Please be gentle with me, this is my first post. I used to be involved with guns, but not for some time now. I was in a pistol club about 30 years ago, was a firing point officer (weapons trainer) for 9mm pistols in the Royal Australian Navy in the early 80's, and a regular duck shooter in the early 80's. I gave my shotgun away when the Australian gun laws came in in the 90's and have not owned a gun since.

At the end of next year, I will be moving to a small acreage I own (semi rural on one side with 5 to 10 acre properties to totally rural on the other side). The place has quite a few snakes, lots of hares, rabbits and I am told dingoes. I want to once again acquire a rifle in a calibre that can handle these.

At this stage, I am not been involved in hunting but a property owner friend (with a few thousand acres) has invited me to hunt on his property. This will probably allow me to legally acquire a gun licence in Australia. The only addition to the above ferals that are on his property are foxes and pigs (close range in scrub).

I am after one rifle that can handle most of the above. I grew up in the era of the TV Rifleman series and have always wanted a lever action rifle. I really don't want to get a shotgun - been there and done that. The calibre must be able to handle the animals listed above, have relatively low noise and recoil, be safe to use, a relatively short range rifle, and it would be nice if the ammunition was cheap. Is the .357 in a lever action the best bet? Is snakeshot in the .357 able to competently handle snakes - I have heard that in smaller calibres it is a waste of time.

I think my other option is to go for a shotgun and a .44 magnum lever action. But I would prefer to have just the one gun and for some reason I would prefer not to return to the shotgun.

Welcome, and that sounds like a fine choice to me!

The .357 is versatile and should be reasonable to shoot. There is another member here that goes by the name of Richard of Oz, I believe he purchased a .357 lever a year or so ago, you might want to ask him how it has performed. There is ammunition available that is quite powerful when fired from a carbine, it is more costly but if reserved for larger animals would be no big deal.

Has anybody used snakeshot in .357 from a lever action? I think that is the one question that I am not sure about - is snakeshot from a .357 lever action effective against snakes? I expect a few fanged friends will visit my home area in the coming years.

I agree, the .357 would be a good choice. Im not sure how/if the CCI Shotshell will feed from the magazine but you should be able to load them singly with no problem. We have a goodly number of snakes here in the south and I have used them in my 8 3/8" 686 to good effect. They should work better from a levergun.

Thanks for your help, it looks like the .357 lever action is it. Now to work out which brand and model - decisions, decisions.

G'day downunder as a fellow Aussie shooter I'd say the .357 would be fine but a 30-30 would probally be a bit of a better thing esp if you only want one gun the 30-30 has a bit more reach and hitting power. But if close range and I mean not more than 75metres is all you need then the 357 would be fine. Personally for a one gun guy I'd go for a 30-30. Where abouts do u live? I'm in the New England region

Oh and as for lever guns in .357 look at the Rossi model 92 I have one in 44-40 and its SWEET!

The .357 is versatile and should be reasonable to shoot. There is another member here that goes by the name of Richard of Oz, I believe he purchased a .357 lever a year or so ago, you might want to ask him how it has performed. There is ammunition available that is quite powerful when fired from a carbine, it is more costly but if reserved for larger animals would be no big deal.
You called?
Hi downunder, welcome to a really helpful site. I'm not telepathic, I don't know what folk are really thinking, but their posts are full of patience and tremendous tips from experience.
I have a Marlin 1894cs, micro-groove rifling and no safety, which is even more fun to shoot than my rimfires. I got it so that I could use the same ammo as a DW .357mag revolver. I haven't hunted with it, but kicked myself a little while ago when I was out near Miles in Qld after pigs with a 12ga, and the property owner had a .357 Rossi with Federal 180gr castcore factory ammo. He'd had to buy a case of 1,000 because the Federal rep wouldn't break a case for his dealer. He says he uses it for everything (pigs, goats, dogs and cats) up to 100m, and he doesn't want to take aim at anything over that distance anyway.
Can't comment on shotshell, I use a .410. I encounter multiple mega-nasties daily between September and May, but don't have to shoot them, they're rightly protected and they're more scared of me than I am of them. But if my nephew or nieces were around, I have a Win 9410 ready for browns, tigers and death-adders, the most common baddies in my area.
.357 factory ammo, esp 158gr JSP, esp Magtech, is VERY cheap compared to 30-30.
I'm very confident with the 1894 because I practice so much because ammo is so cheap, but I wouldn't personally go much over 50m with it.

Kamate, I'm presently in the Central Queensland area (and that is where my property owner friend has given me permission to shoot) but my own property that I intend moving to at the end of 2006 is in Southeast Queensland.

