.38 Special in a .357 Magnum Lever Action

A

Arietta

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Southwestern Ontario
Years ago I owned Marlin 1894 .357 lever action that fed the magnum rounds smoothly but often hiccupped on the .38 Special. Of the currently available .357 lever actions is one better than the others when it comes to the .38 Special and feeds it as reliably as it does the magnum cartridge?
 
I had the same issue with a Browning B-92 .357 Mag lever back in the day. Found out the hard way at a Cowboy Action event. :(

Sold it & acquired a Win 94 AE Trapper .357 Mag which seemingly doesn't do that [for me anyway].

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NAA.
 
My Henry Big Boy feeds 38 Specials no problem, but often chokes (misfeeds) 357 Mag. Henry told me to send it to Gretch Outdoors (sp?) to get fixed, but I have not done so yet. Currently I'm reloading 38 Special +P and +P+ and shooting it without any issues.

My Citadel 357 lever will feed any 357 Mag or 38 Special I have tried without any issue what-so-ever.

YMMV
 
My Henry Big Boy feeds 357 flawlessly, and .38 special probably about 95%. And even when it hiccups, a little extra persuasion on the lever solves the issue. I've never had a complete FTF where I had to clear the gun and start over. Ran it in a 3-gun match with .38, and it went pretty well.

I put a pretty aggressive roll crimp (Lee factory crimp die) into the cannelure though; it helps the rounds feed in the lever, and feed into the cylinder of my revolvers nice and smooth. Factory Blaser Brass doesn't have much of a crimp, and they hang up WAY more.
 
I never had any issues with 357 or 38 special in my Henry Big Boy, the only issue I had with it was the firing pin broke but they quickly sent out a new one
 
My Henry Mares Leg feeds both but I find the POI difference between the two requires me to choose one to register with the POA of the irons.

So I choose .357 Magnum.

It's the same with my Timberwolf pump.
 
Henry Big Boy X that i’ve had for a few years cycles both.38 and .357 without issue. I’ve used full metal jackets, hollow points and jacketed soft points. The only issue that I’ve experienced is that is needs extra effort to load Hornady “LEVERevoultion” .357 into the mag tube. This is presumably because of the “flex tip” insert in the hollow point cavity binding against the mag follower. Once loaded up they cycled fine and will make a good deer round out to 100m FWIW. I think that Lucky Gunner speaks of the same issue in one of his youtube videos.
 
both chiappa alaskan scouts I've used have no issue feeding FMJ 38 sp if the lever is cycled normally (vigorously), but one of them does not like it when you cycle the lever softly/slowly. Both cycle 357 just fine.
 
it will often depend on nose shape and oal

too short of a oal may cause double feeds in the special

too long in the mag and you can get a jam

you need to be in the middle Ground (oal)

if you search the internet you can fund some tweaks that might or might not work
 
I reload for Cowboy Action shooting. A very knowledgable shooter at our club advised me to use 38spl. cases(very cheap and easy to find) and load them to 1.52" OAL. This puts the OAL midway between a .357 and .38. Feeds perfectly in a .357 rifle. I have a Rossi 92 that didn't like .357, but cycled 1.52" perfectly. I had a 1894 Marlin that hic-upped on .38spl, but cycled the 1.52" perfectly. CAS shooters cycle their rifles VERY fast...they have to feed smooth. You'll most likely miss the crimp groove, I use a Lee Factory crimp die and don't need the groove.
 
Arietta said:
Years ago I owned Marlin 1894 .357 lever action that fed the magnum rounds smoothly but often hiccupped on the .38 Special. Of the currently available .357 lever actions is one better than the others when it comes to the .38 Special and feeds it as reliably as it does the magnum cartridge?
Click to expand...

Sometimes it’s just the bullet shape and the follower that causes that. A controlled feed (or rather, the lever action equivalent) action will be more reliable. Eg. A Winchester 92 or Italian repro.

Maybe though all you needed was a different bullet.
 
Uberti 1873 in .357 here, and it runs lead RNFP loaded to standard OAL for .38 Special perfectly well.
 
I have a stainless Marlin (remlin) that I used for CAS and it never gave me any issues with .38's. And that's all I ever shoot through it. I wouldn't mind a Henry big big boy mares leg with a full stock though.
 
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