357mag carbine

[pastorp]

Good afternoon and a very merry Christmas wish to all of you.

I'm in the market for a new 357mag lever gun. Think I prefer a trapper model but certainly not over 20" barrel. My question is what's your opinions on the 92 clones out there. I like the marlins but think I might try a 92 for a change.

Thanks for your thoughts, Byron

[TedH]

You'll find no shortage of Rossi 92 fans here. I love mine, but admit I would like to have a Marlin as well.

[willygene]

the rossi 92s are great little rifles the marlins are good as well but i not a fan of them except the 1894 mod.

[woods-walker]

I have a Browning 92 .357 and a Marlin 1894 .357. They are both fine Rifles. Of course the Marlin takedown capability (for cleaning) is superior as is the ability to add a receiver sight. However the Browning is a solid Rifle and is very smooth with the dual locking lugs and Historic design. The Browning carries better in the hand for me.

I have been close to snagging a Rossi 92 with the 16" barrel a few times and hope to add one of them to my tool box as well.

I find these small frame Lever Actions in .357 loaded with Hornady 180 XTP's over Lil Gun or 2400 powder perform well for a variety of tasks under 75 yards.

[AJMD429]

Awesome and versatile little guns - about as close to a "one gun for everything" gun as you can get, if you're not in Africa or Bear Country.

[Tycer]

Get a slicked 92 from Steve Young. It will be your favorite gun of all you own. clickety clack, what a smooth sweet feel...........

Modern reproductions of 1892s are not hand finished like the originals were and therefore are oversprung and ill fitted in a couple of places that need to be remedied before they feel like the originals.

If you are a smithy type guy you can buy the kit and the DVD from Steve, but the man has been specializing in 92 repros for years, charges a pittance over his cost for the gun, and goes the extra mile for the action work he does at a very reasonable cost.

www.stevesgunz.com

[Birdman]

I traded a Winchester 94, 357 Trapper to a buddy and I am working on getting it back. I also have two Marlins. It's just a fine rifle reguardless of barrel length or manufactor.

[Griff]

Kinda an open-ended question. My advice might vary based on your intended use. I have two Rossi 92s in .357, and after slickin' 'em up, they're quick, handy and reliable.

If you want "outta the box" functionality, search for the Miroku made Browning B-92.

If you want CAS competitiveness, get a Uberti '73 and have it "short-stroked". A Marlin 1894 is a good seconf choice.

Recognizing one immutible truth about leverguns will help tremendously, they are ALL cartridge OAL sensitive to one extent or another.

If you are thinking about hotrodding the .357, I'd stick with the 1892.

[Hairtrigger]

You already said you like Marlins..... Why look any further?

[firefuzz]

You already said you like Marlins..... Why look any further?

Because the Duke never carried a Marlin. Seriously, the Marlin's are good guns especially if you're wanting to scope your carbine. If not, the B92 is always my first choice with any other '92 being right behind.

Rob

[Hairtrigger]

Point well taken.... If I could find a 357 mag sister to my Browning B92 priced right I would buy it

[Night Stalker]

Picked up this one over the weekend at a local show....MFG April 19th 1979

[redlevel42]

My local dealer has a Marlin similar to the one pictured in Night Stalker's post, but current manufacture, for $549. He usually has the Rossis for $399, but doesn't have one in stock right now. I have been debating on buying a .357 carbine for several years.

Is the Marlin worth $150 more than the Rossi?

My impression from reading here and other places is that the Rossi will require some gunsmithing to be satisfactory.

Is the Marlin generally satisfactory right out of the box?

Is the Marlin drilled and tapped for a receiver sight out of the box?

I like to load ammo in pretty large lots, at least 500 at the time, for use in all my guns of a particular caliber. For instance, a 9 grain Unique/255 grain SWC for use in my Ruger .45 Colt handguns and Winchester Trapper has proven to be very satisfactory. Will I achieve good results with a 158 grain hard-cast lead swc and 7 grains of Unique with my K-frame S&Ws and the Marlin Trapper?

[gon2shoot]

I have a Browning and Rossi's, I prefer the Rossi cause I can enjoy the strength of a 92 action in a gun that I can modify to suit my needs with out worrying about value.

[Night Stalker]

I will not be much help here,... other than Yes it is factory drilled for mounts...
I own a hand full of Leverguns mostly Win and Marlins.
I bought a new in the box Miroku 44mag on a deal some years ago... but never tossed one down the pipe.
I mostly hunt and do the target shooting just to stay on my game.
I have slicked up both Marlins and Win, fells good when your done but in the end when i am hunting,,,doesn't make a difference.
The Marlin has less parts and easy to take down and clean.
I have the big loops on some and standard on others.
Took out my shorty Win 44 whitetail hunting the other day and had a great time...

I wanted a Lever for Night Predator hunting so i was in search for a 38/357 and stumbled onto this....it is going to be tough to cut the zip tie on the manual....just thinking... this Marlin was born in April 79...over 30years ago, is this the time to put her to work....

My local dealer has a Marlin similar to the one pictured in Night Stalker's post, but current manufacture, for $549. He usually has the Rossis for $399, but doesn't have one in stock right now. I have been debating on buying a .357 carbine for several years.

Is the Marlin worth $150 more than the Rossi?

My impression from reading here and other places is that the Rossi will require some gunsmithing to be satisfactory.

Is the Marlin generally satisfactory right out of the box?

Is the Marlin drilled and tapped for a receiver sight out of the box?

I like to load ammo in pretty large lots, at least 500 at the time, for use in all my guns of a particular caliber. For instance, a 9 grain Unique/255 grain SWC for use in my Ruger .45 Colt handguns and Winchester Trapper has proven to be very satisfactory. Will I achieve good results with a 158 grain hard-cast lead swc and 7 grains of Unique with my K-frame S&Ws and the Marlin Trapper?

[Tumbleweeds II]

Marlins and Rossis need to be slicked up, Brownings have it done at the factory. My 39a had a 7-lb trigger out of the box

Handling a Marlin CBC (Cowboy Competition) was a real eye opener for me. This was a factory rifle that was smooth as glass - for about $800. I guess most people don't care enough to pay the difference, as the CBC was only offered for about one season. In the absence of a mass market for quality, just buy what you like and have it "finished" by a smith.

BTW Rossi is making the Josh Randall mare's laig pistol. There is a .357 for sale on rimfirecentral for $450 if you live in Ohio and are willing to drive to the seller's place to pick it up. Legal 12" barrel, large loop, cutoff stock - well, it's different anyway. I'm guessing it needs slicking up too, so I'd probably try to order one from Stevesgunz or wherever, but RFC is a place to see a picture of one.