Suggestions on a good .357 lever gun?

[plainsman456]

I have shot both types of 357 rifles and while the Rossi shoots real good the marlin just does it for me.

Sadly they don't belong to me,the brother in law has the Rossi and another friend has the marlin.
When shooting the Marlin the other i had the chance to shoot and load for a Coonan pistol.

Life is good but it made me want to get a rifle in 357.Wife liked it as well so maybe if i get one i will still have a place to sleep.

[bigarm]

I have a Marlin in 44 that I really like. Would like to get something in .357 also to go with it and my 30-30 and 45-70.

[Leatherhead Bullets]

I have the Rossi (actually Puma stamped) 20" octagon Case colored. Found it "used" on a LGS shelf. Not sure if it had actually been fired. My girls have put about 500 rounds through it which has smoothed it up nicely. Cycles everything I have fed it. 357 SWC's feed smooth. It is very accurate and as we all know, a blast to shoot! Hope to get another soon.

[C A Plater]

I've got a nice little Rossi 92SRC that I was happy with until I picked up a Miroku Winchester in .44 magnum. Now I'm spoiled and would like to get one in .357 one day when the money gods smile upon me.

[TXGunNut]

Cool. My sister lives near Sanger.

Come by for a cup of coffee sometime. Better yet, we can meet at the NTSA range a little S of Sanger. I'm a member and I'd be proud to have you as my guest.

[TXGunNut]

Nope, used ones are still cheaper. And the Marlin action is designed for the shorter pistol calibers.

News to me, my friend. Makes sense but I quite honestly didn't know that. Always felt the 92 was designed for them as well. Guess I need to study up on this a bit.

[fouronesix]

Quote dragon813gt- "And the Marlin action is designed for the shorter pistol calibers."

News to me, my friend. Makes sense but I quite honestly didn't know that. Always felt the 92 was designed for them as well. Guess I need to study up on this a bit.

News to me too! The Marlin 94 along with the Marlin 88 & 89 are and always have been for the "pistol" length cartridges. The Win 92 (and recent clones by other manufacturers) are and always have been for "pistol" length cartridges.

As to the OP- Both the Win 92 and The Marlin 94 are good 357 choices. The Win 92s are known for strength and smooth action. The current Miroku made 92s are very good.

[TXGunNut]

I guess one way of looking at it is to consider the early chamberings for the 92. IIRC 25-20, 32-20, 38-40, 44-40 were designed as rifle cartridges and later chambered in handguns so dragon813gt may have a valid point here.

[Para82]

I have the Rossi Puma SRC in 357Mag. Traded for it in the early 90's. Great little rifle and fun to shoot. Pretty accurate with 158 cast SWC.

[fouronesix]

I guess one way of looking at it is to consider the early chamberings for the 92. IIRC 25-20, 32-20, 38-40, 44-40 were designed as rifle cartridges and later chambered in handguns so dragon813gt may have a valid point here.

It may be simple semantics to differentiate between a rifle and a pistol cartridge. Might have to go back to the Volcanic and Henry era of pre-Winchester. The "roots" of the short cartridge may be simply the result of the transition from short rimfire cartridges to short centerfire cartridges and the rifles that shot them, were by nature, short actioned because of the design technology for those repeating lever guns like the Henry, Win 66 and Win 73.

Isn't the Marlin 94 pretty much a scaled down Marlin 93 and the Winchester 92 a scaled down 86? Both the Marlin 94 and the Win 92 were made well into the 20th century (the Marlin 94- 1935 and the Win 92- 1941) probably because of two market forces. 1)The popularity of the reloadable short center fire cartridges available in guns like the Win 73 since 1873 and 2)the compatibility for use in revolvers namely the Colt SAAs which were chambered in the 44-40, etc. shortly after their introduction in the Win 73.

[rbstern]

Count me in as another Rossi fan. I've got the 20" model, from the Interarms days, before they started putting the safety on top. The action was rough out of the box and it was finicky about bullet length and shape. Some tweaking and polishing over the years has it to the point where it's very slick and feeds pretty much anything in 38spl and 357. One of my favorite firearms.

