I have really got the itch for a 38spl lever gun

[GARD72977]

Been thinking of buying a lever. I have been without one since I sold my 44mag marlin. I really miss that gun. I was thinking of a 38spl cowboy style gun. I load it on the dillion and since most of my shooting will be cans I think it might fit the bill. I have a lot of brass for it. Anybody else shooting one. If so what boolit molds are you using?

[marlin39a]

Rossi 92 in 357. I load the Lee 358-158-RF in 357 and 38 cases. A fun gun for sure. Search this forum for plenty of information.

[Jeff82]

I shoot a Marlin 1894C 357. This was my absolute favorite rifle bar none in the 1970's. I always regretted selling it. Several years ago, when I switched out of blackpowder cartridge shooting, I bought another one. It's the only rifle I shoot, and I still really like it. I've put thousands of rounds through it. It's very cheap and very pleasant to shoot. Quality is sometimes a problem with Marlins. I took mine to a gunsmith to tune up the action and to install Skinner sights. It's a totally awesome gun now.

[Jim]

I have a Marlin '94 in .357. Just out of curiosity, I wondered if I could work up a quiet load for 'coon huntin'. The rifle was very cooperative.
62661

[fecmech]

You need to be careful as these rifles are very addictive. I started with one Winchester 94 .357 and have since added two Rossi's to the mix. I don't think any one of the three has less than 3K rds through it. My Rossi's like the lighter bullets best for plinking level loads(1200fps or less) and are very accurate with either the Lee 120TC or 125 RNFP.

[fouronesix]

Fun, mild, easy to load- what's not to like.
If money or shopping time is not primary, you might also look for one of the Winchester Model 92 repros that were built with the 357 chambering. Miroku guns IIRC.

The way the market is, may also apply to the older Marlin 94s in that chambering. May take some looking and more $ than they originally fetched.

I have the older Marlin 94 version- it was a little more gritty in cycling than the Winchester 92 when new but they smooth out over time. With a slightly taller front sight and a receiver sight, it's an excellent 50 yard shooter.

[ReloaderFred]

My wife and I both shoot Marlin .357 carbines in SASS competitions, and we've got thousands of rounds of 125 gr. .38's through them. The key to making them run smooth, other than an action job, is the OAL of the loaded round. I've found that the magic number is 1.480" minimum. I just ignore the crimping groove on the 125 gr. bullet and crimp into the side where it needs to be.

Very fun guns to shoot, and economical, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[harley45]

My son has one he's 11 we love it!!! Problem is he won't share. Can't wait for him to get a deer with it!!

[Mike Brooks]

Makes a good cheap shooting plinker. Kind of like shooting a .22.

[7of7]

I have a win 357... runs nice... uses the lee 158 rn mold... tumble lube.. (also have 2 in 30-30)
Unique is your friend... bought 8lbs 8 years ago.. still have lots...

[TXGunNut]

As a former PPC shooter I have thousands of rounds of brass, a Dillon 550 and a fondness for leverguns. I'd say I have a considerable itch for a 92 in .357. :mrgreen:


......can we talk about the weather or sumthin? :kidding:

[L Ross]

Another fun lever gun in 38 spl is the Uberti copy of the 1866 Improved Henry, or Winchester, or Yellow Boy, whatever you want to call it.

Duke

[Artful]

I like my Rossi 92 copy - it like shooting an over grown 22 with 38's - and I have shot out to 200 with it and it was busting clays and then breaking up the pieces - of course that was when I still could see iron sights. It's real easy to carry as well.

[BCRider]

Another .357Mag chambered Rossi fan here. Mine was quite nice right out of the box. It's since gotten better from slicking it up using the information found on the web when you search for "rossi 92 action work" along with a couple of hints from my local CAS gunsmith.

There's no one that makes a .38Spl rifle. But that won't stop you stuffing a .357Mag rifle with a handful of .38's. The Rossi works with them just fine as long as you don't try to speed cycle the lever like a fast cowboy action shooter. This doesn't mean you need to cycle it slowly. I found that if I paused with the lever fully down and forward for about a 1/5 to 1/4 second then closed it that's all it needed to let the round settle down and feed just fine. But if you try to flick cycle the lever with a .38Spl they can often lead to jams where the bullet points at the sky or gets jammed into the top edge of the chamber opening.

