.38 special lever gun

[MissiontoMars]

I am thinking of something to pair with my victory smith .38sp...

I dont currently own a 357 rig, and i understand they're tuned to each cartridge so if i'm primarily going to run .38 am i better off with a dedicated gun?

Would you/have you enjoyed a .38 lever action?
I have little kids who would appreciate the light recoil, but if a 357 rig will shoot .38 i like the flexibility.

[rromeo]

I had a Rossi 92 357 that functioned well with 38 Special using all types of bullets.

[Garv]

Henry Big Boy works with both and is probably the easiest to find new.
If you do not mind tube fed.

[bridgeport]

I have a Rossi 92, and it eats 38 as well as 357 with ease as long as the bullet is a round nose for the .38. Thing is that if you have the sights regulated for your .38 load, and then go to a .357, your point of impact will change pretty dramatically, so its easier to have it set up for one or the other. I'll remind you of this though, even the hottest of hot .357 loads are going to seem tame out of a rifle, and the .38's are just powder puff. Really my only complaint about the Rossi 92 is the generously proportioned wood, which I reduced down to original winchester proportions, made a new buttplate in the original style, and aged it all a tad so now it'll pass for an original except for a detail or two.

Regards,B

[gunsnrovers]

Have had and foolishly sold my Marlins in years past. Going to get a steel frame Henry Big Boy this spring. Miss those cheap Big 5 Marlins.

[King of the 109ers]

my only complaint about the Rossi 92 is the generously proportioned wood, which I reduced down to original winchester proportions, made a new buttplate in the original style, and aged it all a tad so now it'll pass for an original except for a detail or two.

Regards,B

got any pics of that project, or just some pointers?

I got a Ranch Hand and it does seem like they were 'generous' with the wood, and maybe it shows up even more on a 'handgun'.

[craneman]

^^^^I'm with this guy. Lets see it! That old flat iron style of butt stock is the worst. The thin wood and crescent butt plate look sooooooooo much better. I thought about trying this to a Rossi. Or just keep waiting for the right Winchester 92 to pop up.

[Jeff213]

I have a rossi, and I had to do some minor tweaking to it but I am pretty happy with it.

Replaced the factory rear sight with a ghost ring sight. It also came with a marbles tang sight installed for longer range work, the ghost ring doesn't effect the use of the tang sight like the factory v sight did.

I also polished the burrs off the feed ramp, and I polished the loading gate so it doesn't cut my thumb whenever I load it. I think I probably still need to cut a few coils out of the magazine spring. I used synthetic grease internally instead of oil.

The trigger is moderate (5-6 lbs) but its surprisingly crisp, better than the triggers on many military rifles. I haven't had any problems with it cycling 38s swc or jacketed, or .357 swc or jacketed.

[raygun5000]

I have a Rossi 92 chambered in .357/.38 special. All I shoot out of it is .38 special. It's my favorite firearm that I own. The recoil is very light, a little more than .22, but barely, haha.

The one i have is the 16 inch barrel version. Unloaded, it's under 5 pounds. That might also be a "selling point" for kids to use it. It balances and "points" very well.

I've had very little malfunctions with my carbine. The only times I've had issues is when I'm super lazy and haven't cleaned it in a long while. Once cleaned, it runs great. I can reach out to 100 yards and ding the metal targets at Angeles Shooting Range. (I'm not going to say my groups are are very tight at those ranges, haha)

One very minor personal criticism is the curved buttstock. Perhaps its my bad technique, but the lower point of the curved butt kind of jams me in my shoulder. I wish it was flat to spread out the pressure.

I also have a Chiappa Alaskan Take Down lever action carbine in the same caliber. It's also a blast to shoot .38 special out of it. The take down feature makes transporting it a breeze. Looks like I'm carrying a tool roll. I like the Skinner peep sights on it over the Buckhorn sights on the Rossi. The Alaskan has a flat rubberized buttstock and is more comfortable for me to shoot.

The downsides are the weight and cost of the carbine. It's got an octagon barrel and adds a little more weight (especially toward the front of the firearm). The cost is about 2.5/3 times what I paid for my Rossi!

BTW, I have fired a few boxes of .357 out of both carbines and the recoil is more noticeable than .38 special. But nothing that will make your shoulder hurt after a day of shooting. I think having the flexibility to fire both cartridges is a plus.

Hope this helps!

[200Apples]

.
Another satisfied Rossi '92 owner here. Great gun. I'd like a second one.

[Air]

I recently purchased a Rossi, I haven't shot it yet, but I rolled up some .38 ammo for it a few weeks ago, hope to take it out this week and do some plinking. Neat Rifle!

[midvalleyshooter]

Uberti makes fine reproductions of the Winchester 66 and 73. Most will run with 38's. Cimmaron is one of the importers of Uberti products and sells a nice 66 carbine replica chambered in 38:

Link----> http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/pro...carbine-1.html

[Old4eyes]

I have a Henry Big Boy and it will occasionally have feed problems with 38 special. Keeping the gun horizontal while quickly moving the lever tends to cure that issue. Recoil is nothing with 38 special and is pretty small with 357.

[Ugly Hombre]

Rossi 92's can be great- fun guns and very useful.

Most often no problems with 38's

[kmullins]

My father-in-law has a Henry Big Boy in .357/.38 and it does just fine with .38 loads. In fact, he doesn't really shoot .357 all that much because .38 is cheaper and just as fun!