Lever Action Carbines

[smle-man]

The Rossi does get a bad rap. However with a little gunsmithing. Damn I miss my old 16" .357 Rossi.

I've had the Rossi since 1982. Puts 1,000s of rounds through it. Nothing has broken. It is lighter and slimmer than either the Marlin or Winchester. I believe the Rossi lever throw has a shorter arc than the Marlin. The Marlin can be cleaned from the breech which is an advantage. In .357 the Rossi has it over either of the domestic lever carbines. I think it is a little light for .44 mag however.

[23 Blast]

A while back I had bought a .357/.38 combo - a S&W model 66, and a puma 92 with the 24" octagonal barrel. Both are in stainless, and at the time, my thinking was that if I was going to pare down my collection to just those two guns, so much the better if they were in a common caliber. At the time, I was having financial difficulties and thought that going to a simple two gun, one caliber setup (that I would then buy reloading supplies for) made money sense.

Looking back at that decision, I love the revolver, but the rifle isn't all that practical with that long of a barrel. If I had to do it over, I'd get the 20" barrel instead. The rifle is remarkably accurate, but the stock sights are terrible they're akin to what you'd find on a Red Ryder BB gun, and just as prone to bending, etc. Someday I'll upgrade that sight to something better.

[23 Blast]

I "heard" that some lever actions chamberd in .38/.357 can be problematic at times...something like they shoot 357 fine but can have failures to feed with .38.

Any truth to that? or is it fud? also heard some dont like flat nose rounds...

fwiw, on my puma 92 (brazilian copy of win92), 38s with very short bullets don't work very well. I have several boxes of blazer .38+p that has a fmj flatnose and sits very low in the casing. Obviously the revolvers aren't bothered by it, but it's shortness gives the lever action fits. My particular gun also has a hard time feeding non-jacketed bullets. The lead noses (whatever shape) seem to mash themselves into the top of the chamber and won't feed. Jacketed bullets don't have this problem, even the hollowpoints with exposed lead at the very front.

[otteray]

to the o.p.... i like your way of thinking!!! ive always wanted one too for a number of reasons you mentioned.

but...

I "heard" that some lever actions chamberd in .38/.357 can be problematic at times...something like they shoot 357 fine but can have failures to feed with .38.

Any truth to that? or is it fud? also heard some dont like flat nose rounds...

With some exceptions, tube fed leverguns require flat nosed ammo in order to safely prevent primer detonation in the tubular magazine.
Your choice of the .357 Marlin is a good one.
Beside being fun, Marlins are very easy to disassemble for cleaning / repair.
They are are quick, accurate and reliable.

[gunslinger387]

I have both a Marlin 94 and a Rossi 92. The Marlin seems to be a better gun and is even a limited edition but for whatever reasons I really prefer the Rossi. It is a bit smaller light and points more natural. It also is smoother and feeds 38 or 357 without a hitch, the Marlin is a little finicky with 38's.

They are both awesome guns for all the previously mentioned items.

[LongRangeShootin]

i own a rossi M92 large loop saddle ring trapper carbine in 38sp/357, and have to say, if you havent had the oprotunity to check one out, your missing out. very well made,high polished blue (no potmetal),NICE walnut and a sweet shooter. no problems with LRN cowboy 38s either. only problem i had with it is when i first picked it up, i took it to the range and found it shot quite high, a new front sight (which was a blooper on rossis end, as the trapper guns are supposed to have a taller front sight and some dimwit installed one of the shorter 20" model sights on the front at the factory...rather than wait for rossi to send the new sight, i went over to skinner sights and bought a higher one so i could lower it to adjust for my specific handloads)

i hate to say it, i really do, but the rossi 357 lever gun i own makes both my marlin 1894cb and my winchester 94 trapper large loop 357 both look like pieces of cheap trash compared.

[Army GI]

I think it is fine for the 9 reasons, but if I were to get a lever action, I might drop the .357 and go for a 30-30 at the cost of capacity

+1

In my opinion, If you're going with a lever action rifle, get a real rifle caliber.

[NorcalGSG]

Interesting to hear about the Puma rifles. I saw them at a shop somewhere, but I haven't tried one yet. Really curious about them, seeing as how Winchester is out of commission on levers now. I still love my .22 levers because they never jam

[rockdogz]

I really want a Marlin lever for the same reasons as the OP... However in a .44.

I've seen the 1894 on sale at Tuners but I've been waiting to get the CB version - but they're like $300 more! I guess it's the fancy octagonal barrel?