357/38 special underlever

[Psyxologos]

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Yes, I am thinking of buying this particular caliber so I can shoot both special .38 indoors but use the gun outdoors with .357 magnum both target and expanding. I chose this caliber as I do not reload and were I to go for something like a .44 I would need to reload (download) to shoot it indoors, or so is my understanding. Please correct me if I am wrong, I have not really looked at ballistics at any depth yet...

 

[Muir]

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Yes, I am thinking of buying this particular caliber so I can shoot both special .38 indoors but use the gun outdoors with .357 magnum both target and expanding. I chose this caliber as I do not reload and were I to go for something like a .44 I would need to reload (download) to shoot it indoors, or so is my understanding. Please correct me if I am wrong, I have not really looked at ballistics at any depth yet...

Of course.... if you have the 44 magnum it would probably feed 44 Special just fine. Though on second thought, these might be hard to come by in your parts.~Muir

(PS: I hope you can get to reloading for your gun. 38/357 is a great rifle and if you handload, you can shoot bullets from 90 to 210 grains. I hunt with handgun and have four 44's and several 357's. People automatically assume that the .44 is my gun of choice but i actually like the .357 a little better. More versatile.)

 

[Psyxologos]

Thanks for that. Really informative.

 

[Southern]

Remington and others make 180-gr .357 ammunition especially for rifles, and sell the bullets for loading. I just shoot the Remington 158-gr JSP in mine. A .357 rifle is about the power of the original .30-30... it won't bounce off fur.

 

[8x57]

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Yes, I am thinking of buying this particular caliber so I can shoot both special .38 indoors but use the gun outdoors with .357 magnum both target and expanding. I chose this caliber as I do not reload and were I to go for something like a .44 I would need to reload (download) to shoot it indoors, or so is my understanding. Please correct me if I am wrong, I have not really looked at ballistics at any depth yet...

Whether you can use .44mag as opposed to .44spl on your indoor range will depend on the range safety certificate and club rules. Most guys who shoot .44 gallery rifles reload .44spl loads in magnum cases. Which ever calibre you go for you really should look into reloading as the cost savings can be tremendous especially with pistol calibres.
Our club is currently selling .38spl factory ammo (158 round nose lead) for £29 per 100 and that is considered cheap. The guys reload for something like £9 per 100 using a locally produced swaged bullet, a .44 reload is slightly more costly but not much. Deviating slightly but a chap told me last night that this week he went into his local gun shop to buy 20 rounds of .243w Norma ammunition and they told him the price had just gone up to £39 a box.
Yes you did read me right £39 for a box of 20.

 

[Psyxologos]

Whether you can use .44mag as opposed to .44spl on your indoor range will depend on the range safety certificate and club rules. Most guys who shoot .44 gallery rifles reload .44spl loads in magnum cases. Which ever calibre you go for you really should look into reloading as the cost savings can be tremendous especially with pistol calibres.
Our club is currently selling .38spl factory ammo (158 round nose lead) for £29 per 100 and that is considered cheap. The guys reload for something like £9 per 100 using a locally produced swaged bullet, a .44 reload is slightly more costly but not much. Deviating slightly but a chap told me last night that this week he went into his local gun shop to buy 20 rounds of .243w Norma ammunition and they told him the price had just gone up to £39 a box.
Yes you did read me right £39 for a box of 20.

That is shocking...

 

[mereside]

Time to reload cheap as chips

 

[Psyxologos]

OK, time to be more specific, if you would not mind please. I have narrowed it down to these guns (I added a Henry). If money was not an issue (I would rather spend a bit more and enjoy trouble free service from the rifle without having to worry about using it), which one would you recommend? The differences are £200-£300 which I do not consider to be too big. I just want the best gun possible from these ones...



one
two

three

four

five





Many thanks again for all the help!

 

[NorthDorset]

If you are looking to shoot Gallery rifle in a club then you want a Marlin, in .357/.38 or in .44.

Forget Henry, forget Rossi.

