Marlin introduces a 10mm lever gun.

[golfish]

I can think of a few better cartridges for that role in a lever-action rifle. If the only positive is that one can carry a sidearm in the same chambering, I can see that from a marketing perspective, but IMO there are much better sidearms for dangerous bears, and they are not in 10mm.

Agreed...its not like your going to whip out a glock mag and slap it in the Marlin. That was always the plus in Alaska with the 10mm.

If they made a blued version with nice wood I'd buy one. I like the 10mm.

[CALI-gula]

I would take one in .475linebaugh, .480ruger.

.45 WinMag for me. it would be a nice companion to an LAR Grizzy in deep woods.

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[splithoof]

If they made a blued version with nice wood I'd buy one. I like the 10mm.

It would be my guess that it is a well made version, from the examples I’ve shot, and the one I own. Ruger has, IMO, made the best “Marlin” lever rifle to date.
I used to be into the 10mm, until a few years ago when I sold my Bren-Ten and a pile of the nearly-impossible to acquire magazines. It was too good of an opportunity to let get away, and the sale of that one firearm led the way to other firearm projects. No regrets.

[splithoof]

.45 WinMag for me. it would be a nice companion to an LAR Grizzy in deep woods.

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Are you in need of .45 Winchester Magnum brass?…

[splithoof]

I would take one in .475linebaugh, .480ruger.

If chambered for .475L, you can also use .480R.

[Spyder]

I wouldn't want one for a serious work gun, just a fun noise maker and steel ringer, which is why I'd like it in 9mm. My 45 Colt and Marlins and 454 Casull R92 are fine for straigt wall cartridge work guns!

45 Win Mag is a fun cartridge. I had an Automag IV years ago that I wish I hadn't sold, and would like ot replace some day but probably never will.

[Imageview]

Ballistics by the inch has buffalo bore 10 mm (180gr, not the bear load but what data is easily available) going slightly less than 200fps faster out of an 18" barrel than a 5" barrel. Not nothing, but not crazy improvement. About 1000 foot pounds at the muzzle as opposed to almost 750ish.
357 mag is producing 30-50% more energy than 10mm with a similarly constructed bullet (125 or 158s) in a similar firearm. Foot pounds aren't everything, the 10mm makes a bigger hole, but that's a big energy gap. Maybe a different construction of bullet will shift things a bit more in 10mm's favor, I wouldn't assume that however.

My point isn't that 357 mag is a good bear defense round, it's more that 357 mag is a choice that makes sense for a carbine. You're getting almost double the energy. Not 40% more. When you factor in the speed of reloading I would argue that you're losing effective capacity. A longer sight radius over a pistol is definitely a big plus, but enough of one? 10 mm seems more like a side grade to me in a carbine than an upgrade. Maybe even an effective downgrade since I can't work a lever nearly as fast as I can pull a trigger.

But it does seem fun. I want a lever gun in a 336 action that is optimized for feeding 357 maximum. Not really more practical than my 1894, mostly just because it would be fun. I could get a 30-30 or 35 rem which would be ballistically similar (at short ranges for the 30-30) and infinitely more practical, or a 44 mag I could download to similar performance. But sometimes fun is reason enough (not quite enough for the 357 max for me sadly).

[PoorRichRichard]

I accept that.
After a good friend had to sort it out with a big Griz up there (Kenai Peninsula area), he will never use one (10mm, Glock 20) again. What ultimately kept him from being seriously mauled was someone else using a .375 H&H bolt rifle. All this happened on a beach while he was fishing.

I was thinking about this the other day. 10mm seems adequate for a black bear backup gun, but not for a grizzly.

[PoorRichRichard]

But what is it for?…Whats next?…A version in .32 S&W Long?
I predict that this will be short-lived in the 10mm chambering. If one has room to store it new in the factory box, down the road it might have some value to a collector.
As much as I like my Rumar Trapper in .45-70, I’ll pass on this one.

Agreed. My first thought was “Why not just .45-70?”

A lever 10 might be fun if you are really into reloading and shooting a G20 or another 10mm hand-cannon, but otherwise this seems kinda silly…

[dayz2men]

357 mag is producing 30-50% more energy than 10mm with a similarly constructed bullet (125 or 158s) in a similar firearm.

