I have had a couple of the Marlin .357 carbines over the years (and a .44). They are great little guns. Short, light, handy, more than accurate enough for the iron sight ranges they are used at. Light recoil (.357, NOT the .44
)
My father in law, who was not a gun guy, fell in love with mine, so I gave it to him one Christmas. For him, it was the perfect gun. Powerful .357 Magnum, fit neatly into the wardrobe of his truck camper, taking very little space, and being a rifle, he could travel widely without concern for different states handgun laws.
A few things to know about .357 carbines (and the Marlin, in particular). First, the extra velocity from the long barrel is not
always a good thing. Mostly it is, but in the case of the regular factory 125gr load, its a double edged sword. To a degree, it also applies to the other .357 loads, but the effect is most pronounced in the 125gr JHP loadings.
First, the short bearing surface of the bullet and the huge increase in velocity from a carbine can result in unsatisfactory accuracy in some guns.
Second, but most important, I think, is the fact that a bullet built to expand fully at velocities around 1400fps (and in the moderately light resistance of a human body) will not expand the same way when the impact speed is 2000fps (top end 125gr loads from a carbine can hit 2200fps).
The 125JHP has a well deserved reputation, and is optimized for defense. out of a pistol. out of carbine, it expands violently, and consequently penetration suffers. Its a devastating round for some things, but its important to know the change in bullet performance from the carbine, and choose your shots accordingly. Heavier bullets (158-180) are also affected but not to as large a degree, in my experience.
About the Marlin, they are a bit length sensitive. Never had any issues from shorter .38 Spl cases, but have had issues with rounds that are too long. A friend once loaded some of the old 200gr LRN in his carbine (.357 cases, IIRC). Round dropped in the chamber was fine, but round in the mag was too long to feed through the action. Wound up having to take the gun apart to clear the jam. Watch your COAL. It's possible a 180gr load might do the same thing. Anytime you get long bullets, test them in the gun, don't just assume that it will feed (even factory stuff).
The other thing the rifles I've had would all do, sometimes they would hang up feeding SWC bullets. Anything rounded (RN, SP, JHP) always fed slick as you could want, but sometimes SWCs would hang up. (never tried full wadcutters).
What would sometimes happen was that the round would "bounce" a little bit on the carrier, and the sharp shoulder on the bullet would catch on the sharp shoulder (edge) of the chamber. Being lead (not the slickest thing) and flat edge against flat edge, things tended to want to stop, right there. And adding more force to the lever just makes sure things stop.
The trick is when this happens, back off on the lever, just a bit. Once the pressure is off the round, it drops back down where it belongs, and feeds into the chamber slick like it should. Its easy to do, and fast, once you learn the trick. If your lever gun jams feeding, don't try to force it closed, just bump the lever forward a little bit, and then close it. Usually that's all it takes.