Thoughts on Winchester 1892 .357

[kymudder08]

I'm looking to get one of these soon chambered in .357 mag and was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. How reliable are they I'm feeding different types of ammo and what is the accuracy and max distance for the carbine version of these rifles?
Thanks!

[usmcvet]

Well I don't have a .357 I have a Marlin 1894PG in .44 magnum. I love it. 16.5" bbl it is light and handy and has XS peep and front sights. Thing rocks. It was "letting 2" I sent it back and Marlin fixed it quickly.

My son has a Ruger 77/357 bolt action. Again not what your looking at but the cal is great for deer hunting here in VT and at 75#'s my son handles the magnums with ease.

[tdb59]

I have owned a couple of original 1892s that were converted in the 50s from 32-20 to 357. I do not know who did the work, but feeding was not an issue with 158SWC, or RN loads. As to range, the farthest I used them was +/- 100 yards, and only on small game.

I also owned a Rossi version for three days, and it may as well have been made of cheese.

[kymudder08]

Thanks guys! I'm wanting something to be a long arm companion to my gp100 so that's why I'm interested in the 92

[jbjh]

I love my wife's Marlin 1894 in 357. Feeds everything, and shoots like a dream. 110gr .38spl all the way up to 158+P+ have been thru it. Remember that the original lever guns were made to fire rimmed cartridges, so the .357 is an ideal candidate (and much like its friend the .38-44).

Your gun should do most anything you want it to up to about 100 yards (medium game past that is pushing it).

[kymudder08]

Ah ok good to hear. I was worried bc I've been told they don't like many choices of ammo and that you need the hornady leveRlution. I've got about 1000 rounds of aluminum cased blazer 357 to feed it

[tdb59]

150 grain 30-30 loads are going about 2000 fps from a 20 inch carbine.
158 grain .357 magnum loads do about the same. With the proper bullets, the .357 carbine has lots of potential.

[chrismartin]

Personally, I prefer the Marlins due to the side eject. The Winchester pattern rifles have top eject which limits optics a bit and hits my head/hat/hair with brass occasionally.

[7 RING]

I own a Hartford 1892 rifle with octagon barrel. It is reasonably accurate for a lever action rifle. I am able to shoot 2-1/2" groups at 100 yards with reloads. That would be off the bench and not off hand.

I owned a Marlin 1894CB that shot factory ammunition really well, but was finicky about what bullets I reloaded. The bore was .3585" which made bullet selection more of an issue than with my Hartford, which has a .357 bore. Most of the cowboy shooters in my area shoot the Marlins.

The Beartooth Bullet website has a lot of good reloading information for lever action guns and I recommend checking out the website before you start to reload for whatever you decide to buy.

[cigardad]

I have a Winchester 92 Trapper in .45 Colt that I bought several years ago when Davidson's had them.

It's been a handy little carbine and no issues.