Kinda looking at a Henry big boy. Sure is a heavy gun! Since I can't try one out before I buy I'm asking for ya or nah
Any one have info on a .357 rifle?
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I've shot them, but what purpose will it serve for you?
Originally Posted By: Bandito440
I've shot them, but what purpose will it serve for you?
mostly plinking. But with California cracking down on "ugly guns" it may fall under the radar.
I've shot them, but what purpose will it serve for you?
mostly plinking. But with California cracking down on "ugly guns" it may fall under the radar.
I wanted to get a 357 rifle at one point. Actually an H&R. Have it reemed to 357 Maximum, then it'd shoot 38spl wadcutters for a quiet plinking load up to Maximum. I liked shooting 38spl in my revolvers at the time so it seemed like a natural progression.
IIRC 357 Mag (or Max?) would hold its own against 30-30 out to 100 yards (after that the real rifle round wins).
A revolver round is pretty easy to reload.
IIRC 357 Mag (or Max?) would hold its own against 30-30 out to 100 yards (after that the real rifle round wins).
A revolver round is pretty easy to reload.
Dad has the Engraved .357 big boy and it is a thing of beauty, but I haven't shot it yet. Everyone I know that has one enjoys them. I've got a .357 max revolver.. sort of like a rifle you can carry on your hip.. haha
Big rifle,wow. Seen a Henry Lever in 45-70 Govt. I could take out a moose,a bear,or your shoulder with that. Good ol snot slinger with that recoil.
Find yourself a good Marlin 1894 and plug away for an eternity.
Decent light game hunting rifle that can be loaded to take down even big game at closer ranges.
Cheap to shoot, can chamber 38, 38+P and 357 its a honey of a little rifle that can easily dispatch 4 and 2 legged vermin.
UD
Decent light game hunting rifle that can be loaded to take down even big game at closer ranges.
Cheap to shoot, can chamber 38, 38+P and 357 its a honey of a little rifle that can easily dispatch 4 and 2 legged vermin.
UD
JHZR2
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Originally Posted By: hatt
.357 mag lever action are maximum fun. And a great small game or short range deer rifle.
Agreed. Was my first non .22 rifle because it matched with my S&W 686. Love that rifle, mine's a Marlin 1894.
.357 mag lever action are maximum fun. And a great small game or short range deer rifle.
Agreed. Was my first non .22 rifle because it matched with my S&W 686. Love that rifle, mine's a Marlin 1894.
I like a 357 lever gun. A good marlin as mentioned, will be a great one to shoot. I am on the fence about Henry rifles...I am just not a fan of them primarily because they lack a loading gate.
Closest I can come to commenting is having a Browning B92 in .44 Mag.
If I was going for a .357, I'd go for something smaller than the big boy personally.
50 rounds through my B92 in an afternoon (wearing a singlet and flannel shirt) leaves a decent bruise
If I was going for a .357, I'd go for something smaller than the big boy personally.
50 rounds through my B92 in an afternoon (wearing a singlet and flannel shirt) leaves a decent bruise
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: hatt
.357 mag lever action are maximum fun. And a great small game or short range deer rifle.
Agreed. Was my first non .22 rifle because it matched with my S&W 686. Love that rifle, mine's a Marlin 1894.
I have the 1894 too. Its hard to recommend one these days because you can't find them and when you do they're big $$$.
The Rossi rifles seem to be good little guns too. The cowboy guys love them after doing a little work to them. I'd like a Henry even though they'll pretty heavy if they didn't have the tube loading nonsense. Never understood that design feature. Side loading was perfected over 100 years ago.
Originally Posted By: hatt
.357 mag lever action are maximum fun. And a great small game or short range deer rifle.
Agreed. Was my first non .22 rifle because it matched with my S&W 686. Love that rifle, mine's a Marlin 1894.
I have the 1894 too. Its hard to recommend one these days because you can't find them and when you do they're big $$$.
The Rossi rifles seem to be good little guns too. The cowboy guys love them after doing a little work to them. I'd like a Henry even though they'll pretty heavy if they didn't have the tube loading nonsense. Never understood that design feature. Side loading was perfected over 100 years ago.
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
I like a 357 lever gun. A good marlin as mentioned, will be a great one to shoot. I am on the fence about Henry rifles...I am just not a fan of them primarily because they lack a loading gate.
