Thoughts on pump .357s?

N

NoSecondBest

New member
They are pretty. I've owned around five, maybe six?, Pedersoli rifles over the last ten years. I almost got the pump you're referring to but stopped short. I read too many reviews of quality problems with this particular gun, and I can tell you from personal experience that Pedersoli is almost impossible to get any customer service from. They have a very limited service set-up in this country and if you have a problem you're going to be very, very disappointed with your gun. I have no ax to grind with Pedersoli, their Sharps replicas are outstanding but some of their other guns are not. Look and research this a bit more before buying. If you do get one, I wish you the best of luck with your new gun.
 
A

AZ sharpshooter

New member
357 rifles in general

I have a Ruger 77/357 bolt action, which I thoroughly enjoy, but I mostly shoot it single shot. Many of the 357 rifles have problems feeding because they have a straight-walled case, which is not conducive to smooth cycling; there is no "play" sending the cartridge into the chamber-little to no tolerance.

My Ruger bolt works OK in that way, but that is all it is, OK. It is not a smooth transition and sometimes the magazine may not rotate properly. I wouldn't want to count on it loading the third round very quickly.

If you are looking for a 357 repeater of some type that works as smooth as a '98 Mauser, you probably won't find it. That said, the 357 rifle is a lot of fun to load for and shoot.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

AZ Sharpshooter
-NRA Lifer
 
R

reddog81

New member
That's a nice looking rifle! Did you stumble upon someone that has one for sale, or just the rifle in general. It looks like they're pretty rare. I found some 45's for sale but the .357's appeared to be out of stock most places.

I'd hope that any bullets with a round nose profile would feed fine - RN, RNFP, etc. I'd guess there might be issues with feeding more blunt nosed SWC's and other similar shaped bullets.
 
B

bamaranger

New member
Timberwolf

Maybe 10-15 yrs ago, maybe more, IMI (?) marketed a pump .357 they called the Timberwolf. One might be found used.......I don't now if I've ever seen one in the flesh, period. Seems like I've read somewhere that the original Lightning rifles had a durability problem. Maybe modern metallurgy has fixed that.

I'm thinking lever rifle feed problems are not always straight wall case issues, but bullet nose profile issues. The lever reliable rifle first appeared a straight wall case (.44 Henry), and continued with the near straight .44 WCF and .38 WCF as well. My Dad's 70's era M94 fed .44 mag flawlessly, as does my early Marlin in .357. But C.O.A.L was important, as was bullet nose. SWC would usually cause problems. Two modern rifles is not much of a sample pool, but the old Winchesters ran fine by most accounts.
 
N

Nanuk

New member
Many of the 357 rifles have problems feeding because they have a straight-walled case, which is not conducive to smooth cycling; there is no "play" sending the cartridge into the chamber-little to no tolerance.
Click to expand...

My Marlins, a couple Rossi's, my Henry, my Dad's Winchester all feed strait wall cases great. You must have a bad one, or it is the Ruger Magazine. The older Ruger 44's fed fine.
 
4

44caliberkid

New member
The original Lightenings weren't good, and none of the reproduction have been either. Just a bad design to start with. Someone needs to start with a clean sheet of paper for pistol caliber pump rifles. Might be a wise business move, since the future of semi autos might be in danger. Like the pump action AR's and AK's they have in Australia. I'd start with 44 Magnum/ 45 or 454 size frame first, then a smaller 357/ 9mm frame, if there is a demand.
I think the Timberwolf could have been successful if they had introduced it in 44 first. But I've never seen one, or even a review, maybe other than prototypes they were never produced.
 
T

tranders

New member
My Marlins, a couple Rossi's, my Henry, my Dad's Winchester all feed strait wall cases great. You must have a bad one, or it is the Ruger Magazine. The older Ruger 44's fed fine.
Click to expand...

We have a Ruger 77/44 and it isn't the smoothest feeding bolt gun either.
My Marlin 44 mag lever gun with tube fed magazine is much smoother.
 
A

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
Reading this, a thought bubbled up from the sewer of my mind regarding straight wall cases: Think "pump shotguns". :)
 
B

bamaranger

New member
good thought

Yeah, that's true, pump shotguns are usually the hallmark of reliability.

I managed to think of other pistol caliber pumps.....the Rem 14-1/2 family. No .357 though.
 
M

Model12Win

Moderator
Someone like Ruger needs to get on that.

A nice little alloy frame stainless pump .357 with peeps would make a light, sweet shooter.
 
G

GLK

New member
"Someone like Ruger needs to get on that.
A nice little alloy frame stainless pump .357 with peeps would make a light, sweet shooter."

Pretty much my exact same thought after reading this thread.
 
I

Ibmikey

New member
My lightning replicas are American Western Arms, I have a standard grade in .45 Colt and a Limited Edition of 500 engraved rifles mine being in .38 special. I have used the .38 at cowboy shoots a number of times and the rifle is deadly accurate and has been quite reliable.
The bad thing is AWA is out of business so no more available. The Lightning is a bit different if you are accustomed to a lever both in loading and operation.
I also purchased a Taurus Lightning and it would not shoot more than a few shots without a malfunction.
 
G

geologist

New member
The Israeli IMI Timberwolf is out of production and are rare and kind of collectible here in Canada.

They take down with just a coin, the angle of the stock is adjustable for use of either the irons or an optic. It can only be reloaded with the action open.

I like mine a lot.

It feeds well both .357 magnum and .38 Special and cycles very quickly. Recoil is minimal.

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J

jetinteriorguy

New member
I've always wanted a timberwolf. A couple years ago one came up for sale locally, but I just can't fork out $1800.00 for one. I would have been tempted at a thousand though. So I'll just have to stick with my Henry BBS.
 
M

ma96782

New member
BTW......I've seen exactly one (actually a clone) at a local club SASS match.

The old reliable lever actions still rule the roost. From this video, maybe you can see why that is. WARNING....you probably don't want your LIBERAL friends seeing this as they'll want to ban these old guns too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsexKLYtCkI

Aloha, Mark
 
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