Practical Riflecraft for .357 Magnum Lever Gun

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The new Rossi 92, are more forgiven on case lengths (38/357), and they under 500 bucks, few touches might be needed to run fast, but can be done if you have few skills and tools (Steve's Guns vids great guy btw and some youtube extractions from him)
When SASS local matches run again just joint or visit to have and gross idea of what you need.
Believe me when I says it is fun game, underrated, and give you plenty coordination skills.

CZhen
 
I can't see any good reason that a lever gun wouldn't be a superb fighting carbine at least in the context of home defense. More ammo is better than less but reloading in a civilian defensive shooting doesn't seem all that common. If you were concerned I suppose you could train to top off whenever possible. The Rossi 92 and similar carbines hold 10 rounds or so IIRC, probably plenty to get the job done. I reckon you could just transition to the sidearm too if that suits you better (and I would probably rather do so than to try to refill the lever gun while under fire). I would note that it's a lot easier to get good hits at all ranges with a long gun vs a handgun. With the extra few hundred fps you'd get from the long pipe the terminal effects should be decisive (not that .357 Mag, .44 Mag, .45 Colt or .454 Casull are slouches in that dept to begin with!).

I'm not really much of a lever guy but a buddy of mine is, and after running his .45-70 and .44 Mag carbines I am really considering a Rossi 92 myself. For me it would be a woods gun for hiking, backpacking and camping (I live in Montana and spend a fair amount of time back in Idaho, too). Probably I'd opt for the .44 Mag or .454 Casull since I'd be mostly concerned about Ol' Grizz.
 
Lever action is certainly viable for home defense. I live in a very rural area and like the Win 92 saddle ring carbine in .44mag (10+1), it brings a load, biggest issue is 240gr Nosler JHPs don't hold up at carbine velocities...I can only imagine the size of the crush cavity of an over expanding JHP. Often overlooked is the Savage 99, mine is in .300 Savage...top load and top eject with a rotary magazine, internal hammer. Don't expect to be in a fire fight with one, and 150gr Spitzers should be able to keep everyone safe. If needed, top off is easily accomplished w/o difficulty.

It's currently my home go to...and two German Shepherds. :)
 
I shot CASS w/a Marlin 1894. This handy little rifle has never failed me even without any action work done on it. I bought it new, shot it a few times at the range & started competing with it immediately. Working the lever while recovering from the recoil & regain sights on the new target is for me it's just as fast as with a semi auto.

As others have stated the drawback is the slow reloading. In CASS the rifle is almost always loaded at a bench under no stress. But I have tried fast reloads from a gun belt or a cartridge pouch & I often fumble & drop cartridges in the process. The shotgun is much easier to reload because the shells are big & easy to handle but the small pistol cartridges are more difficult. Reloading a lever action rifle must be a hair raising experience during a frantic firefight.

My HD rifle is the CASS Marlin 1894 (44 Mag) loaded down to a fairly hot 44 Special energy level. I realize that a magazine fed semi auto is a better battle rifle but I do not anticipate a typical HD firefight to last more than ten shots so I feel very comfortable with my Marlin..
 
Thunder Ranch has a Urban Rifle course. You can get the video, or the book for a more modest expense. This is Clint Smith's "signature" course. It's not lever-gun specific. Most people do it with an AR, but Clint himself has stated the lever gun is entirely suitable for the course material. Personally, I think the course is mystified a little bit, but no doubt it has effectively distinguished itself from all the other handgun or carbine classes, and besides that, it has an awesome name. At the end of the day, it is a handgun class where students use rifles instead of handguns -- and who wouldn't want to if they had the option?
 
I would much rather reload a shotgun, under stress or time constraints, than a lever rifle, through its tiny loading gate. (Not all lever rifles use a tube magazine, and a loading gate, on the side, but the OP specified .357, so, unless I am forgetting something, that means using a rifle that loads through a side-mounted loading gate.)

If I have to shove individual cartridges through a loading gate, I would rather that they be larger than .38 Special or .357 Magnum. I briefly owned two Marlin .357 1894 lever rifles, that I purchased with OT money earned after Hurricane Ike, when we were still interested in starting CAS, but never learned to like them. I think one of them may have been yet unfired when I sold or traded both of them, perhaps in one transaction.

