My take on the modern 357 do it all setup...

[Chuck3436]

New project I just finished up, a do it all setup for anything from gophers to close range deer to zombies to bugging out/shtf.

Chose .357 as the caliber of choice, as it will be sharing rounds with another modern take on the cartridge, the Chiappa Rhino. I've built a few 9mm carbine/pistol setups in the past, but the limitations of the 9mm cartridge were such that they really weren't much good for more than 2 legged individuals. 357 opens up, albeit on the light side much more bang for the buck and versatility. There's a pun in there somewhere...

For my entire gun collecting life I have never peaked any interest in either revolvers nor lever actions. Both being regulated in my mind to old cowboy guns usually in the hands of old fuds or ranchers somewhere way out in the boonies. After pairing these 2 up as a "modernized" take on these types of guns I think I have found my latest lead love.

Lightweight, no magazines to drop/lose/carry/break, quick to point, easy to carry, shares munitions with sidearm, versatility of cartridge, compact.

1894C Pre-Rem
XS scout rail
XS front sight
Skinner winged rear ghost ring
Leuopold FX-2 2.5x28 Scout on Burris QD rings.
Eagle Cheek rest.
supersling

And now paired with a 2nd gen Chiappa Rhino. These things are a joy and the look grows on you. Hummers are ugly but have a macho beauty all its own, in person the Rhino is a beastly looking thing and I would imagine is quite intimidating to point at anything. She points like a dream, shoots like a laser, recoils like a baby. This is one of the 2nd gen versions, comes with the stage 1 trigger, improved lockup and Fiber optic front sight. These 2nd gens are all improved after the teething troubles the 1st run had. I have NEVER been a revolver person until I got ahold of this thing. Now she takes priority over most of my auto's.

Overall, the additions are all functional, nothing tacticool just for looks on here, the cheek rest is exactly perfect and comfortable with the scope setup for me, plus i keep the few allen keys and a small flathead in the pouch for any work I would ever need to do on her. I chose a winged rear because contrary to what they tell you, the exposed ghost rings DO BREAK and I have had one break, although I blame canadapost for that. The Scope setup is a blast and of course being a scout shoulders quickly. Now, how and where do I get ahold of 180grain buffalo bore hardcasts?

 

[sniper762]

nice !!!

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

I dig the revolver, but I don't particularly share the same sentiment with regards to the Marlin.
You would be better served with an aimpoint micro IMHO,if you absolutely had to have optics on a 150 Yard max rifle. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I am still able to nail jugs out to 100 easily with skinner peeps. The winged rear sight is a good idea.
Best of luck finding a load that shoots great in both the revolver and the rifle. Been there done that and it can be a real challenge sometimes.

As for lightweight, not so much after all the add-ons. You're getting damn close to 8lbs un-loaded there!.

 

[BCRider]

You'd be surprised at how well a full house .357 carries out to 200 yards. It may not take down a moose at that range but if one were hunting varmints the size of a coyote it would be a definite kill if the shot landed correctly.

My cowboy action lever gun set up for close in 35 yard direct sight shots did fine hitting the 200 yard gong at my range with a mere 6 to 8 inches of holdover.

Chuck, I'm not a big fan of what you did to that poor Marlin. And it seems odd to have both the rail and scope as well as the lumpy looking iron sights. But hey, if you like it then it's just right.

I want to like the Rhino but the only one I tried in a store felt like crap when I dry fired it. Are the new ones any better? The basic concept of the lower chamber shooting I love. But the execution of the trigger and internal hammer feel on the one I tried was just too far removed from the lovely feel of a S&W K frame trigger.

 

[Chuck3436]

I dig the revolver, but I don't particularly share the same sentiment with regards to the Marlin.
You would be better served with an aimpoint micro IMHO,if you absolutely had to have optics on a 150 Yard max rifle. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I am still able to nail jugs out to 100 easily with skinner peeps. The winged rear sight is a good idea.
Best of luck finding a load that shoots great in both the revolver and the rifle. Been there done that and it can be a real challenge sometimes.

As for lightweight, not so much after all the add-ons. You're getting damn close to 8lbs un-loaded there!.

Aimpoint micro wouldn't be my first choice for using it on small-small/medium game which is one of the requirements it has, and I was following the scout rifle theory when making this build, so a low magnification scope was definately on my menu.

As for weight, well...7-8lbs with everything on there, is still fairly lightweight overall in my books. Any lighter and I'm either packing a .22 or another rifle that wouldn't fit my requirements.

 

[Chuck3436]

You'd be surprised at how well a full house .357 carries out to 200 yards. It may not take down a moose at that range but if one were hunting varmints the size of a coyote it would be a definite kill if the shot landed correctly.

My cowboy action lever gun set up for close in 35 yard direct sight shots did fine hitting the 200 yard gong at my range with a mere 6 to 8 inches of holdover.

Chuck, I'm not a big fan of what you did to that poor Marlin. And it seems odd to have both the rail and scope as well as the lumpy looking iron sights. But hey, if you like it then it's just right.