[gundownunder]

Marlin did produce a limited number of 38 spl in the 1894 cowboy model. It was called a competition model and had a 20" octagonal barrel and color case hardened receiver, this model was also made in 45Colt. I'm guessing that apart from chamber length this would have been the same rifle as the 357 so should be able to be loaded with Elmer's old 38/44 loads for a lot of extra grunt.
If you buy a 357 I'd use 357 brass and sell/swap the 38 brass, because the extra jump to the rifling won't do you any favors in the accuracy department, and the crud buildup at the front of the chamber will mean lots of scrubbing before you can stick a 357 case in there. Also some 357 rifles will do a dummy spit if you try and feed them 38s.

[blackhawk44]

Of my 12 leverguns, my old Navy Arms Yellowboy is truly the most fun. Remember, no plus P's in this one, ever.

[Rusty Goose]

Anyone else here Own a Henry Big Boy in .357? I love mine, very stout. I think they use the same octagonal barrel blank for the .357 and .44 mag. The .357 barrel is heavy, loading the mag tube is like a .22. To shoot .38 specials is laughable, barely any recoil. I burn up a lot .38sp +p+ that I have on hand as well as .357.

[Jay561]

I love my Rossi 92 357, I shoot 38s out of it all the time.

[practical_man]

Been thinking of buying a lever. I have been without one since I sold my 44mag marlin. I really miss that gun. I was thinking of a 38spl cowboy style gun. I load it on the dillion and since most of my shooting will be cans I think it might fit the bill. I have a lot of brass for it. Anybody else shooting one. If so what boolit molds are you using?

I shoot 38 special out of my marlins quite a bit. The lee 125 RNFP works fine at cowboy action ranges. I am toying with the idea of a 180 grain bullet for longer ranges.

I really want to get these rifles to feed 148 grain wadcutters. It is turning out to be harder Thani thought.

-John

[harley45]

Can they really be made to feed wadcutters?

[fouronesix]

My Marlin is a pre-lewya model with the standard 18.5" MG barrel. I never needed to shoot 38s in it and have stayed with 357s. Very easy to load way down to light 38 Spl levels with a powder like Trailboss and a fairly soft PB 125 gr SWC bullet. Put taller front and Lyman receiver sights on it. Very accurate out to 50 yards and easy to shoot well off hand. Can rapidly empty a full magazine off hand into a small metal sillywet at 100 yards. Mild and easy, eats ammo and lacks challenge.

[Reverend Al]

Another Rossi lover here! I bought one for my wife several years ago for her to use as a CAS rifle. Ours is an older model and the Rossi's have nice, deep rifling that works great with lead bullets ...
(I have 6 original Winchester 92's in .44WCF and .32WCF, but for a fun "plinker" with a smooth action and great accuracy the Rossi is just plain awesome, plus I'm not putting further wear and tear on those original 92's of mine ...)
:)

[NickB1075]

I also have a Marlin (Pre-Rem) 1894c in 357. This rifle is more accurate then i was expecting. I use 168gr. SWC and offhand i can hold a pie plate at 100 yards all day long. I shoot 38's almost exclusively do to that I have a huge stockpile of brass and not that much of 357 mag.

Oh did i mention this is one of the most fun if not the most fun gun in my safe. Simply a pleasure to shoot.

Nick

[waco]

I bought my wife a marlin 1894 .357. We load it with 158gr FP over 3.2 grains of tite group.
I just bought a brass NOE 360427(I think that's the number)
150 gr swc. Have not loaded any yet, but sized to .359 and lubed with BAC, they should fit the bill.
Waco

[HDS]

Getting an uberti 1873 in .357 myself, will be running black powder .38spl through it.

[Screwbolts]

I would love to find a Henry or Marlin in 357. In the late 70s I handled a Marlin in a Small gun Shop in Sharon Springs, NY. Thought I had to think about it, went back three days later and it was gone.

