Marlin lever action .357?

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A few years ago my wife bought me a Marlin 30AS in 30-30. It was a fun gun to shoot. I am not a hunter, but took it to the range and camping alot. During a rough time I had to sell it. Well, I am now looking to replace it with another lever action,but instead of 30-30 I am thinking for the .357 caliber.

My question is: Is .357 for a rifle the same as it is for a revolver?

I am picking up a SP101 tomorrow, and thought it would be nice to have a rifle and a revolver that fire the same ammo.
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in .357, and it uses the same ammo as any .357 revolver including your SP101, and also can shoot .38 cal. ammo which can be quite a bit cheaper. My 1894 gobbles up FMJ, Semiwadcutter, LRN, etc. You will not be sorry. Fun at the range, and if you ever wanted to go hunting, rounds such as Buffalo Bore's 180 gr. rounds can take down deer sized game.
 
I like my Rossi .357 carbine, but it's no .30-30. It's cheaper to shoot, though, and my handloads with cast bullets make it even cheaper to shoot. So, I like it. The .30-30 has quite a bit more umph and as I AM a hunter, that can matter. But, I've killed a deer with the .357 at 80 yards quite dead. It's got enough to get the job done on anything around here and would makes a great woods bummin' rifle with the ability to chamber light .38 loads for small game if you want or just plinking. I sometimes pick up some aluminum "brass" Blazer .38 for plinking just so I don't have to chase the brass.

The marlin is a good gun. Both the marlin and the rossi are pricey any more, though. I'm not sure I'd get one now at over 500 bucks retail. I picked up the rossi over 20 years ago at $197. I just had the hots for it BECAUSE it fired the same ammo as my revolvers for which I reload. And, it's good with cast bullets which cuts down on cost as I get free lead at the range. If you've checked the price of a box of jacketed bullets lately, that's a good thing.
 
Yes, your Marlin will shoot the same .357 magnum ammunition as your revolver.

However, if you are a reloader, you will find that you can tailor ammunition to each weapon - will still "work" in both but optimum in one or the other.

For instance, your short-barrel revolver will thrive on modest loads of relatively fast-burning powder (e.g. Green Dot) - you can get good velocities without all the drama and noise of a factory .357 round.

Your rifle will like slower powders - traditional .357 mangum powders like H110, N110, 2400 and so forth. These slower powders in the longer barrel will give higher velocities than the same load in a 3" or 4" revolver.

I love my 1894 Marlin. Used it for Cowboy action shooting, now just like taking it to the range to punch paper. It is accurate, reliable, powerful enough for "home defese" should that ever be an issue, fun to shoot, and it has the "aura" of the early years of this great country attached. Enjoy yours!

Regards,
Andrew
 
My standard .357 load is 14.5 grains 2400 behind a 158 cast, gas checked SWC. It shoots to 1470 fps or so in my 6.5" blackhawk and about 1850 in the rifle. I've killed deer with this load in both guns. Yeah, 2400 is too slow for a snubby to be optimum, but AA#9 would probably make a good powder for either. I get 1302 fps with a 180 grain bullet using AA#9 in a 180 grain load from a 2.3" Ruger SP101 and something over 1600 fps from the rifle with the same load, not great from the rifle, but not bad. It's a faster powder than 2400 , slightly faster.

My light .38 is specifically for the rifle, tough, and mimics .22LR. I like that load, just 2.3 grains B'eye behind a Lee 105 SWC. It moves about 900 fps from the rifle and is 1.5" accurate at 50 yards. Pretty good load for small game. It shoots way low from all my handguns, though, but I have a repeatable elevation adjustment on an aperture sight on the rifle and can adjust between loads for proper POI. That's what is really neat about the rifle, the versatility of it. No .30-30 can match this versatility. I guess you could load squib loads with cast bullets in .30-30 brass using a filler like corn meal, but I don't know if you could get the accuracy out of it considering the rifling is optimum for 150 to 170 grain .30 cal pills.
 
MC,

Those are real nice velocities, and you demonstrate the point that the longer barrel can get the benefit out of slower powders - the .357 carbine is indeed very versatile!

Your point about loading gallery loads for the .30 calibler rifle reminds me of something - http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/Universal 30.htm - a so-called "universal" .30 caliber load for lead bullets, using ~10 grains of Unique, for modest velocity / low noise / low recoil gallery loads. Please note I have not tried this load myself! It is just something I read on the internet.

Your .38 Bullesye load sounds great! A .22 simulator for teaching and just plinking. Ought to shoot well in a revolver too - I seem to recall that about 2.5 grains of Bullseye and a 148 grain wadcutter was a popular "standard" revolver practice load for many years.

Have fun!

Regards,
Andrew
 
Great combo

That SP101 and a Marlin .357 lever will be a great combo.
The .357 loaded with 158 gr Double Taps will come to the bottom of the .30-30 ballisics. I have one and have clocked full pressure .357 loads and get around 2000fps with them. Decent deer medicine.
And for PD, the 125 grain Gold Dots are just the ticket.
.38's are easy to shoot in that too....
Good choice in my book..
 
We have his and hers 1894 in 357 Mag. They are very fun guns to shoot. I'm a big proponent of rifle, pistol combos. Just remember that adding a longer barrel doesn't turn a 357 mag into a full blown rifle round.