I want to like the Rhino but the only one I tried in a store felt like crap when I dry fired it. Are the new ones any better? The basic concept of the lower chamber shooting I love. But the execution of the trigger and internal hammer feel on the one I tried was just too far removed from the lovely feel of a S&W K frame trigger.

Make sure you try a 2nd generation Rhino, all the newer ones come with a stage 1 trigger kit, which is HUGE improvement over the 1st generation Rhino's. That was one of the biggest complaints about the early rhino's the stock trigger weighed a ton. So Chiappa listened and put the stage 1 triggers in all models on the newer tweaked ones. The biggest giveaway that its a 2nd gen improved Rhino is that it will come stock with the fiber optic front sight. The DA trigger take a bit of getting used to, as there is no clear break point like a standard trigger, but the single action is like pure heaven. Again, if you have a chance give a 2nd gen rhino a shot, you may notice a huge difference.

As for the poor marlin, well like I mentioned I sort of "Updated" the Marlin with a facelift to see what I could do to bring her up to date in all round utility. If I wanted a plain stock lever action, I probably would not have a lever and gone to something else. Poring over what gun to build next, and deciding to do another carbine/pistol combo, this just seemed like it was made to be. 9mm/.45 combo's just didn't seem to have enough oomph to be viable for anything more than 2 legged predators, 44magnum was a possiblity but .44mags don't really have a "modern" wunderwaffen handgun to really irk my interest. That and 44mags are really not that economical to plink with, and not exactly super fun to plink all day with a handgun with, unless you enjoy punishment of course. Grab me some .38specials and I can plink with this combo all day on the cheap as well, another plus for the all-round combo.
In terms of the sight choices the stock buckhorn sights suck balls, and I simply replaced with a ghost ring. The scout scope concept just seems to go like peanut butter and jam on these lever rifles, so to keep with the short 150m and under effective ranges, it made sense. The scout concept is light, quick to aquire and seemed like the right fit. Nothing on this rifle is permanent, nor is anything there for tacticool looks only. I also made a point of getting QD rings, therefore the scope is removable at any time to use the BUIS in case of emergency/damage, again a small "modernization" touch.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Make sure you try a 2nd generation Rhino, all the newer ones come with a stage 1 trigger kit, which is HUGE improvement over the 1st generation Rhino's. That was one of the biggest complaints about the early rhino's the stock trigger weighed a ton. So Chiappa listened and put the stage 1 triggers in all models on the newer tweaked ones. The biggest giveaway that its a 2nd gen improved Rhino is that it will come stock with the fiber optic front sight. The DA trigger take a bit of getting used to, as there is no clear break point like a standard trigger, but the single action is like pure heaven. Again, if you have a chance give a 2nd gen rhino a shot, you may notice a huge difference.

As for the poor marlin, well like I mentioned I sort of "Updated" the Marlin with a facelift to see what I could do to bring her up to date in all round utility. If I wanted a plain stock lever action, I probably would not have a lever and gone to something else. Poring over what gun to build next, and deciding to do another carbine/pistol combo, this just seemed like it was made to be. 9mm/.45 combo's just didn't seem to have enough oomph to be viable for anything more than 2 legged predators, 44magnum was a possiblity but .44mags don't really have a "modern" wunderwaffen handgun to really irk my interest. That and 44mags are really not that much fun to plink with. Grab me some .38specials and I can plink with this combo all day on the cheap as well, another plus for the all-round combo.
In terms of the sight choices the stock buckhorn sights suck balls, and I simply replaced with a ghost ring. The scout scope concept just seems to go like peanut butter and jam on these lever rifles, so to keep with the short 150m and under effective ranges, it made sense. The scout concept is light, quick to aquire and seemed like the right fit. Nothing on this rifle is permanent, nor is anything there for tacticool looks only. I also made a point of getting QD rings, therefore the scope is removable at any time to use the BUIS in case of emergency/damage, again a small "modernization" touch.

While the "scout" concept is always open for debate, it can't be denied it was based heavily on a high powered rifle cartridge {.308}.
I love my 1894C's too but a full power .357 load is not even close energy or trajectory wise.
I like your rifle and again the only "fly in the ointment" for me is the use of a scope on a pistol caliber carbine. I'm not even a traditionalist.

At the end of the day if it is keeping you satisfied then screw some crotchety CGN'ers opinions!

Fast forward to next summer when my sub 5lb .44mag trapper is finished and I post pictures, I'll catch hell for the MPI kevlar furniture for sure!

 

[Chuck3436]

While the "scout" concept is always open for debate, it can't be denied it was based heavily on a high powered rifle cartridge {.308}.
I love my 1894C's too but a full power .357 load is not even close energy or trajectory wise.
I like your rifle and again the only "fly in the ointment" for me is the use of a scope on a pistol caliber carbine. I'm not even a traditionalist.

At the end of the day if it is keeping you satisfied then screw some crotchety CGN'ers opinions!

Fast forward to next summer when my sub 5lb .44mag trapper is finished and I post pictures, I'll catch hell for the MPI kevlar furniture for sure!

I did a .308 scout on a mauser before, but I found that setup way too front heavy. That and I found it somewhat akward to shoot over 100-150yards with a low magnification scout scope anyhow, the akward weight did not match the performance that should have been expected. Actually turned me off to the scout concept for a long time...

