Marlin, Henry, Winchester or Other for Lever .357?

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Northern Shooter

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Howdy,

I would like to add a .357 Lever to my safe later this year to go alongside my 45-70.

This will mainly be used for (somewhat) affordable plinking and might take it out on a <100m deer hunt.

I already own a Marlin 1895 GBL for the big stuff and am quite a fan of the rifle. Normally I would gravitate straight to a 1894 but they are not currently in production. I see that all the big brands offer at least one variation of the .357 lever rifle.

I'm ideally hoping to keep the purchase under $1500. I would also like to restrict my hunt to only those with side loading gates and iron sights, also the shorter the barrel the better.

I'm looking to hear from owners of Marlins/Winchesters/Henrys/Rossi's/Chiappa's etc. on what they think of their .357?(pros/cons).

These are the options that I'm seeing, either wait it out for a new Ruger-made Marlin 1894 or go with one of the following:

Winchester 1873
Winchester 1892 (I'm not sure what the difference is between these 2 rifles.)
Henry Big Boy (various models, could go with the black X look)
Henry Mares Leg (Interesting concept, would be fun for plinking)
Rossi R92
Chiappa 1892

Thoughts?
 
Your question is like asking what pickup truck should I buy. 100 people will give 100 different answers

BUTT I know what your after

I sold my Marlin in 45/70 and bought a Henry big boy steel carbine. Side gate is t at all important to me. I like being able to bump the tube to unload as opposed to having to run each through the chamber (a la mod 94).

357 at 100 yards IMO is as far as I’d want to try and then you’d need a perfect shot. I used my 357 on a deer this past season. Broadside, 45 yards and it didn’t go through the body. I was able to recover a good portion of the bullet from the body cavity. Take that as you wish.

I’m on the lookout for a Henry 30-30 as well as a 22 GB youth

Didn’t like how rough the Marlin action was. Henry was smooth out of the box.
Can’t compare it to my Mod 94 because it has 100’s of rounds through it and is also smooth and flawless. The 94 feels heavier and feels bigger in my hand

If I had all three in front of me to choose,
1 Henry, 2 win 94 and 3 Marlin. (Distant third)
 
Not the Marlin.

I had a Rossi 92 that never failed. For the money your best value.

No experience with Chiappa but it's a 92 with nice colour case hardening. More money than Rossi.

I have a Winchester 92 and 73. Both are wonderful but I only shoot 38 in the 73. More money yet.

Win 94s never seem to work well in pistol calibers.

Go with someone's 92.
 
I suggest deciding on the grip style that you want this will narrow it down. I though I would like a Winchester 94....turned out I am much more fond of the Remington 336. The prettiest rifle available is a Henry Side Load....thinking I need a Son to name Henry so I can give them that gun one day.
 
Lots to consider. Price being a big factor, it seems like Winchester is by far the priciest from what I am seeing?

Looks like Winchester 1892's are going for $2,500+ and Winchester 1873's for $$2,100+

Henry Big Boys around $1250, Chiappa 1892's for $1200-$1500 depending on model and Rossi R92's for $1,100.

I'm guessing Ruger will market the next 1894 around the $1,500 mark once it arrives.
 
My Henry Big Boy X in .357 quickly became my favourite lever gun - ended up selling my two Marlins and getting another Henry in 336…but Jesus, don’t take them apart (complete tear down). Marlin’s were way simpler to put back together than the Henry’s…
 
Rossi and chiappa are neck ‘n’ neck for bottom rung quality, from my limited experience. I have a chiappa, buddy has a Rossi. Mine was probably a little more rough around the edges, but his was second hand. I did a full disassembly and honed a lot of sharp edges. I like my octagonal barrel and takedown feature.

Lots of people putting lots of money into lever guns lately, and that should help alleviate the second hand market sooner than later.
 
WilliamWallace said:
Not the Marlin.

I had a Rossi 92 that never failed. For the money your best value.

No experience with Chiappa but it's a 92 with nice colour case hardening. More money than Rossi.