Ken

[357shooter]

Another Rossi M92 lover, with a 20 inch round barrel. My handloads are all in 357 brass, but loaded light. The Lee 125-RF over 5.2 grains of HP38, or 5.4 of Unique are very accurate, fun loads.

[practical_man]

Can they really be made to feed wadcutters?

Yes. Chamfer the barrel and shim the lifter. Not difficult but it takes time that is hard to carve out right now.

[fecmech]

A quick and easy way to feed wadcutters that works in my Win 94 and both Rossi's is to load the wadcutter about a third of the way out of the case. That said, the light wadcutter loads don't shoot that well in the Rossi's past about 70 yds but they do feed. If a fellow wants light accurate loads it's hard to beat the Lee 125 RF or 120 TC.

[HDS]

I never had to modify my Rossi 92 to shoot 44 wadcutters, just lube the groove near the base and crimp over the front groove. This works best in both my 629 and rifle both. I load with N32C but I might be looking at N320 or N330 in the future for something cheaper.

[bobthenailer]

I have shot more rounds through my Marlin 357 mag rifle in 12 years than all the other centerfire rifles round count combined over the past 45 years .

[shdwlkr]

You want to be careful getting any lever action rifle it seems they just keep showing up. Before my divorce I had the better part of 8 of them in the house, now sadly I will have only one when I can afford to get it finished. It will be a 256 win mag on an original winchester mdl 92 action. Had the chance years ago to buy three winchester mdl 92 actions bought one stupid idea should have bought all three.
I had one of the new winchester mdl 92's in 357 mag with a 24 inch barrel yea I know it is long but that is what I grew up with, a rifle had a long barrel. My very first winchester mdl 94 had only a 20 inch barrel and like a jerk I sold it decades ago to get something else it was a fine rifle I was just to young at the time to realize what I had.

[Baja_Traveler]

Another Rossi 92 here - Blued, 24" Octagon barrel. All I've ever shot out of it are black powder loads, at first 20 grains 3f in 38 sp cases with 158gr RNFP. I use it for lever gun silhouette, and wanted a little more Oomph on the rams, so I moved up to 357's and 25 grains BP.

As if these rifles are not addicting enough, try shooting black powder in them!

[ironhead7544]

Had 2 older Rossi M92 357 mag rifles, wish I still had them. Currently have a short rifle in 44 mag. Go for it. Lots of info on tuning the Rossi on the net.

[Armand]

Of my 12 leverguns, my old Navy Arms Yellowboy is truly the most fun. Remember, no plus P's in this one, ever.

Although I don´t understand this.

The 73 will take .357´s ... why not the 66? It´s the same action?

The brass receiver that weak???

Hermann

[Doc Highwall]

I bought a used Marlin in 357 mag made before they put the cross bolt safety on them. Then I had a friend who worked there as an engineer help me get it converted to 38 Special with a octagon barrel and a pistol grip stock.

The 1894G was chambered in 41 Mag and had a pistol grip stock so nothing special had to be made being stock parts.

[waco]

My old man just picked up a marlin 1894 cowboy in .38/.357
24" octagon barrel. $400

[Doc Highwall]

That is a good price.

[Rusty Goose]

I've really enjoyed my Henry Big Boy in .357. Very heavy, has the special pretty walnut stock and all. But you all have been making so much fuss over the Marlins, I had to see for my self. Last weekend I traded my old Mossberg 500 straight across for a Marlin 1894c in .357. It is a pre-safety in excellent shape except the p/o drilled holes through the stock and fore end to attach his sling with para cord.

I ran 150 or so round of .357 and .38 sp +p+ through it yesterday. You were right, it is really fun. The .357 mags push me around a whole lot more than they do with the Henry, but the marlin is about half the weight it seems. I still need to get the hang of loading the last few in the mag, they seem to fight me a bit. The .38's are really nice, in the Henry they feel like .22lr. The marlin is like the ride in a Jeep, the Henry more like a Buick. I'll definitely be putting the Jeep through trials that I would dare take the pretty Buick.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l553/kellinrusty/GunpicsMarch132013061_zps4eca5b58.jpg

[jlchucker]

Rossi 92 in 357. I load the Lee 358-158-RF in 357 and 38 cases. A fun gun for sure. Search this forum for plenty of information.

