Marlin 1894 357 mag

[Seanik]

Stopped today at my local gun shop to pick up my re-blued Winchester 94 (30-30) and this great looking Marlin 1894 carbine 357mag (1981 vintage) caught my eye. She sure is a beauty, gleaming stock and perfect blueing, it may become my favorite. Also bought a box of American Eagle 357 mag 158 gr rounds to try it out with. I have some questions for the very knowledgeable people on this forum about this rifle. Feasable for deer hunting and what grain and make of shells are best generally? It has a williams peep sight on it, I am thinking about installing a red dot 2X any thoughts about this? We are supposed to have high winds here tomorrow, 25-35 mph, if it calms down I will take it out to the range for a try out.
1st Marlin or 357 mag I have ever owned in over 50 years.
Thank you,

[nathangdad]

In a forum such as this you will get a wide variety of opinions. My opinion is that the .357 mag is a little on the light side for taking deer. However, in fairness I did have an uncle (now deceased) who did take deer with his .357 mag Colt Python. Ultimately, it is you who must become familiar with the gun, practice with it, get good with it, and make your own determination. Best of luck with whatever decision you make.

[two-70]

id go with a good 158 grain soft point for good expansion,penetration

[samuel]

I would want to be real close.If you cant smell it you are too far away. sam.

[JSnover]

You can kill deer with a handgun in .357 but you need to be close. A carbine-length barrel adds a little more velocity but it's still a marginal cartridge for deer. Enjoy your .357 (I love mine!) but your .30-30 is a better choice for deer.

[Reddbecca]

I don't think the .357 Magnum gets enough credit as a deer cartridge. With the wide array of bullet weights, some going up to 180 and 200 grains, and the ability to be loaded with rifle powder to take advantage of the carbine length barrel, I don't see why it wouldn't work for deer at 100 yards.

[rfc357]

You cannot load .357 with "rifle" powder, not even in a rifle. Certainly you can squeeze out a little more performance than you can in a handgun, but it's still a handgun cartridge, not close even to the .35 Remington. Marginal at best for deer.

[Reddbecca]

Alright wrong choice of words, I meant slower burning magnum powders.

And you can get better than "a little more performace" from the longer barrel. Some people have mentioned being able to get 300 or 400 fps more velocity from a rifle barrel with the same load that they'd get from a handgun barrel.

[jerry]

Good buy on the Marlin. I'm looking at them at the moment. Looking at a import from EMF.


Yes, folks have handgun hunted with the .357. I use it for back up shotgun hunting. I would personally restrict my self to bow range with nothing but a good broadside vitals shot on a non alerted deer. I'd feel comfortable with the .357 in reasonable ranges same scenerio. Two's advice on good ammo is important.

[Reddbecca]

My main source of information for the .357 Magnum use as a deer hunting cartridge comes from this guy. Buffalo Bore ammunition, a 180 gr. payload launched from a 16" carbine barrel had an average fps velocity of 1847. That's about 1363 foot pounds of enegery at the muzzle.

True that's kinda small next to the .30-30, but it should be plenty at reasonable ranges, right? You've got a bigger bullet surface and heavier weight than you have on the .30-30.

[Seanik]

Finally got the chance to fire for the first time my Marlin 1894 357 mag. Did the deed off the back deck at my hunting camp. I fired 5 rounds(American eagle 158 grain) at about 30 yards at a I" bullseye using the Williams peep sight. All rounds center punched the bullseye. I am really pleased with this accuracy even if its short range. I was surprised at how loud this little rifle is, a definite loud crack. There is little if any shoulder kick. These old eyes aint what they used to be. I am considering installing a truglo red dot 2X scope. Any thoughts or expierence about this would be appreciated. I originally wanted a Winchester Trapper 30-30 with the 16" barrel but saw this little beauty at the gunshop and couldn't resist it.I am still looking for a deal on a Trapper but the Marlin will do me fine if I never find one.

