Would you go with the .38/.357 chambering or the .44 mag?

Gun will be used as a ranch/truck gun ( meaning carried in my truck almost daily ) and used to shoot things you would come across while driving on a ranch

I have always been a fan of the .357 mag and like this idea, but want to know if the .44 mag is truly a better option.

I love the .44 mag round but I'd get the .38/.357 version. With the proper bullets it will kill coyotes, hogs, and deer at reasonable distances, and recoil will be light enough for fast follow-up shots.

Practice will also be less expensive, even if you handload.

38/357 is more versatile when it comes to ammo options, but mo power is mo betta. Id go fo da foty fo!

I would get the 44, only because I already have a 357 lever.

There are few carbines I've ever enjoyed more than a lever action .357.

Ok so that tells me the .357 was your first choice

A lot my new buys anymore come down to is there a chance in hadies I can find ammo

Given the current situation I’d go w the 38/357, two chances to find ammo for it

I have owned 3 different Marlin 1894 44 mags and 3 in 357mag. I am down to one and it is a 357. Inside 125 yards I am as comfortable with it as any rifle I own for deer and hogs, also works well on other critters you need to dispatch around a ranch.

With the 357 I like 180gr bullets when hogs may be involved.

44 mag.

^^Lots of experience there. That should tell anyone what they need to know about this topic.

Is the dark series available in .357? I only see 44 and 45 listed.

With options I say 45 if you reload and 44 if you don’t.

Look a little further down the page 1894C dark

Those rifles are pretty slick but good luck finding one for anywhere close to MSRP.

I'd pick the .357.

I would definitely go 357, for a number of reasons. Easy to suppress. If you don't reload, you can fire .38 special to get subsonic. If you do reload, 357 is very easy to load subsonic...for that matter, it is easy to load supersonic.
In a rifle, 357 really wakes up. For hunting (deer and pigs) I load 158 grHornady XTP/FP at 1800 fps. The FP version is a tougher bullet than the HP and won't over-expand at high velocity. I have recovered some from the outside shoulder of pigs, but mostly will still get a pass through. .357 really isn't very impressive on paper. However, IMO it kills way better in real life than it does on paper.
Easy to go sub, easy to reload, cheap to reload!, kills em deader, low recoil...I can't think of a reason not to go .357.

You can always load that 44 mag lighter.
Never really heard anyone say I wish I had less gun, go with the 44 mag.

Get the one you have ammo for.
Otherwise get one of each

I’m wanting one of those 357’s bad. I have an ammo can of hand loads for it and cannot find one that isn’t ridiculously over msrp. 357 ftw

.44

Shove a 180 at 2200fps or a 300 lead at 1600. Or shoot a 200 slow and subsonic.

On a serious(?) note - .357:
.357 will handle anything 100-150 yards and in with the right load, .38 SPL is a pussycat for training or teaching, costs less in factory ammo during non-panic buying, and if you're a re-loader more reloads per lb.

For a truck gun i think the .357 will do

My old man killed a heap of Whitetail and Hogs with a Marlin 1894C(no bloody safety) in .357 all using 158gr JSP.

.357 gets my vote

Even if I was the only one saying it I would still vote for the .357 just can’t go wrong