Hi there
I have got a .357 wheel gun which I enjoy immensely, and have subsequently started reloading, and now casting bullets for it.

I was wandering, Is there a long gun out there that uses .357/.38 calibre bullets, other than the actual .357 Magnum lever guns. I was thinking that something along the lines of a .357 Express Magnum would be fun to use on pigs and deer sized game at under 100 yards, and I could use the same bullet moulds that I am using currently.
Thanks

A few Ruger #1 rifles that I am aware of were chambered in .357 mag. Not likely you'll see too many of them in South Africa.

Of course if a different .35 cal chambering is OK, then you have .35 Rem, .356 & .358 Win, .35 Whelen, .350 Rem mag, .358 Norma mag, and wildcat .358 Shooting Times Alaskan. Probably a bunch of other wildcats and European cartridges.

Not sure how many of these ever made it to South Africa in quantities.

Just based on the availability of the basic case, I'd say your best bet would be the .358 Win (based on .308 Winchester) or .35 Whelen (based on .30-06 Springfield). Both would be good choices for deer and pigs.

We got tons of .357 rossi lever guns over here, and quite quite a few Marlin lever guns, and a couple of Ruger Lever guns. Single shot Rugers we do get, but usually in more traditional hunting/varmint/silhouette calibres.

I have heard that the lever guns generally can't handle too hot a load due to inherent weakness in the system - I figure a single shot would give plenty of strength, but then you might as well go for an even more powerfrul cartridge - like to keep it in the .357 range (bullett calibre not case size). Are these other cartridges the same bullet size?

How about the .357 lever guns (I grew up loving Louis L'amour novels) so a "cowboy" gun would also be great, but I am a little worried about lack of strength - how many guys use Rossi/Marlin in .357 Magnum for game - I am talking less than 75m - Can these guns handle a load that will do the job at these ranges?

Obviously owning a rifle using the same cartridge as my side gun has lots of attraction.

Opions please
Cheers

The current production lever guns in .357 such as the Marlin 1894 and Winchester 1892 (and copies of the 1892 such as the Rossi) are generally available in .44 mag as well, and sometimes .41 Mag and .45 Colt.

Since the .44 mag is a larger case than the .357 and is loaded to at least the same pressure levels as the .357 Mag.... then I don't see any reason for these guns to be considered weak in the .357 chambering.

A typical full-power .357 load with a 180gr. bullet would be expected to obtain 1500-1700feet per second in a rifle, perhaps more, depending on barrel length. I hunt deer with a .357 revolver with a 180gr. bullet at about 1200 fps and have good results, no shot taken over 25 yards/meters.

The .35 cal rifles generally will have a 0.358" groove diameter. You should be able to shoot bullets cast from your .357 mould, although you might want to slug the bore first and adjust your sizing die, if necessary.

My Marlin .35 Rem shoots 0.358" cast bullets just fine even though the bore slugs close to 0.360".

Now, there are some lever guns available in .356 Win and .358 Win (the .356 being a rimmed version of the .358, basically). These are loaded to much higher pressures than the .357 Mag. Still, I have not seen any common reports of failures with either cartridge in a gun that was designed to handle it.

With a single-shot gun such as a Ruger #1 then I would just use a cartridge in the 50,000CUP range.

"I was thinking that something along the lines of a .357 Express Magnum would be fun to use on pigs and deer sized game at under 100 yards"

Ruger used to make a .357 Maximum in their superblackhawk revolvers. basically a stretched .357 mag. Not made anymore and the revolvers are pricey 'cause folks use them for cutom .475 linebaugh long type loading. But I bet you can still get custom dies, reamers etc.. for the .357 max. Would make a nice little carbine. Just a thought.

Eric

I've shot .357 mag carbines, both Rossi 92's and Marlin 1894's extensively, and used them for agricultural depredation work on deer. Using our 185g bullet, 16.0g H110, a Winchester Primer and either Remington or Starline Brass, this load churns up about 1800 fps and the wide meplat simply drops deer out to 100 yards lights-out dead!

As for pressures? Look at the new Rossi 92's chambered for the .454 Casull. They've experienced no problems with these guns handling the pressures of the .454, and the actions are the same as the .357 chambering. I doubt that you'll ever run out of pressure potential with any sane loads in a .357 in one of the Rossi 92 leverguns.

As for a rifle to juice up, you might consider an NEF Handi-Rifle in .357 Mag and simply recutting the chamber to .357 Max, then have the best of all worlds, and a brute strong action to boot. Cheap, highly accurate, easy to rechamber, light and quick handling. It might just be the answer to your quandry.

Let us know what you do.

God Bless,

Marshall

At the H&R forum, they report greatly improved accuracy by rechambering to 357 Max in the Handi-Rifle, even when using Magnums.
Andy

H&R Talk (http://www.hr1871.com/talk/index.htm)

Thanks guys - sounds like I would be just fine with a Rossi or a Marlin chambered for a plain .357 Mag - will make life a lot simpler too.

My next trick will be to get it past our idiotic gun licencing laws which say that its OK for me to have a .357 Mag revolver, a .303 British rifle, a .22 rifle and a double barrel shotgun, but that I will immediately go insane and try to take over the world if they let me have just one more firearm
Go figure
Cheers