[Oni Kadaki]

I was toying around with ideas for a general purpose survival rifle, and came upon the Marlin 1894c in .357 magnum. I read that .357 magnum is a great defensive round, and can be used to take down deer as well. Any opinions on using this sort of rifle as a survival rifle?

Also, anyone know the effective range of a .357 carbine?

 

[rdg]

I'm not sure of it's effective range, but my Rossi shoots very well out to 100 yards. I've been using 158 cast, but recently got a mould for 180 grainers, just haven't got any cast yet. I really enjoy shooting the 357 carbine. It is very accurate, pretty much no recoil, easy to carry, uses the same rounds my favorite wheel gun, cheap to load for, has plenty of power for general purpose stuff. Try one, you may find it addictive. I did.
Bob

 

[Fletcher Christian]

Have you shot much 38 spl out of the Marlin 1894? If so, do you find the chamber difficult to clean afterwards? I am going to pick one of those up this year, and have a ton of 38 spl brass. But, if it is like my wheel gun, cleaning afterwards may be quite difficult.

 

[Rhino78]

I have thought about this as well. I have a marlin 30-30 but want one in .357 to go with my sp101 in .357. Ill only need to carry one caliber of round. The carbine is a handy rifle to own. My 30-30 is my defensive rifle over my AR do to the power and the fact that its not an "evil black rifle" to a jury.

 

[AKpredator]

Ought to be a great choice and legal in all states. The Marlin's and the older and better Timberwolf from IMI. .357 mag gains about 400 fps from 16" barrel and more with the 18" found on the Timberwolf.

125 JHP is a fantastic manstopper and the 180's and 200's will do the trick on most any game in North America. I might be shy with a big grizzly but any member of the deer family and all black bears can be taken with a heavy 357 mag if need be.

Can also shoot 38 Special in them as well and it's no slouch with a barrel that long.



http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...mage_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CCUQ9QEwAw

 

[mrmagooo13]

I don't own one yet but plan to so that I can carry it with my GP100. Marlin seem to be one of the better options? I have zero experience with handling lever-actions.

 

[AKpredator]

I don't own one yet but plan to so that I can carry it with my GP100. Marlin seem to be one of the better options? I have zero experience with handling lever-actions.

Nothing wrong with them at all. Easy guns to shoot well. They could use a dot sight, though.

The considerable boost in velocity will aid in the stopping power and suitability as hunting weapons.

Marlin's are very slow to load and have marginal strength but they are fine for normal use. Limit the high pressure rounds in them and they should be good forever.

 

[Oh Shoot]

Have you shot much 38 spl out of the Marlin 1894? If so, do you find the chamber difficult to clean afterwards? I am going to pick one of those up this year, and have a ton of 38 spl brass. But, if it is like my wheel gun, cleaning afterwards may be quite difficult.

Yeah, I have....no probs...
I've shot like 50 .38's and still have had no prob chambering .357's afterward.

Though most folks would say to shoot your .357's first, and then clean after .38's before shooting .357's again.

Just same as a revolver. 38's can leave a shorter ring of buildup when you shoot a lot of them, depending on what type/load of powder, so that the longer .357's might not chamber or extract well.

No big deal though, no harder to clean bore after .38 than after .357.

- OS

 

[whirlibird]

I was toying around with ideas for a general purpose survival rifle, and came upon the Marlin 1894c in .357 magnum. I read that .357 magnum is a great defensive round, and can be used to take down deer as well. Any opinions on using this sort of rifle as a survival rifle?

Also, anyone know the effective range of a .357 carbine?

Effective range with a 158+ gr bullet is pretty much identical to the original .30-30 loads assuming the .357 is properly loaded. That's assuming that the shooter can do his part.

The .357 carbine is a personal favorite for urban scrounging and use. With LWC's and a pinch of Bullseye or 231, it's nigh on the perfect small game round. Backed up with a 158/180 gr LSWC and an appropriate amount of 2400 it becomes a medium game getter extraordinaire.

Plus the ability to smack something that resembles vermin with a 125gr JHP at @1600+ is something only slightly short of an atom bomb in effect.

 

[sailinghudson25]

I have a .357 / 38 special lever gun myself. I would rather use a .30/30 though. The 357 is 100 yard gun with half the ballisitc energy of a .30/30. The 30/30 is a 200-250 yard rifle. In wooded lot deer hunting, you can be limited at times with the 357 magnum.

The pistol rifle combination is never a perfect blend. To make a stout enough rifle cartidge, the pistol end will be pretty rough. 41 magnum or 44 special/magum is a great combination. However, 41 magnum is hard to find and 44 specials in non-cowboy blackpowder rounds are close to impossible to find outside of handloading them yourself.

