I want to buy a .357 lever gun. Unadvised I’d buy a Henry big boy silver because I like the look and the heavy feel. I plan to put a scope on the gun and hunt over a feeder with it .

If you were buying , which .357 lever would you choose ?

Marlin 1894 if you’re going to scope it. The heavy Henry is just that, heavy.

I’d look at the Rossi 92 if you was not going to scope it.

Any way you go look at the 16” barrels. Makes it an easier gun to handle whether walking or sitting in a stand.

I think the Henry as well.

Current production: Henry

Unless there has been a big change in the manufacturing of 357 pistol bullets, IMHO you would be better off with a short barrel 30-30. Pistol bullet just don't do a good job of killing in a rifle.

FYI, Henrys are built with investment cast parts. Virtually nothing inside is machined.

i like your style and one of my favorite guns to hunt with is a Marlin 1894 357. I would go Marlin if you can find one but if you like the Henry go for it, most I have handled were smooth cycling guns.

Rossi 92 with a scout mount and an extended eye relief scope.

I recently got a Henry golden boy in 357 and absolutely love it.

Marlin. Depending on what you want or find, the Marlin can have a 16", 18.5",20", or 24" barrel. Some round some octagon.

I have a big boy 30 30 new in box if your interested has tha brass receiver an octagon barrel ! I would buy either on the 357 cant go wrong with all

It's why Winchester developed the 30-30 for hunters who wanted greater range rather that the convenience of having a load they could shoot from both their pistol or rife.

With a 100 yard zero, a 158-grain .357 Soft Point will drop more than 11 inches at 150 yards, while a 150-grain 30-30 Power Point will have only dropped a little more than 2 inches at that distance.

Talk of lighter bullets leads me to say that .357 rifle hunters should be using 180 ish grain bullets. Nosler used to make a partition for it. Now I would be looking at hard cast.

That 180 gr Partition is a great hunting bullet for the 35 if you can find it, still have a few I am hanging on to for hunting. When that supply is gone I will try the Swift A-Frame 180 or hard cast with a large meplat. I know some that say the 158s work fine on deer but I haven't shot many critters with them yet. The Hawk 170gr bullet is also on my want to try list.

I hunt lots of places where a 100 yard shot is a long one and in those situations a lot of the time the 357 is what I hunt with.

I tried and do not like the Leverevolution loads from Hornady, not enough penetration from those light bullets.

I don’t need range , I use my .308 for that. All shots are 75 yards or less.

A recent introduction designed just for this purpose.

https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/hammerdown/11-LG3571.html

Nice

Stay away from Rossi. Maybe I got a bum one, but I've had to send it back for repairs twice, and only shot it 30 times. Complete junk in my experience

Interesting, I have one that I bought about 20+ years ago and love it. I have had zero issues with it. I beat it up on a hunt several years ago. I sanded it down and oiled the stock and it looks 100X better than when it did new. I haven't shot it since, its too pretty.

First I had heard of such. I don’t like the safety’s they’ve put on them but that’s an easy fix. Now their single shot rifle attempt was the worst in history I think. I’ve owned several of the 92s and am looking at 16” stainless right now. Damn price keeps climbing.

Like some here, I have a gun store worth of leverguns at my place. I've not owned a Henry but have most of what Marlin, Rossi, and Winchester has to offer. I've owned the Marlin 1894C but preferred the Rossi 92 and killed whitetails with both. I think bullet construction is everything with this cartridge for this purpose. With factory ammo, you get into options like the Federal Hammerdown to make it perform well, even at the ranges that Biscuit mentioned. The trouble with ammo like that highlighted, it is often tough to find.

I was using a 175-grain cast bullet of my design, and despite pushing it hard, I was not too fond of the response received at the shot. I changed to a 190-grain bullet that I designed for the 35 Rem; the critter's reaction at the shot was noticeable. DRT. It did take a little figuring to make the cartridge OAL work out with the bullet length, crimp groove, and case length. What I did was use a 38 Spl case loaded to 357 Mag pressures. With the case change, everything fit well together.



This year, I sold the Rossi 92 Scout, so I no longer have a 357 Mag deer rifle. Personally, it doesn't matter that the range is not far; the 30-30 Win would be significantly a better rifle if you depended on factory ammo. I look at ammo shelves all the time, and I have not seen 30-30 Win ammo, not on the shelf.

Me too. Pre-safety 94 in 357.

Ranchdog, very interesting and informative post on the .357 and .35 loads. Plan to to that myself one of these days when I start reloading.

To the OP, whatever you do, don't buy a Marlin 1894 in .357 because before you know it you will have one in .44 too, 336 models in 35 and 30-30 and 1895 models and 4570 and 444 and you'll go broke! Seriously, you can't go wrong with a .357 JM stamped Marlin 1894. Like money in the bank. And the most handsome one out there.

Thanks for all the input fellas ... I’ll let y’all know what I go with once guns hit the shelves again

I have a Winchester large loop, like rifleman, just love it