Having not liked shoving tiny .38/.357 cartridges into a loading gate, I replaced the Marlins with a Miroku-made Winchester 1892, in .45 Colt, which was easier to load, but it was an unreliable feeder, so not a candidate for defense. We never got around to joining CAS, so this Mirokuchester was sold or traded, some years ago.

We recently acquired his-and-hers Winchester ‘94 AE Trappers, .45 Colt, pre-owned, from a local gun store. We have yet to try tem in live-fire. The COVID situation has prevented us from getting out to a range with them.

Over time, Rossi clones of the Winchester 1892 have not earned the best reputation. My wife’s Rossi jammed hard, when being fed .38 Specials, and I thought I would never manage to get it cleared. After the jam was was cleared, each cartridge, as it left the mag tube, was trying to feed at a too-steep angle. I realize that some folks love their Rossis, but I have a negative opinion.

I would much rather use a box-magazine-fed lever rifle, such as a Browning BLR, if I had to use a lever rifle for defensive purposes. These fire true rifle cartridges, so have to be used on a range that accommodates such ammo.

From what I have seen of Cowboy Action Shooting, it is not very practical/tactical. When we were interested in trying CAS, there was a local LEO who had a hand in running local matches, who injected some level of practical/tactical into the game, but when he promoted to LT, his schedule changed, hindering his continued participation. Our interest declined, before we had accumulated all the necessary firearms.

Really, my wife is the one who drives the interest in lever-rifling, with traditional side-loading-gate lever rifles, in our household. I have two Browning BLRs, one a Takedown, which I like, but I have yet to warm-up to traditional lever rifles.
 
I would much rather reload a shotgun, under stress or time constraints, than a lever rifle, through its tiny loading gate.
You don't have to dismount a lever action carbine from your shoulder to add ammo to the magazine. While this can also be done with a shotgun, you're at a leverage disadvantage
 
Loading through a loading gate would be extremely difficult to do under stress unless one committed a really significant amount of time to training it. That applies to all weapons but the loading gate seems more difficult than a large shotgun shell or a magazine.
 
I would much rather reload a shotgun, under stress or time constraints, than a lever rifle, through its tiny loading gate. (Not all lever rifles use a tube magazine, and a loading gate, on the side, but the OP specified .357, so, unless I am forgetting something, that means using a rifle that loads through a side-mounted loading gate.)

If I have to shove individual cartridges through a loading gate, I would rather that they be larger than .38 Special or .357 Magnum. I briefly owned two Marlin .357 1894 lever rifles, that I purchased with OT money earned after Hurricane Ike, when we were still interested in starting CAS, but never learned to like them. I think one of them may have been yet unfired when I sold or traded both of them, perhaps in one transaction.

I did it a few times in matches under the clock and even with a .45Colt, it's not something I enjoyed.......it does take practice to get good at.
 
Take a look at InRange TV on YouTube for some good videos about the use of a levergun as a practical rifle, both in the historical context and in present-day usage.
 
You don't have to dismount a lever action carbine from your shoulder to add ammo to the magazine. While this can also be done with a shotgun, you're at a leverage disadvantage

True. Being a lefty, with long guns, I do have somewhat of an advantage in keeping a lever rifle shouldered, with my left hand maintaining a firing grip, while using my right hand to reach the loading gate.

The loading port of a shotgun is a bigger target, so, easier to hit, than a lever rifle’s loading gate. The larger size of a shot shell means that my clumsy self is less likely to fumble the thing, compared to a revolver cartridge, especially .38./357.

I worked for a PD that expected me to solve my off-the-clock social problems with weapons with which I had qual’ed, which meant my major motivation was to build skill with specified shotguns. (This rule was relaxed, eventually, but only for defense within within our own homes.)
 
The biggest problem with a lever gun is topping off the mag, that includes how are you carrying the spare ammo. Most rifle chambered guns can easily have a butt cuff to carry extra ammo.

My Marlin 1894 has a tang peep sight with a merit adjustable peep. I would keep it wide open in a home defense situation and then can dial it down for accuracy. A tang sight could be as good.

Practice I would do would include shoot one, load one, shoot two, load one, shoot one, load two. All while moving. A belt pouch would be easiest to carry extra ammo but would tend to be clumbsy.
 
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