I have a Winchester 92 and 73. Both are wonderful but I only shoot 38 in the 73. More money yet.

Win 94s never seem to work well in pistol calibers.

Go with someone's 92.
Click to expand...

Curious why you advise against a marlin 1894?
 
Innavedaw said:
My Henry Big Boy X in .357 quickly became my favourite lever gun - ended up selling my two Marlins and getting another Henry in 336…but Jesus, don’t take them apart (complete tear down). Marlin’s were way simpler to put back together than the Henry’s…
Click to expand...

I think I'm leaning towards the Henry Big Boy. The price is right, it looks great and now has the side loading gate.

One thing I forgot to ask is capacity. Are most of these models 10+1?
 
Northern Shooter said:
...Looks like Winchester 1892's are going for $2,500+ and Winchester 1873's for $$2,100+...
Click to expand...

The 92 and 73 are pretty different, but I'm not the guy to ask about details. I think the 1892 is the clear choice for hunting, others probably disagree.

There are "base model" 1892 Miroku Winchesters available for $1300 right now, just not in 357 where I'm looking.

I think the R92 is pretty good value at $1100, but it's getting close to the price of the basic Miroku 1892.

The R92, however, is available with a 16" barrel. You could go shorter by putting a full stock on a 12" barrel Ranch Hand / Mare's Leg as some people here have.

In my opinion, if you don't need the takedown feature, don't get a takedown rifle.
 
Northern Shooter said:
Curious why you advise against a marlin 1894?
Click to expand...

I had a Marlin 1894 in 357/38 as my first Cowboy Action rifle. It was a nice looking rifle but the cross bolt safety was a nuisance and it was very fussy with ammo. It wouldn't cycle consistently with round nose lead. The only solution was to use a truncated flat nose bullet.

It was a common thing to see Marlin shooters double lever nice looking rifles to cycle the next round.
 
+1 for the black Henry Big Box X. Exceptionally smooth action and good trigger with crisp break right out of the box. I mated mine with a Vortex Venom red dot. Very fun and relatively cheap to shoot if putting .38’s down range. Cycles well and more than capable of harvesting deer with decent factory .357, such as Hornady LEVERevolution.
 
I have a Rem/Marlin 357/38 Sp CSBL, fit and finish very good, action was a bit rough and lots of sharp edges at first but both issues smoothed very quickly. Gun groups pretty well with any ammo (like all guns likes some brands better than others) but point of impact really varies so have to pick the best ammo and stick with it. Way more windage deviation between 38 Sp and 357 than I would have liked but so be it. Now looking for a 44 Magnum when new production ever gets to Canada. Henry's look good and the new Ruger/Marlins (only 45-70 so far) seem more refined than mine.
 
DBSXP said:
I have a Rem/Marlin 357/38 Sp CSBL, fit and finish very good, action was a bit rough and lots of sharp edges at first but both issues smoothed very quickly. Gun groups pretty well with any ammo (like all guns likes some brands better than others) but point of impact really varies so have to pick the best ammo and stick with it. Way more windage deviation between 38 Sp and 357 than I would have liked but so be it. Now looking for a 44 Magnum when new production ever gets to Canada. Henry's look good and the new Ruger/Marlins (only 45-70 so far) seem more refined than mine.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm really liking what Ruger has done with the 1895. Right now I'm torn between a Henry Big Boy .357 (if I can find one) or waiting on the new Ruger/Marlin 1894.
 
I've owned Rossi, Chiappa, Winchester, and Marlin. I like the Winchester M92 Round barrel saddle ring carbine the best. No deficiencies at all other than the silly buckhorn rear sight that I modified to become a more sensible flat top, and removed the equally silly rattle trap saddle ring. Everything else was perfect.
 
I would go with the Winchester rifles.The Model 92 is a much stronger action than the Model 73.If I were going to do hand loading with stronger than factory loads ,I would go for the Model 92.If I were going to shoot only factory loads, I would probably go for the Model 73.
 
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