Seeking advice for 357 Mag lever gun

R

RobW

New member
I consider the purchase of a lever action gun in a revolver-caliber. As I am not a hunter but a plinker and paper-puncher, this gun would have to swallow a lot of lead bullets, so I thought of a Winchester 94 in .357 Mag/.38 Special with a 20" barrel. At 1200 to 1300 fps, would such a rifle/carbine take hard-cast SWC's? Is a .44 Mag or .45 colt a better choice? The range I try to hit a barn would be 100 to 200 yds.

I am a reloader and the .38/.357 tools are already in stock but to buy a 3-die set in .44 or .45 wouldn't be a problem

Could I participate in your experiences?

Thanks for your help,

RobW
 
Due to the speeds involved, I'd go with cheap Remchester 125 grainer JHPs... Not quite as cheap as cast lead, but they won't lead the barrel - I'd worry about running cast lead at low speeds...
 
I have the Trapper 16" and Legacy 24" in 357. these are great rifles. My concern on hard caste is primer detonation. Some years ago the American Rifleman ran a story on an anatomy of a blowup. They were using a 44 mag Ruger self loading carbine and for some reason used a FMJ round. The gun blew up. I would stay with the bulk jacketed HP or SP.
 
I have found that 3.5 grains of Hodgdon Titegroup behind a 158 grain lead flatnose in a .38 special case gives 1,000 fps and 350 ft/lbs in a 16" barrel. Accuracy is very ood to 50 yards. For faster and further than this I suggest going to cheap, bulk jacketed bullets (Remchester).

But then I hate to clean out lead from the barrel.

The .44 is a very fun carbine, but if you're not hunting and already load .38 and .357 then the choice is obvious.

I'm not sure what you're saying Byron Adams. Primer detonation? It better, that's what I bought them for. Are you saying that there was a lot of leading, then they used a very hot FMJ and pressure went too high because of the lead in the barrel? Just load lead to levels where they don't deposit in the barrel or clean before shooting jacketed. Me? I just shoot those light lead plinkers above and shoot some jacketed .357 as well. Never seen any leading or over pressure signs.

Kilgor
 
Kilgor, the primer detonation in the article was referring to the fmj setting the primer off of the rounds in the magazine when the one in the chamber was fired. The writer indicated he was not expecting this as the rule of thumb had been not to use spitzers in a tubular magazine as the point could set the round in front off.It appeared the hardness of the fmj did the same while a soft lead front as in a HP or SP would not. I buy bulk Remington SP for mine and have no problem. Thanks for getting me to clarify my prior post. I live in GA and the 357 rifle is a legal deer round. In the N GA mountains, this is an excellent deep woods round. Byron
 
I have never chronographed the load but it is out of the old Speer #10 manual before the liability scare. I use the 158 grain JSP. Based on the #10, I should be getting about 1800. I stay with the Speer data using 296 and a mag sp primer. I stay at 16.6 grains which is not the max load.
 
Durn it, will you guys cut it out??!!!

There is a .357 Marlin at the gunshop that is (thanks to this thread) calling my name! I'm doooooooooooooomed!
 
Hey, great! Thanks for the input. There is always a lot I can learn. I think I'll go for a .357 Legacy.

On Monday, I will post some of the loads that are listed in one of my books as "carbine" loads and ask for your opinions.
 
From my chrono tests using a Shooting Chrony Master F1, Georgia Arm's ( www.georgia-arms.com ) 158 grain GoldDot "Deer Stopper" does 1855 fps for 1200+ ft/lbs in a 16.25" barrel. That's about a 600 fps and 750 ft/lbs increase over my chrono results from a 4" Smith and Wesson.

I've found that the .357 mag fodder gains 400-600 fps and .38 special 0-250 fps. It depends on how much powder is in the case. The hotter the load, the more it'll gain in the carbine barrel.

They're a lot of fun.

I understand now Byron. That makes sense. I usually use semijacketed hollowpoints for hot .357 loads (really like Sierra's 170 grain JHC), but have been known to use Berry's FMJ (plated) flat nose for mild .38 loads.

Hodgdon 110 seems to be the best powder for hot .357 loads in a carbine with W296 a very close second. 2400 is also an old standby.

Kilgor
 
Well, I held out until yesterday, hoping someone else would buy that Marlin 1894 CP and remove the temptation. Since that didn't happen, I knew it was a sign from God that I was supposed to take it home.

Looking forward to cooking up some of the loads discussed here and going to the range!:D
 
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