A friend of mine is thinking about getting a 357 Mag Lever rifle. He is intrested in a Marlin or a Winchester as he wants to scope it.

I started to suggest a 44 mag lever gun as I have a lot of exerience with them but his kids are still very young and wants the lesser recoil of 38 special/357 Mag loads.

His main uses are for his kids to shoot as a biger than 22LR plinker, then to use it for small game, turkey, and maybe even deer and pigs, close range of course.

A few questions he asked me were about accuracy reliability, and the ability to shoot 38special wadcutters, as he shoots a lot of them in his revolvers.

Any infor you can give will be assed on to him.

I had a Browning it shot well but I couldn't scope it due to the top eject. The Browning was made for .357 only and would not load .38's unless you loaded the bullet at the same length as the mag. Good luck they are one heck of a lot of fun to shoot.

I had a Marlin 44mag lever gun untill some one stold it out of my parents house. The only thing wrong was it did not like loads over 1000fps they would hang-up and the extractor would slip over them but when loaded at 1000fps or less it was deadly accurate with a scope.

I have a 357 Marlin that shoots quite well. it will also shoot 38's so I don't think the wadcutter will be an issue. I have had no reliability issues with mine at all. It's one of the early ones, made in the early 80's I believe.
They are fun to shoot, for sure and the Marlin will accept Warne or Weaver mounts.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
A friend of mine is thinking about getting a 357 Mag Lever rifle. He is intrested in a Marlin or a Winchester as he wants to scope it.

I started to suggest a 44 mag lever gun as I have a lot of exerience with them but his kids are still very young and wants the lesser recoil of 38 special/357 Mag loads.

His main uses are for his kids to shoot as a biger than 22LR plinker, then to use it for small game, turkey, and maybe even deer and pigs, close range of course.

A few questions he asked me were about accuracy reliability, and the ability to shoot 38special wadcutters, as he shoots a lot of them in his revolvers.

Any infor you can give will be assed on to him.

Might I suggest instead getting another 44mag then loading light 44special level cast bullet loads for it.

Then you can gradually ramp up the power level and "train them into" the 44Mag.


I would not recommend shooting 44Specials in a 44mag chamber.

Nor would I recommend shooting 38Specials ina 357Mag chamber

I have a ton of brass for each and I just load
lighter loads (if I want them) in the longer case.

Basically cleaning the chamber of the crud that forms from the shorter brass is too much aggrevation.


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Those were my thoughts as well, but I think he has a fair amount of 38 factory wadcutters left over from his PPC days. And he carries 38/357 revolvers.

He is just not a 44 Mag guy.

Last year I had a deposit on a Marlin 1894C but I let it go because after long thought even with several sessions of looking at (literally) a garbage pail of 38 & 357brass
I couldn't convince myself that I really wanted a 357Lever gun... atleast not until AFTER I have a 44mag levergun.

Granted I don't have as much 44mag brass, but to be honest if I had both I'd grab the 44 to go hunting with.

So I've convinced myself to get a 44mag first.
Certainly a Marlin, preferably in stainless.

Though there is this Top Eject win94 big Bore in 375win that recently caught my eye...

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I agree with you, mu first centerfire rifle was a Ruger Deerstalker in 44 Mag. This was around 1961 or 1962. I have had 2 other 44 Mag rifles a Marlin and currently a Winchester Trapper.

As I now use a 44 Mag revolver quite a bit the 44 Rifle is most handy.

It is one of my most favorite calibres, rifle and handgun.

I really like the Winchester Trapper, short, holds a lot of rounds, and plenty accurate for an iron sighted rifle inside 100 yards.

Still my buddy needs info on the 357 Lever.
For HIM and what he wants do do with it it is a better choice... for HIM.

PS, baised on my actual experience the 44 Mag Rifle is a good a killer on deer and pigs out to 100 yards it is as good as ANY calibre out there, whether it is a 308, a 300 mag, 375 H&H or an Elephant gun like a 450 No2.

They kill far beyond what their paper ballistics would suggest.

I'd get a Marlin.

Atleast the marlins are still in production.

I'm not sure about the quality of the brazilian guns

If I could get one of the Browning 1892 replicas that were produced a couple of years ago that's be sweet, but....

Even so a Marlin 1894C would be the first three choices on any list of five choices.



