Thinking of a .38/.357 rifle
- Thread starter 2damnold4this
- Start date
I know down south the hogs are bigger but when I was hog hunting in Oregon I brought 2 gun with me because I was unsure which to use. One was a 45/70 and the other was a 357 magnum. When the guide saw my 45/70 e asked if I was really going to use that and I told him I had a 357 in the car as well and he recommended the 357 because the 45/70 was "too much gun for hogs"
The 357 mag killed every hog but 1 with a single round. The one that took two shots was shot by my brother who asked to shoot my marlin and had never fired it before and ended up shooting too high and breaking the spin a little behind the the front shoulders. The hog could not move but it was clearly still alive. A second shot to the head worked well.
p.s. how big is an average hog in the south? The ones in Oregon where about 80-140 LBS with one that was about 170lbs...
The 357 mag killed every hog but 1 with a single round. The one that took two shots was shot by my brother who asked to shoot my marlin and had never fired it before and ended up shooting too high and breaking the spin a little behind the the front shoulders. The hog could not move but it was clearly still alive. A second shot to the head worked well.
p.s. how big is an average hog in the south? The ones in Oregon where about 80-140 LBS with one that was about 170lbs...
Hunter Customs
New member
I agree with the above. I had a Rossi 357 lever gun and it was one of the best little rifles I ever owned.
It was accurate and I never had any trouble of any kind with it.
I shot some pretty stiff reloads through it and it handled them just fine.
If I was in the market for a lever gun it would be at the top of my list for consideration.
Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
SteelChickenShooter
New member
Did not notice if anyone mentioned the Henry 357 Mag. Mine arrived today so I plan to give a range report after some ammo testing in the morning. Will try some brands of 38 and 357 Mag. My intent is plinking bowling pins but I could use this rifle for deer if it works well. Anyone suggest a good distance for open sight accuracy testing? I was thinking 75 yards.
The problem with Marlins started around 2005, when they first got the word they were going to get sold.
So any 2005-2011 Marlins, I simply check carefully pre-purchase...much like I check a used rifle at a Gun Show.
If it has issues that I can't easily resolve within a few minutes of minor hand-fitting, I won't buy it.
I went to a local gun store & they had 3 XT-22's, one had a misalignment in the stock/action mating...and I pointed it out to the owner.
After he reset it in the stock, it was spot on. Heck, that could happen to any rifle. QC ain't what it used to be anywhere.
I can say that I've talked with one the new Managers at Marlin in Kentucky. He's one dedicated fella!!
I look forward to Rem-Lin finally smoothing out the Manufacturing processes and putting out some 1950's/1960's-quality rifles in the years to come.
Most folks know not to buy a Brand-New car or truck the First year its made.
Reason being, a new production line takes a MINIMUM of a year to get most of the bugs worked out...
get the people settled into a well-trained mode of operation...
get the QC up to snuff...
and respond to ALL the complaints the customers have of the product...
I honestly figure on about 3 years before all the Marlin lines are running smoothly again.
Or, at least, better than what the people of questionable skills that worked at Marlin-Connecticut from 2005-2010 put out...
(If anyone wishes to debate this, let me show you 4 Marlin rifles bought new from 2005-2010 that are badly out-of-spec)
Which is fine, because I've got two new Twin Sons and I probably won't be able to AFFORD a new Marlin for about that long...LOL
Even though they are rather inexpensive...good value
So any 2005-2011 Marlins, I simply check carefully pre-purchase...much like I check a used rifle at a Gun Show.
If it has issues that I can't easily resolve within a few minutes of minor hand-fitting, I won't buy it.
I went to a local gun store & they had 3 XT-22's, one had a misalignment in the stock/action mating...and I pointed it out to the owner.
After he reset it in the stock, it was spot on. Heck, that could happen to any rifle. QC ain't what it used to be anywhere.
I can say that I've talked with one the new Managers at Marlin in Kentucky. He's one dedicated fella!!
I look forward to Rem-Lin finally smoothing out the Manufacturing processes and putting out some 1950's/1960's-quality rifles in the years to come.
Most folks know not to buy a Brand-New car or truck the First year its made.
Reason being, a new production line takes a MINIMUM of a year to get most of the bugs worked out...
get the people settled into a well-trained mode of operation...
get the QC up to snuff...
and respond to ALL the complaints the customers have of the product...
I honestly figure on about 3 years before all the Marlin lines are running smoothly again.
Or, at least, better than what the people of questionable skills that worked at Marlin-Connecticut from 2005-2010 put out...
(If anyone wishes to debate this, let me show you 4 Marlin rifles bought new from 2005-2010 that are badly out-of-spec)
Which is fine, because I've got two new Twin Sons and I probably won't be able to AFFORD a new Marlin for about that long...LOL
Even though they are rather inexpensive...good value
SteelChickenShooter
New member
Without first range experience details at this moment, I can certainly see why there would be a following for rifles that shoot the .38/.357
Hindsight is 20/20 and my first firing of the Henry Big Boy shooting these pistol cartridges makes me wonder why I never had something like this years earlier. I've no doubt missed a few decades of some mighty fine fun shooting.
Hindsight is 20/20 and my first firing of the Henry Big Boy shooting these pistol cartridges makes me wonder why I never had something like this years earlier. I've no doubt missed a few decades of some mighty fine fun shooting.