Thread: Recommendations wanted on 357Mag Lever Action

Originally Posted by csmiffy

That explaina a lot about the sights. I had to take the elevator for the rear sight completely to get it to hit point of aim at a hundy. @Ftx325 I got a spring kit out of aussie and it made a huge difference to mine. It never damaged brass but by crikey it threw them a mile away.
Now apart from being lighter, the cases are almost at your feet

hi @csmiffy . So does your extractor run a separate spring or did it come as a new extractor unit. i had the wee 16in stainless puma 44 mag and the extractor itself is sprung steel so was it's own spring that was pinned in the back/middle and the rear end was pressing against the receiver and the front floated to act as the extractor. Hence removing some metal from the front/middle part to reduce the spring tension . Is yours the same ?

Oh , and I also very very VERY carefully reshaped the hooky bit so it rode up over the cartridge more smoothly and gave that a polish , lessened the angle a little .

Originally Posted by Ftx325

hi @csmiffy . So does your extractor run a separate spring or did it come as a new extractor unit. i had the wee 16in stainless puma 44 mag and the extractor itself is sprung steel so was it's own spring that was pinned in the back/middle and the rear end was pressing against the receiver and the front floated to act as the extractor. Hence removing some metal from the front/middle part to reduce the spring tension . Is yours the same ?

Oh , and I also very very VERY carefully reshaped the hooky bit so it rode up over the cartridge more smoothly and gave that a polish , lessened the angle a little .

@Ftx325 to be honest I did it a couple of years ago and I cant remember.
There was a bunch of shims and springs for just about everything. I could dig up the kit as whatever i took out i put in the kit.
Big difference was the hammer spring..
There was one little spring I didnt change as it was more hassle than I deemed worthwhile.
Action had a couple of hundred rounds through it so nice and smooth already
Used this one from this guy. Cheap as and he was making a trip to NZ at the time so put it in his luggage and posted it to me when he got here to help me.
Great service
https://www.maddogsgunsandgear.com/p...92-spring-kit/

i have actually sold mine now. It was bit rough when I got it so was a project for me , and originally intended to give it to the missus but she found it a little intimidating . I gave the whole rifle the once over including the wood , sanded all back and oiled the crap out of it , polished everything to within an inch of it's life , and added a rail and red dot.
Perfect rifle for a pig hunter in my opinion ,small , light , short with plenty of power . I would have kept it but the missus didn't want it , I have a 45/70 (yeah baby) already , and already a full safe so alas , I sold it on....
But if I find another going cheap that needs a refresh would be happy to do it again , but next time shorten the mag tube , and possibly barrel and add an over barrel supressor ... be the ultimate shorty supressed close up bush/pig gun.

the marlin 1894 in 357 mag is well outside your budget. New price is $2k+ and f..k all 2nd hand ones around.

Great little gun though, beats the others hands down

I think the key to buying a good lever action is.............. don't buy one sight unseen. You need to work the action and test the trigger and feed a couple of rounds through the action to see how it performs.

My very first centre fire rifle was a Marlin 1894 in .44mag bought new back in the 80's. Shot my first deer and my first stoat with that gun. Got me started into reloading. Always remember the load because it was full of 18's - 18gr Blue Dot behind 180gr Sierra JHP doing 1,800fps. Could all but clover leaf three rounds at 100m with a 2.5 power scope, but for a young fella, it kicked like a mule. The factory but plate would rub the skin off your shoulder by the third round

Its one of the guns that I seriously regret selling, but it had a trigger on it that was about 12lb's and was tending to make me flinch so I sold it on and bought a M38 in 6.5x55.

Having always had a passion for lever guns, in recent years I have picked up a couple of rimfires, and a Rossi 357 stainless. The attraction to the Rossi was that it was already suppressed, something that I had looked into doing with a Marlin about 15 years ago in discussions with Gunworks, long before the current Marlin dark series hit the stores suppressor ready. The suppressor was also eccentric which enabled the factory iron sights to be used. Problem was, load testing some factory ammo, the grouping was heinous. After trying all sorts of different ammo I eventually discovered that there was baffle strike occurring in the suppressor. I ordered a new DPT unit and have only had one opportunity to test it. She will now group about an inch at 25m with open sights and me not 'shooting for groups'. I now have to start doing load development for it.
My Rossi is butter smooth to cycle, and the top eject makes it easy to eject and catch the case. Fit and finish is typical Rossi and nothing like a good Marlin. I have fitted a Gunworks rail and plan to put a Aimpoint ACRO C-1 on it as my eyesight is now such that open sights are a PITA.

A good Marlin is light years ahead of your average Rossi in form and function; a good Rossi will surpass an average Marlin in the same (and there are some average Marlin's around). My recommendation is in my opening sentence - never buy one sight unseen, and when you find a good one, buy it. Either will do the job you are looking to do based on your original post.

Just be prepared to spend some money on ammo, because hunting aside, for shits and giggles, the 375 will put a smile on your dial shooting reactive targets, and everyone with you will want a turn!

After this morning I reccomend.......................Marlin.

Took my .357 to range as thought I would check its zero
first 3 shots fired out of it in over a year and it still works, even shoots pretty good for a lever even if it is scoped with a 2-7

Reloads or factory rounds @mikee ?
That's an impressive group

@Masperjay has a fancy suppressed Marlin in 357 for sale. I'd have had it but animals cost a lot to keep alive

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Reloads or factory rounds @mikee ?
That's an impressive group

Reloads with 140 hornady ftx? And adi 2205 powder

Originally Posted by Tommy

@Masperjay has a fancy suppressed Marlin in 357 for sale. I'd have had it but animals cost a lot to keep alive

Really? maybe seconds on that....

i would have got it suppressed but there is not enough barrel sticking out the end for that as its a proper lever action like this!!

I would prefer it had skinner sights but not been able to find any and cannot be bothered dealond with plod and nz post to import myself