Richard, I am a bit concerned about snakes. Only last week a dozer driver found what he reported to be the biggest brown ever seen in the area (and he was born in the area) as he was putting a road into our property. I am a conservationist when I come across them in the bush and I know they are rightly protected, but just like you, not when they are in my own backyard. I always suspect they follow regular scent trails and if they visit once, they are highly likely to visit again, and big browns in particular scare the **** out of me. And Richard, you are correct, this is a very helpful site.

downunder,

Welcome to the site. You might run into a problem with the shotshells in a levergun. This is due to rifling spinning that little capsule. I have a TC Contender with a older .357 barrel and the shot capsule choke. The choke stops the spin at the end of the muzzle and produces nice dense patterns. I try and hunt with my Marlin 1894 in .41 mag when I can and have an enjoyable time. The .357 will work for you just practice and know your limitatiions. Second vote would be one in .44 Mag. You still have the option of shotshells (larger payload), specials and magnum rounds. Got a chance to do some diving of your Great Barrier Reef and love your country.

A properly loaded ,357mag. in a lever gun ,can do anything a 30/30 can do at effective ranges,on Deer & BlackBear..

G'day Mate .Good choice in the 357 I owned a little rossi for years in357 & sold it in a moment of weakness! I do prefer the thought of the .44mag over the357 But! If you keep your ranges down to around 100mtrs max on Goats & Dingos you'll have no prbs! with the larger Porkers about 70mts max ! As for the creepycrawlies you can't go past the old single barrel .410 We live on a large property in the Flinders Ranges & since I was a kid there has always been a 410 at hand .Even my wife who dose'nt shot is quite apdapt to using it to discourage unwanted visitors ;)

Dave

If you can get quality components, my opinon is that the .357 Marlin carbine (properly loaded) is as handy and cost effective as you can get for a short range brush gun. I've used my 357 cowboy rifle since they introduced the model in competition to launch +\- 20K rounds of lead downrange and have only just recently had to replace the carrier due to wear. To and from the range it usually accompanies me loaded with Corbon hollowpoints and I have no fears of it ever failing me if needed. That said, depending on the meaness of the critters you are likely to encounter you may consider the .44 mag if your feral pigs are anything like what we got here.

I have heard from other Aussie hunters that you may have restrictions on what you can shoot in different areas. The .357 cartridge in a carbine is more powerful than in a handgun. The extra barrel length picks up a lot more velocity. In the carbine you can use 180 Gr WFN cast bullet for critters up to 120 Kilos out to 100 Meters. If that isn't enough power than the .44 Mag would be a good choice. Snake shot is usually #9 shot for the .38 cal and will be effective at very close range only. The .22 cal snake shot is # 12 shot and has very little effect on anything. Browns, like most poison snakes are most dangerous when you don't see them. I wouldn't want them near my home either. They are much more deadly than any snake in the USA.

http://www.dixieslugs.com/357mag.htm

More versatile than you think!

I have a Marlin Cowboy II in .44 mag for the same reasons you have in getting the rifle you want. While I prefer the .44 mag, if I was suggesting a caliber the .357 mag is the minimum I would recommend. It's a fine caliber with a good proven record within it's limitations. As much of a .44 mag fan as I am, I think the .357 mag would be a fine choice for what you want to do with it. Now if I could only convince you to make it a Marlin...

Good article. The writer mentions the need for for all revolver chamber throats to be exactly the same diameter. I addressed this issue in the round ball muzzle loader forum but it does not apply to rifles chambered in .357. The longer barrel of a carbine greatly improves velocity of the .357 by as much as 300to 500 fps making it much more powerful in the rifle than in the handgun. Recoil in the .357 rifle is only a fraction of what you feel in a hand gun as well making it a pleasure to shoot all day long. Sight in for 90 meters and you will stay within about 2 1/2 inches trajectory of target out to about 110 Meters with the 158 Gr and just a tad less with the 180 Gr.

Buy a marlin lever in .357 it will handle all you have noted and then some. Here in the states, I've taken white tailed deer including a large buck in the 160lb wgt, this at 130 old guy paces. I don't have personal expierience with the shot loads but would think it will handle them okay. If not, a head shot from a 158gn slug will surely do the job.

Another vote for the Marlin 1894 Cowboy or 1894C. Stay away from .38 wadcutters since they are too short to correctly cycle, though longer .38s work fine in mine. The ability to work with .38s as well as .357s makes these little guns pretty versatile. And if others on your property might ever have occasion to use the firearm and if they are recoil-sensitive, an 1894 in .357/.38 may be the ticket.

Sure like my Marlin '94 in 45 colt!

Andy

Any time you shoot a handgun cartridge out of a rifle barrel you get a huge velocity increase and therefor a much more powerful and useful firearm.