[29er savoy]

try some hornady "leverevolution" 357 mag 140gr. they claim out of a 18" barrel it will have a velocity of 1850 at the muzzle, 1632 at 50 yds and 1272 at 150 yds, energy 1064 ft.lbs at the muzzle, 828 ft.lbs at 50 yds and 503 at 150 yds. trajectory 1.2 inches at 50 yds and -5.4 at 150 yds. had a scope on my 1894 but it just didn't look right so i replaced the rear sight with a marble full buckhorn and a firesight front.

[jerry]

I honestly don't know how or where one would mount a red dot on a rifle such as that. The Marlin is a nice gun. I put the EMF/Uberti mentioned above on layaway. Range report in 3 months

29er, the 140 grain projectiles are some of my favorites in .357. Like the numbers on horandy's stuff.

[kwg020]

I know a 357 out of a 6 " Python will kill a deer at 25 yards. One shot kill. kwg

[irish murphy]

Originally Posted by rfc357

You cannot load .357 with "rifle" powder, not even in a rifle. Certainly you can squeeze out a little more performance than you can in a handgun, but it's still a handgun cartridge, not close even to the .35 Remington. Marginal at best for deer.

I use an australian made powder in my 357magnum and its the fastest burning rifle powder in their range.Might be similar to other brands pistol powder.Im not allowed to hunt with handguns so i shoot metallic silhouette.The loads im using are 200gn cast lead projectiles with a very stout compressed load of powder.magnum primers.If i was allowed to hunt with it i wouldnt hesitate to shoot up to fallow sized deer with it within 100m.I would use a hollow point 200gn or 180gn projie though.

[SilverRun]

I would shot a deer with it - should be fine if you hit it right. I would stay in the 50 - 75 yard range, but I don't have any basis for that - just kinda what I am thinking. I would stick with a heavy solid lead round though. I don't think a fast expanding hollow-point would give you enough penetration. As someone said, buffalo Bore makes some heavy .357 that should do the trick - Double Tap Ammo also makes some heavy stuff. Midwayusa.com has both.

[Seanik]

As stated in a previous post I wanted to get a 2X red dot mounted on my 1894 and some one posted and wondered how could it be done. I bought a Weaver base a a local gun show ($5) mounted it and put on the Truglo Red dot. The Red dot uses only one slot on the base but it put it to far forward for me. The Red dot has unlimited eye relief but I wanted it further back, near the hammer. Having my local gunsmith put another slot in the correct position. As soon as the weather breaks a bit around here (-1) last night, I will sight her in and report how the red dot performed.

[Deep13]

I bought an aluminum Weaver mount for mine. With no scope, I can still see the iron sights with the mount in place. I just cut another pair of notches for the red dot with a Dremel. Not perfect, but close enough for a light-weight red dot. The rear mounting screw fits in the rear-most factory slot. The front one goes in the new slot. I use the RD at the indoor pistol range to shoot 0.38sp. Outside I use a scope and Fed. AE .357.

[ArkansasHunter]

Congrats on your new lever gun ! Did you know that 357 1894 carbine is an excellent home defense gun or an over all defense gun ? Think about it. It holds plenty of ammo, it's very handy and you have options of different loads.
I wished I had one or the 44 mag model...A.H

[Taurus Fan]

Originally Posted by JSnover

You can kill deer with a handgun in .357 but you need to be close. A carbine-length barrel adds a little more velocity but it's still a marginal cartridge for deer. Enjoy your .357 (I love mine!) but your .30-30 is a better choice for deer.

A carbine length barrel adds a LOT of velocity in .357 mag, check some reloading manuals that list data for rifle versus pistol. I believe a 158 grain JHP can be driven to 1800-1900 fps from a long barrel. That's very close to 30-30 performance in terms of bullet weight/velocity, and in a bigger bullet. Should be fine for deer at 100 yards or less.