[Harbinger]

Anyone have any firsthand experience with this little lever action? Seems like it would be one sweet shooter, and the perfect compliment to my .357 Ruger.

 

[cma g21]

I have one, and it's a good rifle. I had a Rossi Puma (Winchester 92 clone) that was even better and that I regret selling.

 

[Jag45Colt]

i have a Winchester Ranger Compact in .357 Magnum that i have packed for many miles in a saddle scarabd on horseback, or in a gun rack in my pickup, slept with it under by cot at many a rodeo, pony pull and camping trip. ive taken deer with 130 grain cast soft point .357's, to rayts with CCI shotshells and .38 Special Wadcutters. this rifle is of exclent quality, and i've never had to have it repaied or tuned by my gunsmith. its an exclent conpanion to my Ruger Blackhawk .357 and My S&W M-19 .357 are exclent conpanions to it.

 

[David Berkowitz]

We have 3 of the 1894 variants. We use two for cowboy action shooting and the 3rd is just for a backup.
The one I use is the Cowboy Competition model and my wife uses the 1894C.
We have had each for about two years. All of them get what I call fairly heavy use. Each one gets 160 rounds a month under very dirty and windy conditions. They have been very reliable and easy to take care of. I have not had to use the backup since a bought it.
We don't do bullseye shooting so I can't say they are superbly accurate. Maybe they are, I just haven't tested them for that.
The Cowboyu Comp has Ballard rifleing and the C version has microgroove rifleing. All of the ammo we use is hardcast lead or moly coated lead. Some people say the Microgroove is harder to clean. After each shoot, we run about 8 rounds of jacketed ammo through them. About once every three months I scrub the bores and clean them up. No problem getting them clean.

 

[Soda Pop]

I picked mine up for $200 last December. It was a used clunker but I fixed it up a bit. I've been playing with some reloads but its a great rifle to bring up to the hills if you want something better than a pistol.

 

[Fred]

Have one as well

fun to shoot, is well finished and locks up tight. No complaints here.

 

[JRWnTN]

I have a Rossi .357/.38 and have tried some friends' Marlins. The Marlins seem to have a more solid feel, at least to me. If I were more serious about Cowboy Competition, I would trade for a Marlin 1894.

 

[Soda Pop]

The thing I really like about the Marlin 357 is how much more power you can get out of the 357 mag round. It really gets that pistol cartridge pretty close to rifle ballistics. Judging by my Lyman 47th, you can push the 357 mag up to M1 Carbine ballistics and have a far greater choice in bullets. I pretty much stick with 158gr Got Dots and rather have the Marlin than an M1 Carbine with ball ammo.

 

[Herr Doktor]

Yes, I am a Marlin junky!

My family has 3 of the .357's and we LOVE them.

Get a Marlin and get a smile!

[IMG=left]http://www.hunt101.com/img/130385.jpg[/IMG]

 

[dmen]

Like Herr Doktor said they bring smiles . Mine is a lotta fun ,no recoil to speak of, will use 38 spls, locks up tight, good enough accuracy (drilled an m1 carbine rear sight and mounted it in the rear scope holes) . Never have any troubles except running out of ammo. Everyone I know likes to shoot her. dmen

 

[da-glock]

Yep , picked one up a couple a days ago . 1894 and she's a sweety . It had a couple of surface rust spots up and down the barrel , but nothing some 4/0 wool and gun oil won't fix . Paid 300 for it , a little high , but it is one of the older ones before they started installing the crossbolt safety . had one years ago and sold it , was one of them you never forgot about , so when the oprotunity knocked , I snagged her .
da-glock

 

[Powerkicker]

I have the .44mag version.It's a good gun although the barrel on mine is timed a bit past TDC.

 

[skytrooper78]

I picked up a 1894C .357 from Walmart (what an experience when you buy from them.) The cost was about $380.00 with tax. I took it to the range on Friday. I have seldom taken anything out of the box & shot like this. I shot a 3" group at a 100 yds with open sights. I can't see well & found the open sights on this to be superior. I'm sure it's capable of better groups with more practice & it is drilled for a scope. This is a great rifle, very well built & detailed. Marlin is excellent quality & I highly recommend it.

 

[MikeO]

My favorite not so long gun.

Light recoil w 357 Mags, next to nothing w .38 Specials.

Piicks up a step or three too:

Rem 125/38 +P SJHP 1330 fps
Rem 125/357 SJHP 2200 fps
Rem 165/357 JHP Core-Lokt 1720 fps