What are you on, it's like a 20% gain at the absolute peak, pretty much mostly due to extra cartridge capacity. Pay attention to barrel length and load data (if possible) for the sources you are considering.

[OLD-skool454#3]

I'll take my Citadel Levtac .454 Casull or my Rossi PUMA .454 Casull over this 10mm. I can shoot .45 colt out of those just as easily. For 10mm...my Glock 20SF is good enough.

[Imageview]

What are you on, it's like a 20% gain at the absolute peak, pretty much mostly due to extra cartridge capacity. Pay attention to barrel length and load data (if possible) for the sources you are considering.

Ballistics by the inch (since I don't have a 10mm to test with) has 18" Buffalo Bore 10mm 180 gr. JHC going 1573 fps out of an 18" barrel. Their numbers for handgun sized barrels are consistent with buffalo bores, so even though I can't check it I'll accept it as reasonably trustworthy.

Buffalo bore handily does the math for converting this to fpe, saving me the legwork, in their ballistics charts. A little less than 1023. (All fpe calculations are at muzzle)

Buffalo bore also has ballistic data for their 357 cartridges. From a data integrity standpoint I'd prefer to use ballisticsbytheinch as a source for velocity here but unfortunately they don't provide data for any of buffalo bore's offerings. I could have used the 180gr bullet but that's completely different bullet design and so I went with 125 and 158s instead to keep things apples to apples as much as possible in this inherently wonky comparison.


The 158 in 357 is producing 1500 at the muzzle. The 125 is producing 1468. Both out of 18" firearms. If same weight is a better comparison in your opinion than similar bullet construction their 180 is producing 1300fpe again out of an 18" Marlin. Slightly under 30% gain.

I haven't chrono'd all these loads personally, but my personal experience is that buffalo bore loads out of my 1895 have been roughly consistent with the printed data so I see no reason to assume they're lying about these particular loads. Or lying just to benefit 357 mag loads and not lying in the same way as to benefit 10mm loads.

If you wanted to measure energy in a different way, that will of course produce different results.

For the record if I'm being actually charged (not bluffed) by a mature brown bear at less than 50 yards I think the chamberings are functionally pretty similar. Either CNS hit or likely die. Both with appropriate loads are sufficient to penetrate given likely angles, neither is likely going to cause sufficient shock or blood loss to stop the bear. Or get a semi auto handgun and put as many holes in the bear as rapidly as possible. You can kill a big brown with a 22 given perfect shot placement. I'd personally want as close to a howitzer as I can carry.

Could you potentially squeeze more out a 10mm cartridge by reloading in the situation you are only using it in an 1894 and don't have to worry about proper functioning limits in a semi auto? Maybe. But if you're loading specific ammo for the lever rifle, what's the advantage of 10mm over something that is better suited to taking advantage of the lever rifle design like any of the rimmed 44 or 45 caliber offerings?

[jwb28]

"The 158 in 357 is producing 1500 at the muzzle. The 125 is producing 1468. Both out of 18" firearms. If same weight is a better comparison in your opinion than similar bullet construction their 180 is producing 1300fpe again out of an 18" Marlin. Slightly under 30% gain."

Not sure where you're getting those numbers. But 158gr factory is more like 1750 out of a marlin. Buffalo bore 180 is around 1800 on their site and I got that when I chronographed it.
not saying I'd want to use it for a grizzly, but a black bear under 50 yards or so I doubt a 30-30 would do any better.

[Spyder]

"The 158 in 357 is producing 1500 at the muzzle. The 125 is producing 1468. Both out of 18" firearms. If same weight is a better comparison in your opinion than similar bullet construction their 180 is producing 1300fpe again out of an 18" Marlin. Slightly under 30% gain."

Not sure where you're getting those numbers. But 158gr factory is more like 1750 out of a marlin. Buffalo bore 180 is around 1800 on their site and I got that when I chronographed it.
not saying I'd want to use it for a grizzly, but a black bear under 50 yards or so I doubt a 30-30 would do any better.

45 Colt loaded to Marlin/Ruger levels is better than 30-30 for inside a hundred yards anyway. Can fit more in the gun, easier/faster to reload, makes a bigger hole. Step up to one of the 454 Casull lever guns, for less cost, and you're putting a world of hurt on stuff. That's what I use.

[NaClAddict]

I’m guessing you can run 40 S&W out of the 10mm. That would make a fun plinker that could double as a decent bear gun.