[TXGunNut]

The "roots" of the short cartridge may be simply the result of the transition from short rimfire cartridges to short centerfire cartridges and the rifles that shot them, were by nature, short actioned because of the design technology for those repeating lever guns like the Henry, Win 66 and Win 73. -fouronesix

Good points, I'm very interested in but not very experienced with the short action leverguns. My only SA levergun is an early 92 rifle in 32-20 and my only pistol cartridge levergun is a 94 Trapper in 45 Colt. I love the 1873's, could sit and watch that action work for hours but not likely to shell out the price for that piece of work. I've spent very little time with early Marlins but have heard good things about the 94, both early and modern.
I'm interested in this thread because I have 38-357 dies and brass sitting idle and I can always make room for one more handy little carbine. I dream of a nice 73 in 38-40 but a slick little 92 or 94 in 38-357 would probably be more fun.

[mattw]

I would suggest that you save for a bit and track down a good pre-crossbolt safety Marlin. Mine loves to shoot 170-225 grain bullets very accurately. The action is very slick and the trigger is great. Don't know anything about the newer ones, have not owned anything with a crossbolt safety.

[1Shirt]

About 5-6 years ago I was fortunate enough to buy a Win 94 in 357 w/24" bbl. at a reasonable price, and before Win Prices shot thru the roof. It is a good shooter, with just about anything you feed it, and it handles the long Kieth being crimped into the crimp groove. Likes 2400 and A#9 powders and heavier bullets. Most of the manuals list 357 rifles with 18" bbls, and very respectable vols. Have not chronoed mine with longer bbl, but would estimate, 150-200 fps faster with a 24" bbl over one with an 18" bbl.
1Shirt!

[EDK]

Check gunbroker, etc on a daily basis for what you want and don't be shy on a BUY NOW that you can tolerate.
I scored a 336 Cowboy 30 30 at 5am because the other guys were saving nickles....extra $50 maybe? BUT it's in MY safe. I bought a 20 inch 357 Cowboy off gunbroker and sent off the FFL and $600 money order. Three hours late I got a response off SASSWIRE for a used 24 inch 357 Cowboy for $500. Thankfully I had enough funds to cover that one also.
They don't make JM Cowboy rifles in pistol calibers anymore; no more Original Size Ruger Vaqueros either!

[bugkiller]

I've got a Ross 92i. Had it slicked up, still came in cheaper than most other options. It's a fine shooter, my wife loves it. Right now, cheaper to shot reloads (and easier to find) than a 22.
Shoots and cycles TC bullets best. Esp in .38 spl. Will pretty much shoot and cycle any .357.
I plink with it. Certainly could be a deer rifle.

[sghart3578]

When I decided to go with a 357 lever gun I bought a Rossi 92 off of Gunbroker. This particular rifle was a lemon and after several months of fighting with Rossi in Florida I got my money back. It was a long, infuriating battle, especially when us Americans are spoiled by the "no questions asked, no B.S." customer service policies of Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Dillon, just to name a few.

I tell you this story not to scare you away from Rossi, I have made my peace with them. But it is always better to buy a gun that you can inspect thoroughly first, and then give your money to someone who appreciates it.

This doesn't mean that you can't buy a used gun online. I recently bought a Marlin 336 Texan from a gun shop in Arkansas. I live in N California. Before the purchase I made sure that I had a reasonable inspection/return period. The guys there were really nice and told me "No problem. Look it over and send it back if you don't like it. But we'll tell you right now that you are going to love it." And they were right.

To show you Rossi guys that I have no axe to grind with Rossi, my next rifle is either going to be a Marlin or Winchester in 32 Win or a Rossi 92, 45 Colt, 24" octagon with case hardening.

[jmort]

I got my 18" Rossi 92 .357 off Gun Broker as well, but no problem. The action job by the SASS gunsmith has made it a delight.

[targetfreak]

Sorry to be a little late to this thread, but I have a Henry Big Boy in .357 (to match my revolvers) and I love it. The qualifiers for people who look for them are: it costs more than the others because it's made in the USA (why I bought it), it's heavy at 8 1/2 pounds (the felt recoil is like a .22), and it's purty with that brass receiver. And the people at Henry are way beyond friendly and helpful. I just made a peep sight for mine, and modified a replacement front sight to match. Also made a new buttstock because I am vertically challenged and the butt had a little too much LOP.

[terk]

My .357 Big Boy has been shot almost weekly since I bought it over a year ago. Smooth action, well built, good detail, not hard to look at, and very accurate and dependable. It has shot, without fail, .38 special, .357 factory loads, but mostly my homebrew loads that I also shoot in the S&W 686+ revolvers. It will shoot lead accurately at low to mid range velocities (up to about 1400 fps), but it shines with plated (RMR, Extreme) and especially jacketed (sorry - used the j-word) bullets (Hornady XTPs) at mid to full house loads.

It just gets better every time I shoot it.