Buy an old Marlin, by a new Marlin. Remington bought Marlin and for a while had some quality issues. Those rifles (I have one) long since got sorted under warranty and the new ones have their quality issues sorted. There is a whole lot of bollox being talked about this and it's pushed the prices up of the older guns. Clap, clap.

Reasons to buy a Marlin are clear. 1. Scoping it. 2. Reliability 3. Parts availability.

Only parts that are tricky to come by right now are the lifter and the ejector. So don't buy one without these being in good order. Avoid any with a barrel stamped Microgroove but even these won't take you far wrong.

I have recently moved to .44 but won't be selling my .38/.357. The .44 makes a bigger hole but is more expensive to shoot. When you reach the upper centiles of gallery every little helps. I think the ballistics of the .44 are slightly improved at 50m and it has a 22" barrel as standard rather than the 20" of the .38.

That 24" octagon .44 makes me slightly moist but go find yourself a .38 Marlin 1894c and say thank you next year when you have whacked 10,000 rounds through it. Oh and you will need to start reloading for it if you want to be competitive. I can reload .38 for less than .12p a pop and my reloads are way more consistent than PPU factory, so keep any cases you are using now.

If you need more convincing come to an open Gallery comp, Wessex had one yesterday and see if anybody has anything but a Marlin.

Winchesters are made of Ticky tack. I wanted one desperately when I started because of the Jimmy Stuart Movie Winchester '73 and I'm glad someone had the above conversation with me.

If for some mad reason you hate the Marlin then offer it for sale on line and it will sell in minutes.

 

[Psyxologos]

Thanks for that. As a matter of fact, I have no intention on putting a scope on the rifle. It will be used with open sights, for sure. My main concern is reliability and a good mechanical standing, that is all. If people's experience is that a Rossi will be a reliable gun with a strong, decent action and mechanical parts (i.e is well built and decent quality) I have no reservations whatsoever on buying one and save a lot of money doing so! Which ones fit that bill the *best? I am only asking as, whilst researching the Winchester 1894 AE for example (before I realised they are out of production) I found out that they seem not to like the 357 magnum rounds as they are a bit too powerful for the action. As I want to use the rifle both with .38 special and .357 magnum, I need the new gun (Rossi, Marlin or whatever) to cope well with them. I alse read somewhere that you have to be cycling them hard (i.e pull the lever fully and not half way etc) as it cycles best that way. any truth in these claims?

 

[Psyxologos]

I just wanted to add that I too was thinking of a Marlin, as I am aware that the initial problems when they moved production are now sorted, it's just the fact that when I did shot my friend's Rossi it did not feel cheap or badly built at all. As I said, no scope will be used, so top ejection is not an issue. Fit is important, and the.most crucial thing for me is a good quality and a strong action that will cycle 38sp in the club but will be capable to shoot. 357 magnum well on the field and on outdoor ranges. With these in mind, does this still exclude the other manufacturers? Thanks again.

 

[8x57]

Don't know if this will help at all with your decision but our rifle club which has several national squad members (gallery rifle) amongst the membership is currently looking to buy an additional .357 underlever for use by the newer members of the club who don't have their own rifles. We are only willing to consider a Marlin.

 

[Psyxologos]

Don't know if this will help at all with your decision but our rifle club which has several national squad members (gallery rifle) amongst the membership is currently looking to buy an additional .357 underlever for use by the newer members of the club who don't have their own rifles. We are only willing to consider a Marlin.

That does tell me a lot. Thanks

 

[Muir]

I was drawn to this thread after learning that there is going to be a 'cowboy' rifle/pistol shoot at our club this month. I live close to the Little Big Horn Battle field a every year there is a reenactment of the battle and other related events. This year a group from California leased our range for a 'shoot' for tourists. The guns must be 'period' of 1873 to 1894. The targets? A 16" target at 25 yards for handgun and the same at 50 yards for rifle.

We were debating as to whether or not we should show up with handguns and rifles and win all the prizes. In the end we decided to let the folks have their fun. Too bad.... ~Muir

 

[Psyxologos]

OK, Marlin it is.