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
The marlin has a far greater variety of cool aftermarket parts to slicken it up, and if you are really wanting something you can get taylor take down 357, or have a special a gunsmith modified takedown upgrade is available for the Marlin.
UD
I like a 357 lever gun. A good marlin as mentioned, will be a great one to shoot. I am on the fence about Henry rifles...I am just not a fan of them primarily because they lack a loading gate.
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
The marlin has a far greater variety of cool aftermarket parts to slicken it up, and if you are really wanting something you can get taylor take down 357, or have a special a gunsmith modified takedown upgrade is available for the Marlin.
UD
Don't overlook both Rossi 92 and the Winchester 73 replica from Pedersoli and others. They're beautiful guns for the money, and they come in .357 Magnum.
Originally Posted By: UncleDave
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
This is what sets me back about Henry Rifles. I like the fact they're American made and all. But to me they seem way too cheaply manufactured and finished for what they charge. You're much better off going with a Marlin or a Winchester lever gun. Even the Pedersoli reproductions show much better manufacturing than the Henry's do. I too don't like the way they've avoided the loading gate. In favor of those silly looking oversize magazine tube ports. Those belong on a .22 LR, not on big certerfires.
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
This is what sets me back about Henry Rifles. I like the fact they're American made and all. But to me they seem way too cheaply manufactured and finished for what they charge. You're much better off going with a Marlin or a Winchester lever gun. Even the Pedersoli reproductions show much better manufacturing than the Henry's do. I too don't like the way they've avoided the loading gate. In favor of those silly looking oversize magazine tube ports. Those belong on a .22 LR, not on big certerfires.
I have a Rossi Model 92 and love it. I bought it a few months ago, and it seems as though Rossi has been paying attention to some of the criticisms about their craftsmanship. Although the fit-and-finish is far from perfect, it is much better than what I expected after watching all the YouTube videos. Too, while the action isn't 'butter smooth' it's decent out of the box and gets even better with use. I bought the SS version and think it is an attractive gun, and decidedly less expensive than some other models.
Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: UncleDave
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
This is what sets me back about Henry Rifles. I like the fact they're American made and all. But to me they seem way too cheaply manufactured and finished for what they charge. You're much better off going with a Marlin or a Winchester lever gun. Even the Pedersoli reproductions show much better manufacturing than the Henry's do. I too don't like the way they've avoided the loading gate. In favor of those silly looking oversize magazine tube ports. Those belong on a .22 LR, not on big certerfires.
The tube loading port's not really a strength , but not total downside, you can count your rounds left with it pretty easy by turning the rifle over.
they are also heavy for their calibre..heavier than the marlin which is heavier than the winchester.
2 things I don't like
1. Having to move my hand out the way as the tab retreats
2. The lack of any kind of forearm stock is annoying to me - you are holding the barrel when you shoot them which after a about 2-3 tubes of hot ammo starts to heat up and you smear all over the blueing.
The side loading gate just works.
That said Id still like a 44Magnum big boy - just cause.....
Originally Posted By: UncleDave
The smaller henrys also now use PLASTIC barrel bands- plastic has no place on a lever gun.
This is what sets me back about Henry Rifles. I like the fact they're American made and all. But to me they seem way too cheaply manufactured and finished for what they charge. You're much better off going with a Marlin or a Winchester lever gun. Even the Pedersoli reproductions show much better manufacturing than the Henry's do. I too don't like the way they've avoided the loading gate. In favor of those silly looking oversize magazine tube ports. Those belong on a .22 LR, not on big certerfires.
The tube loading port's not really a strength , but not total downside, you can count your rounds left with it pretty easy by turning the rifle over.
they are also heavy for their calibre..heavier than the marlin which is heavier than the winchester.
2 things I don't like
1. Having to move my hand out the way as the tab retreats
2. The lack of any kind of forearm stock is annoying to me - you are holding the barrel when you shoot them which after a about 2-3 tubes of hot ammo starts to heat up and you smear all over the blueing.
The side loading gate just works.
That said Id still like a 44Magnum big boy - just cause.....
If you're after a great home defense weapon, as well as fun practice, get the Henry steel. I can't recommend a Marlin 1894 unless you want to get into home gunsmithing. I didn't know about the takeover of Marlin by Cerberus group (Remington) about 2012. I've had to do two different fixes to get the gun to work. Since the Henry is a copy of the Marlin 336, regardless of the caliber, if there were problems, they'd be out there by now in the same way that you can google the "Marlin Jam" and get pages of results.