Also, some areas require a permit to purchase handgun ammunition. Maybe not law, but store policy though. Some areas make using straight wall cartirdges illegal for big game hunting too.

 

[Fletcher Christian]

Also, some areas require a permit to purchase handgun ammunition. Maybe not law, but store policy though.

I'm yet again glad I don't live in CA/NY/MA.

 

[blue123]

I was toying around with ideas for a general purpose survival rifle, and came upon the Marlin 1894c in .357 magnum. I read that .357 magnum is a great defensive round, and can be used to take down deer as well. Any opinions on using this sort of rifle as a survival rifle?

better hurry marlin is closing and the price for thier rifles will go up,i see nothing wrong with the oldschool revolver/carbine same caliber combo....by all means go forword........

 

[Jida]

The nice thing about the .357/.38 combo is that it has a very very wide range of applicable use while remaining a compact system.

No real kick to talk about, small game birds (PSHTF) to deer'ish sized critters and you can carry a lot of ammo for little space/weight.

My only issue with the round is that noone makes a good compact 'modern' version of this combo. And by that I mean a rifle that is poly+stainless+semi/bolt/break action with a matching pistol closer to a Glock in looks/function.

Although I prefer the lever actions and revolvers for looks and function, it always seemed an area where nobody is developing in to take advantage of this combinations strengths.

There are people that already do the 45lc+.410+.444 combination guns however not a one of them (so far) has proven to really hit the nail on the head. That and the guns are using larger rounds that either are terirble shotguns and only ok rifles or semi-ok shotguns and terrible rifles.

 

[sailinghudson25]

The good side to the 38 special round is inexpensive shooting, whether you reload or not. Practice is what makes it work. $13-15 per 50 affords more practice.

 

[Oh Shoot]

better hurry marlin is closing...

Marlin is NOT closing.
In about a year they're moving their production line to Remington's huge facility in Ilion, NY.

- OS

 

[blue123]

Marlin is NOT closing.
In about a year they're moving their production line to Remington's huge facility in Ilion, NY.

- OS

marlin is closing their plant in connecticut and being absorbed by remington's plant in NY, it could be two years mabey three before production reaches distribution and nothing says they will be producing the exact same line as before....prices are going to rise my freind.......

 

[Oh Shoot]

marlin is closing their plant in connecticut and being absorbed by remington's plant in NY, it could be two years mabey three before production reaches distribution and nothing says they will be producing the exact same line as before....prices are going to rise my freind.......

All of that may or may not be true, but "Marlin" is not "closing" was my only point.

Guns seldom get cheaper over time, except for AR/AK lines that fluctuate wildly depending on political climate.

- OS

 

[Trekker]

Mine lives in my truck and my S&W is always in my pocket.
One caliber for both. I do keep Buffalo Bore Ammo in my Marlin.
They say:"Make special note of the Marlin 1894, 18.5 inch barrel velocities. Item 19C/20, supercedes 30-30 energies!!!"

 

[ChapNelson]

I prefer the Rossi over Marlin, slimmer grip, nicer feel to me. I've got two, dropped gunslick spring kits in them, stainless steel mag followers. Very smooth, fast & accurate. Hand casts/loads and I'm confident out to 150yds. Feeds everything .38 to .357 just fine.

 

[sailinghudson25]

If your not a hunter; or have something else to hunt with; get the .357. The 44 magnum lever gun is a fantastic rifle for 150 yard or closer hunting. Which is all you need in wooded areas really.

IF you reload; the 44 magnum is great. It keeps the costs reasonable for ammunition. Also, if you find the 44 magnum a bit too much for a handgun; you can reload with lighter loads or bullets. You can reload 44 special cartridges; which makes shooting a 44 magnum much more pleasurable. Many can handle a few shots of 44 magnum; but shooting 50-100 and still having acceptable groups is another story.

The guy who lets me use his 300 yard private range shoot 260 remington for long range hunts and 44 magnum from a marlin for close up stuff. It produces excellent results; npticeably better than my .30-30. I pretty much shoot 44 magnum for hunting myself; however it is from a 50 cal muzzleloader shoot sabots with 44 magnum bullets. The velocities the lever gun produces is very close to the muzzleloaders.

I had a bullet graze a branch this winter. It ended up hitting the rear leg of the deer. It still produced massive damage and a quick kill. Broke the leg to bits, and severed the femural artery in the process. Might of been a lucky shot; but the .429" hole with 250gr of weight helped out a good bit.