I like this a lot, but this, this and this are also a contender. I guess I have to MCavoys and see them in person...

Anyone has any of the rifles above so to give me a first hand account of how it is to live with them?

 

[Muir]

OK, Marlin it is.

I like this a lot, but this, this and this are also a contender. I guess I have to MCavoys and see them in person...

Anyone has any of the rifles above so to give me a first hand account of how it is to live with them?

I have shot them all. Get the Cowboy (The first 'this') and you won't need to worry about barrel band issues and have a longer sight radius. Looks better, too. The stainless guns are ugly. A buddy has one for a truck gun. Even he doesn't like the looks -he just traded into it at a good price.~Muir

 

[xavierdoc]

I have Cowboys in 45Colt and 45-70 plus a .357 in 1894C, blues 18.5".

I like the Cowboys most but the barrels are heavier and less pointable than the shorter, skinnier models.

None of mine are Remlins and all have been "tricked and slicked" by me or by Roger at SYSS.

Personally, the big-loop, laminated model provides no benefit unless you like the look. If you change your mind about a scope, you can add a steel weaver/picatinny base for about £10-15

Slicking the action is pretty easy to do yourself and well worth it. Alternatively get someone like Roger at South Yorks Shooting Supplies to do it. Likewise, the trigger can be made crisp and light but if you want to eliminate the "floppy blade" it might be worth budgeting £105 for a Trigger Happy kit.

I love my Marlins, they are each different but I'd choose the Cowboy if I could have only one (unless a short, pointy gun was needed for steels, Bianchi or similar gallery rifle comps.)

Don't buy a Remlin without handling it and, if possible, shooting it (guess that's true of most guns!) Have a look at the Marlin owners forum for lots of info.

 

[xavierdoc]

I just wanted to add that I too was thinking of a Marlin, as I am aware that the initial problems when they moved production are now sorted, it's just the fact that when I did shot my friend's Rossi it did not feel cheap or badly built at all. As I said, no scope will be used, so top ejection is not an issue. Fit is important, and the.most crucial thing for me is a good quality and a strong action that will cycle 38sp in the club but will be capable to shoot. 357 magnum well on the field and on outdoor ranges. With these in mind, does this still exclude the other manufacturers? Thanks again.

I never bother with .38Spl now: just shoot downloaded .357Mag. Both my Marlin 1894 and Ruger Super Redhawk love 180gr Truncated Cone bullets over 3.6gr Bullseye or 5.0gr Vit N340, crimp in .357 brass. Good, light loads for gallery rifle comps up to 50yds and plinking.

If you shoot .38spl for a while you may have trouble with .357 as a ring of crud can build up in the chamber. Not a problem I've had personally but worth remembering if you plan to shoot a lot of .38 and occasional .357mag.

 

[Psyxologos]

I never bother with .38Spl now: just shoot downloaded .357Mag. Both my Marlin 1894 and Ruger Super Redhawk love 180gr Truncated Cone bullets over 3.6gr Bullseye or 5.0gr Vit N340, crimp in .357 brass. Good, light loads for gallery rifle comps up to 50yds and plinking.

If you shoot .38spl for a while you may have trouble with .357 as a ring of crud can build up in the chamber. Not a problem I've had personally but worth remembering if you plan to shoot a lot of .38 and occasional .357mag.

I have heard this before about the ring of death. The only trouble is hat I do not load my own ammunition, so factory loads will have to be. My club's limit is the velocities produced by 38 special though, so this is why I am thinking about using them. If I could get my hands on some downloaded 357 rounds I would use these...

 

[Psyxologos]

I have shot them all. Get the Cowboy (The first 'this') and you won't need to worry about barrel band issues and have a longer sight radius. Looks better, too. The stainless guns are ugly. A buddy has one for a truck gun. Even he doesn't like the looks -he just traded into it at a good price.~Muir

My sentiment too. This is very helpful, thanks. One thing though. What do you mean by barrel band issues?