Originally Posted by
Jeff Michel
May I be damned for a hypocrite. Even though I long ago put the finger of death on Henry rifles (personal experience has not been at all good) I recently broke my word and purchased a Henry X model, I wanted something to leave in the Gator, abuse/neglect and generally treat like a .......club? My Marlins do not satisfy this requirement. The caliber was not not a .357 as requested by the OP, but a .45 Colt. All things being relative you may be able to draw some reasonable conclusions regarding the same rifle in a different caliber. Ok, The downside, it's ugly, a flashlight rail, day glow sights, a plastic stock and heaven help me a threaded barrel. Upside, it's short, therefore handy. very smooth action, feeds flawlessly (In fairness, I've only shot 255 Lee) and best of all, I can put eight in a group the size of the bottom of a pop can at 50 yards, open sights. Since Marlins of any strip are either out of sight price wise or very scarce I can't really recommend one unless your very lucky or the new Marlin company starts gearing up soon. Nothing against Rossi, have one. Handy, accurate. On the rough side action wise, you can smooth them up allegedly, but mine got pretty good after 500 rounds or so. The position for their safety is terrible. All that having been said, you could do yourself a lot worst than an X model Henry. So far, I'm impressed with it's performance though it's ugly as a mud turtle. Good luck.