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The Marlins can be finicky feeders. I bought one new last year for my wife to shoot in 357, and it won't feed semi wadcutters in either 357 or 38 special. It also won't feed 125 gr round nose flat points in either 38 or 357. It will feed 158 gr round nose lead in either 38 or 357. It will also feed 158 Rem JHP's in either 38 or 357.

I don't have any to try, but I very much doubt it will feed full wadcutters.

My 1894C won't feed cartridges that are over 1.61" long which limits the bullets usable in hand loads.

Get a 44 mag, mine shoots 44 specials just fine, my kids have no trouble with it. Someday he may want to hunt deer and a 44 mag is a much better deer cartridge than the 357.

I have both a .357 in the '94. I then bypassed the .44, and went for one in .45 Colt. Love them both. In the .357 I load long hand cast 180 gr. LBTs and they are amazingly accurate. I just filed back the stop on the carrier to allow it to feed the longer ammo, and it works fine. Takes about 5 minutes.
Hard to compare the .357 and the .45 Colt. They are two different things really.
The .357 is amazingly flat shooting, and mild recoiling. Great for varmints and hits plenty hard for medium game. The .45 on the other hand with my 300 gr. LBTs hits like a .45-70 and recoils a lot.
I also shoot .38s out of the .357, and have no problems with residue build up, and mine seems to feed anything. I just clean it as usual after shooting, and don't worry about it. 'Lifes too short'.
I have several .45-70s as well, but if forced to pick between all my levers, I would take the .357 as it will with the right loads do most things, and it is smaller & lighter then the others. But most importantly the 'fun factor' with this caliber in a carbine is off the charts.

I agree with Dwright about the cool factor! I bought a Marlin 1894 357 in 1989 and love it!! It digest everything from 38 WC to hot 357 158's. When I got it it wore a big ole 3x9 scope, which I kept on for a while, then decided it looked better with irons as a saddle carbine. I may put a reciever sight on it someday but dont know.

I have taken coyotes, turkey, hogs and other small game, have never taken a deer but if the range was close I wouldnt have a problem with it.
My buddy had a Rossi and it was a cool repro of the winchester 92, but couldnt scope it.

Bottom line, buy a Marlin!!
Eterry

Gents thanks for all the replies.

Eterry, from you post it looks like you Marlin will feed with 38 wadcutters.

Is that correct, if so how do they shoot at 50 and 100 yards?

I have a marlin 357 I shoot 158 remsp in it I have taken several deer with out a problem with it.

My Win Trapper in .357 has the cartridge stop issue these caliber M94's seem to be known for. It sometimes double feeds rounds from the magazine, which jams the action until the rounds can be worked out.

Other than this, it is a great Lever. Marlins don't seem to have any reliability problems, and between these two, in .357 Magnum, I'd definitely buy Marlin.

My .357 M92s are great! They shoot minute of my nose out to 25 yards standing, 50 yards braced against a tree or post or whatever is handy. They basically have no recoil, which is perfect for kids.

I have a good brass bead up front, and prefer a Williams FP receiver sight, but try a good buckhorn - it might surprise you.

Wadcutters to 180gr at 1800 fps in a 16" barrel, the .357 Lever is no lightweight.

I only shot WC's through it once to satisfy my curiosity and to settle and argument w/ a friend. It shot one ragged hole at 25 yards, the limit of the range we were at. I mostly use 158 gr. SWC to about 1700-1800 FPS, it ruins the day of everything I have shot with it, but wont damage too much meat on a gobbler. Off a rest it will shoot into a couple inches at 50 yards, not a squirrel gun but handy and fun to use.
Eterry

Eterry
Thanks for the info.

Was Nik Green killed when those guys escaped and killed several OHP Troopers?

Nik was a close friend and worked across the river from us in Oklahoma. Nik was woke up the day after Christmas morning by the paper carrier and told of a possible stranded motorist on a dirt road in the county. Nik responded, found the vehicle with its hood and trunk open and walked into a mobile meth lab with a meth'ed up ex-fireman who murdered Nik execution style after a violent fight.

The funeral procession was over 20 miles long and as we reached the cemetary the radio flashed that his murderer had been captured. Its been over five years and the memories are still as fresh, painful, and tragic as when it happened.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17...oper-nikky-joe-green

Eterry