If you need a rifle go back to the 30-30. If you want a fun gun to play with, the 357 will do fine.
 
Just remember that adding a longer barrel doesn't turn a 357 mag into a full blown rifle round.
Click to expand...

To 100 yards and using Buffalo Bore 180 flat nose, it'll come damned close! :D Deer are just as dead with my handloads, just got to work within its range limits on game.

But, the OP says he's not a hunter. Guess that's not a consideration. Loaded with heavy loads, though, there ain't a black bear that could invade his camp that the .357 wouldn't take care of.

5. 18.5 inch Marlin 1894

a. Item 19A/20-180gr. Hard Cast = 1851 fps
b. Item 19B/20-170gr. JHC = 1860 fps
c. Item 19C/20-158gr. Speer Uni Core = 2153 fps---- Can you believe this?!!!
d. Item 19D/20-125gr. Speer Uni Core = 2298 fps---- Or this?!!!
Click to expand...

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#357
 
I picked up a Marlin 1894C in .357 last month at a gun show in Ft. Worth, TX. Fun gun. I'm going to outfit it with a scout mount and scope (I shoot right handed, but am left eye dominant, so I prefer forward mounted scopes with long eye relief). I liked how it fed cheap SWC ammo. It will primarily be a range plinker, but as noted in the thread, with light loads it can serve duty as a small game rifle, and with heavy loads and modest ranges can take medium sized game as well. It complements my Taurus Tracker with a 6" barrel in .357 nicely.
 
ilmonster wrote:

My 1894 gobbles up FMJ, Semiwadcutter, LRN, etc.
Click to expand...

Be VERY careful with FMJ. Flat nose/soft point ammo is your best option to avoid accidentally setting off the rounds in the magazine tube.

When I first got my 1894 I loaded & unloaded some FMJ and noticed nice little indentations in the center of the primer. I checked here on the forum, and sure enough there were several threads that discussed how using FMJ could be dangerous. Now I even avoid LRN.

LG
 
You are right about flat nose bullets being most appropriate for tubular magazines - semi-wadcutters are great.

There is a round-nose-flat-point bullet designed for Cowboy Action shooters that is quite safe, for those who wish to load round-nose bullets for tubular magazines. Look for the designation RNFP.

Edit: these are lead bullets. For jacketed, I don't know anything much. I've loaded Speer Gold Dot hollowpoints, and have shot factory Federal red-box 158g semi-jacketed - a copper-jacketed bullet with an exposed lead flat meplat. Sorry - need to engage brain before manipulating keyboard.
 
I use the American Eagle 158 grain semi-jacketed soft point in my Navy Arms 1892.
 
Since you don't hunt medium-sized game, and are buying a .357 revolver, getting a carbine chambered for the same cartridge is just as practical and sensible a notion now as it was in 1875 when Colt began offering the SAA in .44 WCF to pair with the Winchester '73.

I gather that you don't as yet reload. Factory ammunition is growing increasingly expensive and is likely to only get more so in the immediate future. Getting the maximum possible utility from every round makes perfect sense.

There are very few cartridges with as many factory load options as the .38 Spl/.357 Mag., and fewer still with as broad a range in terms of relative power in the mix. While it might arguably not be the "ideal" choice for a particular task, it's capable of handling more potential tasks at least adequately well than almost any other single cartidge family IMO.

The prices that both the Marlins and the Rossi/Taurus carbines in this caliber currently bring reflect just how many folks out there are beginning to recognize that, IMO.

While the popularity of the various "Cowboy" games is no doubt partly responsible for some of the demand I'd bet even money that a good deal of it comes from folks who never heard of Tony Lama and couldn't tell you what Gene or Hoppy's horse's name was to save their lives.

If the retail prices for new ones are too salty for your budget right now, there're still some good deals to be found on the used market if you'll do some 'questing' for them.
 
I am a cowboy shooter and have two 357 Marlins, one is a 19" carbine and the other is a 24" Cowboy. They both are excellent rifles and reliably feed 38 and 357 loads but the 38s need to be at least 1.44" long.

The carbine (9 357s or 11 38s) has the microgroove barrel while the CB has Ballard rifling. I have no leading problem with the low velocity cowboy loads. The 24" will load 12 and handle the hottest 357s of any type.

I recommend the Marlin; it is a side ejector and a top mounted scope is easy to attach. It is far easier to strip and clean from the chamber end (remove lever screw, remove lever, pull bolt and ejector) than the 92 clones.

It is made in the USA and Marlin honors their warranties.

I have owned as many as 15 Marlins at once; now own a mere 8 (2x357, 44 Mag, 45LC, 30-30, 32-40, 38-55 and 45-70). They are the best lever action rifles made and I would trust my life to one anytime.

streakr
 
I highly recommend a Marlin 1894C. I bought a used one a few years back and I'm very happy I did. At the range I can hit a "gong" out at 100 yards with iron sights all day long. It's also convenient to carry only 1 caliber ammo for both your Carbine and revolver.

If you reload try loading up some 180gr Hornady XTP/FP bullets using Lil'Gun and see how accurate and powerful a .357 Magnum Carbine can be...
 
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