Nice combo. I like it well myself. For even more fun and less stress on the alloy supply, you might try the Lee 125 gr flatnose boolit in 38 cases as well. I need to seat mine out a bit or they'll jam, but they shoot straight with 3.8 grains of Titegroup like it says on the powder can, and IMO they are the poor man's 2013 answer to the old 32-20. Seat them so that you are crimping into the leading edge of the lube groove, leaving the crimping groove exposed if you are going to use 38 special cases. Mine seem to jam otherwise.

[jlchucker]

Another .357Mag chambered Rossi fan here. Mine was quite nice right out of the box. It's since gotten better from slicking it up using the information found on the web when you search for "rossi 92 action work" along with a couple of hints from my local CAS gunsmith.

There's no one that makes a .38Spl rifle. But that won't stop you stuffing a .357Mag rifle with a handful of .38's. The Rossi works with them just fine as long as you don't try to speed cycle the lever like a fast cowboy action shooter. This doesn't mean you need to cycle it slowly. I found that if I paused with the lever fully down and forward for about a 1/5 to 1/4 second then closed it that's all it needed to let the round settle down and feed just fine. But if you try to flick cycle the lever with a .38Spl they can often lead to jams where the bullet points at the sky or gets jammed into the top edge of the chamber opening.

That's exactly how mine jams, especially if I load more than two or three up the pipe. After much fooling around, consulting with my own gunsmith, and exchanging emails with Steve of Steve's Guns, I started seating the bullet out a ways. Now, I seat them out to the front edge of the forward lube groove (158 gr) or to the front edge of the only lube groove (125 boolit) and the problem you just described has gone away. I don't do cowboy stuff though, so I can't speak to what will happen if I try and rapid-fire a magazine-full, though.

[dragon813gt]

This thread is worthless w/ out pics ;)
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Firearms/7DD280AF-E3B9-4D85-90DB-BDC72A685BFA-2609-000001932A05D742.jpg

My Marlin goes everywhere with me. It's by far the most fun to shoot. Recently picked up a S&W 586 as a companion piece. So now two guns, same ammo so less time at the bench. Everyone needs a carbine and handgun in 357 :)

[Mozz]

Whats the Dacron filler about?

[GARD72977]

still just wanting one. l spent the money or a NWS trade gun. I have to get one soon. I think that I will spent the extra money for one chambered in 38spl

[BCRider]

That's exactly how mine jams, especially if I load more than two or three up the pipe. After much fooling around, consulting with my own gunsmith, and exchanging emails with Steve of Steve's Guns, I started seating the bullet out a ways. Now, I seat them out to the front edge of the forward lube groove (158 gr) or to the front edge of the only lube groove (125 boolit) and the problem you just described has gone away. I don't do cowboy stuff though, so I can't speak to what will happen if I try and rapid-fire a magazine-full, though.

I got around the issue by switching to using .357Mag casings for the rifle.... :D One way or the we solved the issue by the same method. Namely making the ammo longer.

[jlchucker]

I got around the issue by switching to using .357Mag casings for the rifle.... :D One way or the we solved the issue by the same method. Namely making the ammo longer.

Yup. That will be my plan too--eventually. About 3 years ago my neighbor, a real estate agent, wandered over and asked me if I wanted some brass that had been left in one of his rentals. What he ended up giving me was a boxful of about a thousand cases--2/3 of which were 38 special, and the rest 357 magnum. That was my lucky day--and I loaded up a bunch of ammo with some of those 38 special cases, and ran into the jamming problem. Then I started seating them out for use in my Rossi, but any more loading I do for the Rossi will be using 357 brass. The key for the levergun seems to be overall cartridge length.

[oughtsix]

@dragon813gt

Beautiful rifle! Where did you get those sights???
Thanks!!

[dragon813gt]

Http://www.skinnersights.com

[outdoorfan]

Http://www.skinnersights.com


Is that a brass front sight; and if so, how do you like it?

[oughtsix]

Many thanks, dragon!!! Gotta have a set of those babies!!!!!!