Getting a new lever action

[mickbr]

Well my short love affair with the 357 may be coming to a close. Its a great little gun but as so much of my shooting is subsonics I have decided to upgrade to 44. If I was dloing more regular velocity hunting I would not have a problem with 357, but I think with cast loads under 1000fps the 44 is going to be a bit more emphatic on the game I shoot. I was wondering which way to go with this. I'll be loading light loads of shotgun powders as usual. also seeing if I can get the special cases to function in the gun. The rossi 92 was great but thinking a quicker twist barrel like the winchester 92's have( 26" instead of 30") might make heavy cast at low speeds with light charges a bit easier to accurize. I was also wondering if there is a inherent accuracy difference between these two brands, or more likelihood the winchesters will function with the shorter specials? There certainly is a price difference! The marlins I think have a 1 in 38" twist, so that's the wrong direction for my type of shooting I think. It will be a pity to shelve the 357 from hunting tasks as I had some good accurate loads finally figured out. It was a juggle using a few grains of powder, long barrels, heavy bullets and getting specials to feed. Hopefully I will be able to do so again with the 44.

[Bill in Oregon]

Good luck, Mick. I share your view of the .357 -- fun and flexible cartridge but pretty short on "whap factor" in many applications.

[AJMD429]

I've shot 265 grain loads out of my Marlin 1894 without any accuracy problems or indication of keyholing.

Dunno if that helps.

The Ruger 96/44's have a 1:20 twist, if you can find one. Some think they are ugly, because they look more like a Winchester 88 or Marlin 62, but I like the detachable box magazine and easy scopability for hunting.

Also - if you look at some of the 45 Colts, you can get them with a pretty fast twist - I think I've seen 1:16 or so.

[Grizz]

I hunted with 44 mag as primary for many years. You are correct about the 1:38 twist rate. You could rebarrel a marlin with a 1:20 barrel. I shoot BTB 405g hardcast out of a Redhawk with outstanding accuracy and penetration at 950fps. I have not found a lever gun yet that can shoot that round. It goes sideways out of a marlin 92. Grrrrr. I could have tried increasing velocity, but I try to not beat up my guns.... Still, a 92 class lever gun shooting a 420gr bullet around 1000-1100 fps is a formidable hunting load with terminal ballistics of the buffalo guns of the past....

I have a guide gun in 45/70, which can be loaded up and down, and will provide a substantial increase in near-subsonic heavy for caliber loads. It's a bigger frame and heavier, but its performance is outstanding with BTB 525gr bullets exiting around 1425. Check these loads with TKO formula and you will see what I mean.

I am interested in what you come up with

Grizz

[Blaine]

Just to stir the pot, I think you could do both. At moderate range, say 50 yards, a .357 180 grain is still quite the stomper. I would rather trust a 240 grain 430 cast, though, at the same velocity.

[GunnyMack]

My Ruger carbine has taken 1 animal- a very large hog. I used 300gr XTP. They were accurate enough even with the slow twist. Bullet went in.44 came out about 5/8" dia through the rib cage. Pig was shot about 20-25 yards then walked about 15 yards. What I found was the 300s didn't feed reliably all the time.

[Bronco]

Well... I went the long expensive path, but am happy at where I arrived. As mentioned the twist in the marlins is slow and the bore, in mine, was .4323". Was really surprised to find out that there is two SAAMI specs for the 44. one for pistols and one for rifles, WTF Would only stabilized heavy bullets at max velocities, not what I wanted. So I bought a Douglas air gauged barrel blank with a 1:16 twist, had Regan Nonneman make and install an octagonal 24" barrel, original barrel length, with no taper, muzzle is same a breach across the flats.
He said he had never done that before but really like the way it balanced when he was done. Revolver and rifle now both have a .429" bore. Long and windy story!
Sooo anyway I shoot 300gr gc cast, all sized the same, .431", with 5.5 grs of WST at about 750 fps and about 1500 or 1600 fps with a heavy dose of 2400, cannot remember the exact number and I did not write it down, doh. Both equally accurate, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches at 100 yards. Saved all the old parts if I ever sell it, but that ain't ever happening. The light loads are so fun to shoot and meet my accuracy needs.
Interesting side note : the light load gives the same velocity out of my 7 1/2 inch redhawk.

[mickbr]

Thanks all! Bronco, I am maybe looking at doing the same thing as you, or re barreling an old marlin. I dont mind spending the money as I am pretty much a one gun shooter these days. Options like a ruger/44 I would have to talk myself into. Blaine I couldn't get the heavier bullets to stabilise very well in the Rossi 1:30" twist, at low velocities anyway. I found 158grain was good though, and look these are still great killers too , but as you say a 44 is a step up. The 45-70 needs a bit too much powder, I am trying to stay with loads of a few grains, probably clays(the fast clays that is, so many clays these days ), win231 and similar. Thats also why I'm taking a good look at JimT's 480's achilles too, very economical.