Lever action in 357 magnum?

H

Husqvarna

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Lever action in 357 magnum?

what brands should I be looking at? models?

this will be a hunting/plinking rifle but CAS is in the back of my mind

is the 357 the biggest calibre you could share a revolver with?

357 would not allow me to hunt hogs here (or other big game) so a bigger calibre (that would still be CAS legal is of interest)

so this would be for small deer and badger otherwise
 
Pick one they are all good ones so far that I know. I am looking into getting a .357 Mag lever action for a range toy, plinker. I am liking the Rossi so far for price, and have heard a lot of good things about them.

You can get one chambered in .44 Mag if that is your wish. Several makers offer them. Henry, Marlin, and Rossi are the more affordable ones. Winchester makes some fine ones if you can afford them, and are willing to spend that much.
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in .45 LC and wouldn't trade it for any other gun. I also have a Henry .22, and you can't beat it for the money. It's all in if you want price or quality IMO.
 
Marlin, Henry, Winchester i prefer marlin but all make great rifles.
my brother has a marlin1894 in .357mag for plinking and varmint hunting, its a great rifle!

take a look at the .44 magnum lever action rifles, more bang for your buck...357mag is also a bit weak for deerhunting, a 30-30 could be a good choice too, there are lots of reduced loads for plinking out there + the round is sufficient to take most deer.

I would buy a Marlin model 336C in 30-30
 
I would advise a .44 Mag over the .45 Colt for a few reasons If you are using it with a companion combo, also for hunting.. (Note I love the .45 Colt round.)

1 No need to worry that a round too hot for most hand guns would wind up in the pistol by mistake.
2 Brass extracts easier for .44 Mag. The round was designed with a larger rim so that an extractor could grab it. (.45 Colt has a thinner rim part of the reason that Winchester did not make rifles in .45 Colt for so long. Also why so few double action revolvers are chambered in .45 Colt as well.)
3 .44 Mag is easier to find a double action if you wish to have one.
4. .44 Mag is easier to find at just about any store than .45 Colt, and is cheaper per box for the most part.
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in both .38 Special/.357 Mag and .44 Special/.44 Mag. I have been more than happy with both. I added Skinner Sights to both, and a DRC Large Loop Lever to the .44 Mag.

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357mag is also a bit weak for deerhunting
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Hmmm. That is arguable. Lots of hunters will take a .44 magnum pistol out for deer. Yes, it does make a bigger hole than the .357 but that is the one point in favor of a .44 pistol.
Once you put the .357 into a rifle, the game has changed. A 158 grain SP can be driven at 1800 fps out of a 16.5" barrel and expand to better than .50 caliber upon impact. Energy wise, the "bit weak" rifle-fired .357 yields over 1100 ft.lbs ME. (over 900 at 50 yards, just under 800 at 100 yds.) That .44 mag pistol using 240 grain bullets out of a 7.5" barrel will give you something similar at just over 1000 ME.
If one keeps the range within sensible limits, the .357 will be effective on deer sized animals.
Pete
 
My CAS lever rifle is a .357. Larger chamberings that you could share with a revolver include .41 Magnum (lever rifles in that caliber are very rare), .44 Special (the Uberti 1866 was offered in that caliber but not sure they are still in production), .44 Magnum and .45 Colt.

Whoops, forgot a couple of classic lever rifle chamberings (also available in revolvers): .38-40 (despite the name it's a .40 caliber and fits your criteria of a "larger" caliber) and .44-40.

A lever rifle is SASS-legal if it is chambered in a PISTOL caliber of .32 or greater. No .30-30 for example.

With cowboy shooters the .38-.357 is probably number one (lower ammo/component cost, low recoil); .45 Colt is probably the second most popular chambering.

I would take a close look at the .44 Magnum. You can load them down for cowboy matches. Some .45 Colt rifles have an issue with "blowby" that does not seem to affect the .44 Magnum as much. Better ballistics for hunting too.
 
I have lever actions from Marlin in 22lr, 32, 357 and 44 mag. The 357 is hands down my favorite gun of all the guns I own. I reload for it (and just about everything else) so I can make it do the work of a 22 rifle up to bottom end 30-30 loads. Plus it is pretty darn accurate for what it is. I could finish my hunting career with it if I stuck to the smaller Tx whitetails I normally hunt.

Brian Pearce did an article on the 357 lever gun in the April 2006 (IIRC) Rifle Magazine. It had lots of good info on the 357 round in a rifle. It is worth ordering from Wolfe publishing.

I have owned a Rossi 357 and the Marlin is a better made gun. The Rossi may be a stronger action and you can push the loads a little more but since you are using handgun bullets that are designed for about 1500fps tops you can get bullet blow up if the wrong bullet is used on bigger game like deer. Soft points work better than hollow points. I nearly cut a coyote in half with a winchester 158gr HP at about 30 yards.
 
The deer i would be hunting is the roedeer, very small and pratically you can scare it to death
 
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so the .44 mag, any chance it could qualify as a big game cartridge for me?

the legal demands are

atleast a 9 gram bullet and force at 100 meters atleast 2700 j (joule?)



or 10 gram bullet and 2000j at 100m

and in over the counter ammunition, not hot handloads

too bad the 30-30 isn't legal in CAS it was almost avaible in the old west:)
 
Look at Henry rifles. I plan on getting the 357 then the 44 mag. They are really popular at the gun shop I work at.
 
Husqvarna said:
so the .44 mag, any chance it could qualify as a big game cartridge for me?

the legal demands are

atleast a 9 gram bullet and force at 100 meters atleast 2700 j (joule?)



or 10 gram bullet and 2000j at 100m

and in over the counter ammunition, not hot handloads

too bad the 30-30 isn't legal in CAS it was almost avaible in the old west
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No, not even close, not even out of a rifle, in fact, a .30-30 probably won't meet the 2000 joule at 100 meter standard.

Energy = 1/2 mass x velocity squared.
Use kilograms as your mass unit and meters per second as your velocity unit and the answer will be in joules.
Use slugs as your mass unit and ft per second as your velocity unit and your answer will be in ft-lb.

9 grams= 138.85 grains
10 grams= 154.28 grains
2000 joules = 1476 ft lb
2700 joules = 1992 ft lb
 
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Joules

2700j or 2000j... You need substantial cartridge in order to get that energy at 100 yards. None of the pistol cartridges mentioned for lever gun use will do.
The .444 will as will the .45-70. Not the .357, not the .44 magnum, not even the .30-30.
Pete
 
I looked up the Hornady Leverevolution ballistics and indeed, their 160 grain .30-30 ammo has over 2000 joules at 100 meters. (109.333 yards). Thanks to a spitzer bullet with a .330 BC.
 
so how do they rank in cost?

is the marlin the most expensive?

as lever actions are somewhat rare here what should I look for in a used one?
 
The pumps a la colt lightning looks awesome aswell. how do they rank up to the levers? pricerange on those?

Accuracy? possible to put a scope on it?

I am not excpecting bolt action accuracy but touch something out to 150meters possible?

as previously stated the roedeer is a small kind of deer.

been hunting alotta badger to and a small compact rifle is good
 
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