus far. Working on the 357 this yr. They have there typical quirks but nothing I have had to modify. Read Steves web site on these. Unless your looking to "hot rod" it leave it alone. As any weapon you can refine it to your liking. I just saw one at the local Wall Mart and when i was looking everyone had a price on them like they were Marlins. I just got lucky and told a friend who had a friend.

I did find a Henry before the Rossi for a good price, but it was too heavy for my preference. You won't be disapointed in the Rossi.
DWD

[Rustyleee]

Contact "Nate Kiowa Jones" at Stevesgunz.com he can help you. He is a '92 expert.

[FergusonTO35]

What do you think the optimal twist rate is for the .357 carbine? Marlin uses 1:16, Rossi uses 1:30. If I was to push gas checked 158-170 grain slugs hard with H110 would one necessarily be best?

[Scharfschuetze]

I like my Marlin 1894 26" barreled rifle circa 1998. Its 1 in 16" rifling twist rate stabalizes 180 grain cast boolits well all the way out to 200 yards. My S&W revolvers with a 1 in 18 and 3/4" twist also do well, at least out to 200 yards on reactive targets so that rifling pitch rate also seems adequate. I don't have a clue how well that 1 in 30" rate of the Rossi would work with a heavy bullet at longer ranges but I'm sure it would handle the usual 158 grain projectiles.

I tend to think of my rifles as long range tools and my favorite powder for a 357 rifle and heavy bullets for longer ranges is Hodgdon's Lil'Gun powder although the H110 equivalent 296 has proven to be of value too.

By the way, the 180 grain boolit that I use is a plain base design and I suffer no leading with it when pushing it to 1600 fps (chronographed) and I get 2 MOA accuracy out of the Marlin with it.

[MT Gianni]

I have a 92 in 357. I have tuned it by the Steve Jones DVD and found that the machining was very close and the cosmoline soak minimal. I still have trouble feeding some 357 rounds but it loves a 358156 in 38 cases loaded to 357 length. I can't figure it out but it works.

[KCcactus]

I got my 20" Rossi stainless last October. It looked and functioned great out of the box. It's a fun rifle to shoot. It feeds everything I tried in 357 cases, including wadcutters. In 38 cases, it feeds a variety of swc designs, but the wadcutters jam. My 13 yr old son hunted with it this season and got his first deer with it. The stainless Marlins I saw were over twice the price, so that made the decision easier. I'm very happy with the Rossi.

[Dorf]

+ 1 For the 20" Stainless Rossi! Super cool lookin' little carbine! I picked one up last summer, did the "Steve's Gunz" mods and it's one of the smoothest leverguns I've ever handled, likes Lyman 358477's and is a blast to shoot and carry. Hope this helps--Stan.

[pietro]

.

My .357 levergun is a Rossi 16" Big Loop, which I've peeped, and works beautifully with Hornady high-performance loads for hunting.

I've never shot cast boolits or .38 Specials through it, even though it's bbl is marked ".357/.38 Special", cannot comment on either.


.

[FergusonTO35]

Been looking at the Rossi website and see they have a 16" barrel carbine that weighs 4.8 pounds. If there ever was a perfect gun for general shooting and defending against four footed and two footed varmints that would be it. Maybe I should get that one and use it for the light loads, and use my 1894C for the heavy .357 loads? I'm thinking the slow twist of the Rossi might like .38 Special +P level loads better, which are what I use most of the time.

[John Allen]

I have a Rossi Puma 92 in 45 long colt it is a very nice gun I am happy with it.

[jmort]

Just ordered a Rossi M92 in .38/.357 with 16" barrel. At 4.8 pounds, as noted it is a "neat/tidy" package. Will have it "tuned" at some point, but will run it as is for a while and see how it goes. One thing about the 92 action, is the strength advantage over the other actions. You can really run it hot.

[Airman Basic]

.

My .357 levergun is a Rossi 16" Big Loop, which I've peeped, and works beautifully with Hornady high-performance loads for hunting.
I've never shot cast boolits or .38 Specials through it, even though it's bbl is marked ".357/.38 Special", cannot comment on either.

What did you peep it with. I'm trying to decide the best way to go.

[TCLouis]

I have the 20" octagon model.
None of the sight height isses that seem to be prevalent with the 16" barrel.

I do wish I had paid a bit more and gotten the SS gun the dealer got in the same shipment.

AFTER overcoming the original issues associated with user error it has done well.
It likes the 358156, but so far I have NOT found any joy with loading the 358429 . . . . yet.
Rossi's slow twist may well be the reason.

My original plan had been Lar45 or Ranch Dog 180-190 boolit or 358429 for hunting duty and 150 some odd grain boolit for plinking and playing.

Rossi tang sight on order and I will be interested to see if that improves my shooting. It will also be a grand surprise when it finally gets here.

[MT Gianni]

Mine is a 16" bbl length. You have to love a rifle with a stock and bbl shorter than you inseam.

[FergusonTO35]

I wonder just how fast you could push a 125 grain slug out of a Rossi with at least minute of coyote accuracy? Even with just .38 brass Im sure it would be no problem to duplicate .357 revolver performance. As much as I would love to have a .32-20 or other true smallbore lever action it just ain't gonna happen on my salary. I'm already set up for .38 and .357 though.

[Iron Mike Golf]

FergusonTO35, I have not chronied a 125 gr round, but using a 145 gr boolit and 300 MP, I get 2000-2100 fps. Not shot it at full range as yet.

[FergusonTO35]

Wow, nice!

[FergusonTO35]

I asked Steve Jones what he thought about the Rossi with heavy .357's. He said that it works well with heavy slugs driven hard, that the faster twist of revolvers and Marlins is often too fast for such usage. He also said the Rossi action is stronger and will handle any .357 no problem. So, guess the 20" carbine is what I'm planning to get, along with Steve's DVD and safety plug.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Get the metal magazine follower, too.

[Treeman]

My Rossi has no problems with the 358429 in Magnum loads....also is happy to shoot 38 specials and Lee's 158 grain RNF. Fun gun.

[BCRider]

I put the story of my own Rossi and that of a friend in another thread. Both the good and the bad.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?229121-Henry-Big-Boy-or-Rossi-92&p=2608067&viewfull=1#post2608067

FWIW both are in regular use at this point and shooting just fine. She's extremely happy with her rifle.