If ISIS religious fanatics were attacking in squad or platoon strength, any lever-gun is poor. Against 2-3 criminals, I think you'd have 8 rounds left in the gun when the cops get there. Think about it, they come down the hallway to your bedroom. They can't come two wide, your hallway isn't that wide. They yank open the bedroom door; you cut on your flashlight to identify them, see a weapon, and fire. Would YOU think it a good idea to go through the door, given what happened to your "bro"? Or, do you think "screw this, I'm outta here!"
If ISIS religious fanatics were attacking in squad or platoon strength, any lever-gun is poor. Against 2-3 criminals, I think you'd have 8 rounds left in the gun when the cops get there. Think about it, they come down the hallway to your bedroom. They can't come two wide, your hallway isn't that wide. They yank open the bedroom door; you cut on your flashlight to identify them, see a weapon, and fire. Would YOU think it a good idea to go through the door, given what happened to your "bro"? Or, do you think "screw this, I'm outta here!"
I LOVE my Rossi 92, although I'm keeping my eyes open for a Winchester that's been rechambered.
The lack of a King's Gate on the Henry was one of the things that really turned me off of it. In addition, a friend has one in 44 Mag(he only ever shoots specials) and the magazine tube cracked. Henry sent him a replacement, but still. I don't mind dropping down the tube on a 22, but for an $800 center fire gun, I want a loading gate.
The Henry action is VERY smooth, though. Contrast that with the Rossi, which is very "notchy." A lot of that is inherent in the 92 type action, as the two locking bolts sliding up and locking in place requires more force than the rest of the stroke. Still, though, a Rossi isn't as smooth as an old Winchester-I suspect partially due to the fact that Winchester is better finished, and probably because it has 100 years of wear on it that the Rossi doesn't have. I've worked a bit on my Rossi, but just know that if you go that route, you MUST NOT touch the front and back of the locking bolts-doing so can allow the gun to fire out of battery. Despite these weaknesses, though, the 92 type action is one of the strongest in this size/class of lever guns and you can load 357s to well beyond reasonable levels without worrying about it.(disclaimer: always follow loading manuals exactly to be safe).
Since someone mentioned shooting wadcutters-it's worth mentioning that a 92 won't feed flush-seated wadcutters and can have issues with anything that doesn't have some sort of taper. Semiwadcutters are fine, but wadcutters are out. Remember that the primary original chamberings for this action(25-20, 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40) were bottleneck which means that they need some help to feed a straight walled case. I've never tried wadcutters in a 73 type action(the only one I've owned was an 1890s Winchester in 32-20) but I'd guess it might do better with wadcutters than the 92. I don't have enough familiarity with the Marlin 94 and Henry actions to say whether or not they theoretically could or do.
The lack of a King's Gate on the Henry was one of the things that really turned me off of it. In addition, a friend has one in 44 Mag(he only ever shoots specials) and the magazine tube cracked. Henry sent him a replacement, but still. I don't mind dropping down the tube on a 22, but for an $800 center fire gun, I want a loading gate.
The Henry action is VERY smooth, though. Contrast that with the Rossi, which is very "notchy." A lot of that is inherent in the 92 type action, as the two locking bolts sliding up and locking in place requires more force than the rest of the stroke. Still, though, a Rossi isn't as smooth as an old Winchester-I suspect partially due to the fact that Winchester is better finished, and probably because it has 100 years of wear on it that the Rossi doesn't have. I've worked a bit on my Rossi, but just know that if you go that route, you MUST NOT touch the front and back of the locking bolts-doing so can allow the gun to fire out of battery. Despite these weaknesses, though, the 92 type action is one of the strongest in this size/class of lever guns and you can load 357s to well beyond reasonable levels without worrying about it.(disclaimer: always follow loading manuals exactly to be safe).
Since someone mentioned shooting wadcutters-it's worth mentioning that a 92 won't feed flush-seated wadcutters and can have issues with anything that doesn't have some sort of taper. Semiwadcutters are fine, but wadcutters are out. Remember that the primary original chamberings for this action(25-20, 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40) were bottleneck which means that they need some help to feed a straight walled case. I've never tried wadcutters in a 73 type action(the only one I've owned was an 1890s Winchester in 32-20) but I'd guess it might do better with wadcutters than the 92. I don't have enough familiarity with the Marlin 94 and Henry actions to say whether or not they theoretically could or do.
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