This setup however actually balances out very nice on the marlin, and since I should only ever be shooting 150yards max, more like 100yards tops prefered, it seems like a better fit for a scout type mount.

sub 5lbs trapper? Aren't they 6lbs stock?

 

[jjohnwm]

Fast forward to next summer when my sub 5lb .44mag trapper is finished and I post pictures, I'll catch hell for the MPI kevlar furniture for sure!

Now THAT sounds like a review worth watching out for!

I haven't even seen your gun yet and I'm already thinking of duplicating it.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Now THAT sounds like a review worth watching out for!

I haven't even seen your gun yet and I'm already thinking of duplicating it.

The gun has been at Bits of pieces since last august.
I'm driving the family to California for vacation in spring of next year, and I will be dropping the rifle-off at MPI in portland to have a lightweight Kevlar stock fitted.
I was hoping to have it this spring for backpacking but that was wishful thinking!
The 1894P will have to go in the mountains with me one more year...but you wouldn't catch me complaining.

 

[Can-down]

Nice combo Chuck! How much are the Rhino's going for these days? I tried one at Whanstalls a while back (first gen) they are interesting for sure and it felt pretty good in the hand.....
I'd go with a small red dot on that carbine as well.....

 

[SHELL SHUCKER]

Your outfit looks funky enough for me, and I'm glad you got a pre-Remmy
Marlin cause the new ones blow. 200 yd shootin' with .357 is fun, and taking
deer sized game inside 100 yds. is easy with the right bullet in the kill zone.
You should see how the Brits soup up their Marlins for PC Gallery Rifle shooting!

 

[Chuck3436]

Nice combo Chuck! How much are the Rhino's going for these days? I tried one at Whanstalls a while back (first gen) they are interesting for sure and it felt pretty good in the hand.....
I'd go with a small red dot on that carbine as well.....

Well, the old 1st gen Rhino's seem to go for around 899$, this 2nd gen I picked up from Wolverine for 1150$.

Considering the upgrades it got, stage 1 trigger, FO front sight, improved action overall I would say its well worth it. Online there's a few stories on the 1st gens and their teething troubles, everything from 30lb DA triggers to loose cylinders etc etc. I purposely looked and bought a 2nd gen to avoid those problems.

And no red dots. I purposely avoided going that route with this build as I will be going for gophers and other small game with her. Possibly a deer if I can get within 75yards which is very possible in the loops area.

 

[Chuck3436]

Your outfit looks funky enough for me, and I'm glad you got a pre-Remmy
Marlin cause the new ones blow. 200 yd shootin' with .357 is fun, and taking
deer sized game inside 100 yds. is easy with the right bullet in the kill zone.
You should see how the Brits soup up their Marlins for PC Gallery Rifle shooting!

I actually checked out a new 1895G 2012mfg and it looked very nice to me.

According to the shop remington bought marlin all new equipment and trained them all properly, so all the new 2012 models and up are good to go.

Regardless, having a pre-rem makes me very happy. Action as smooth as butter.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

sub 5lbs trapper? Aren't they 6lbs stock?

 

[Chuck3436]

got me there, they are listed as 6lbs stock on the winnie website.

You got me on these kevlar stocks, although I do like wood, this has intrigued me. Googling...

Oh and bits of pieces....Barry does good work, but I swear he is the slowest gunsmith this side of the America's.

 

[Chuck3436]

Holy smokes. $595 for a standard finished stock, plus import charges, taxes and shipping from the US.

I would bet that would come out to $700-$900 for that stock to save a pound of weight!

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

got me there, they are listed as 6lbs stock on the winnie website.
Oh and bits of pieces....Barry does good work, but I swear he is the slowest gunsmith this side of the America's.

No "winnies" here

As for Bits of Pieces turnaround time... I can only pray this one won't go on two years!.
I hope a 16" stainless barrel with a faster twist is worth the wait.

 

[Chuck3436]

No "winnies" here

As for Bits of Pieces turnaround time... I can only pray this one won't go on two years!.
I hope a 16" stainless barrel with a faster twist is worth the wait.

Hah, I automatically assumed when you said "Trapper" since the winchesters actually go by that name...my bad.
And the few times I've used Barry, I've found out that when he says it will be done in 3 weeks, he means 6 weeks. If he says a month or 2, expect a season to pass....but the results have always been great at least.

And really, are those prices I'm seeing for those kevlar stocks what they actually are?! You could buy a whole other rifle for those prices!

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Holy smokes. $595 for a standard finished stock, plus import charges, taxes and shipping from the US.

I would bet that would come out to $700-$900 for that stock to save a pound of weight!

No problems shipping to Canada, it's manufactured out of North American popsicle sticks which saves duty.
A few forms to fill out and I can take my barrelled action down,drop it off with Doc in Portland and pick it up on my way back from Cali. I have already been in contact with MPI and it will run me close to 700$, let's just hope the dollar stays close to par.

As for the price...for my application and needs a pound is worth it.
Your mods on your 1894C cost 70% of what my Kevlar furniture will.