Rossi .357 Magnum Lever Action Rifle

[chrisinoc]

I found a Rossi .357 magnum lever action rifle for $550 today at a local gun store Good deal if you are looking for a rifle of this type? It is stainless steel and with a 20" barrel. I have been unable to find a .357 magnum level action rifle anywhere in southern California, regardless of manufacturer.

[Billthedrill]

I have one in blue. Sweet little carbine, one of my favorites.

Cons: the loading port is very small and not beveled, hence you may find yourself using your little finger to poke that last cartridge in all the way. The point of impact is markedly different between .357 and .38 spl ammunition, which it also shoots. The latter has the recoil of a .22. There is a known problem if you let the barrel ring get too loose - it'll end up downrange. Have to check that now and then.

Pros: the 20-in barrel pumps the muzzle energy of the .357 magnum up toward .44 magnum pistol-barrel levels. Can't say if mine is an exception but inside 50 meters it's a tack-driver. Smooth action, and it has that natural point that the Winchester 94 exhibits. Conventional rear blade (i.e. not one of those dang buckhorns) adjustable for elevation only. Nice crisp trigger breaks at a little over five pounds, not much creep.

Sweet little piece in summation. You could load it hot for deer but I'm thinking it might be a little light outside about 50 meters. Great coyote gun.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

In modern rifles round is a little lighter and octagonal look older.

Black powder old rifles with octagonal barrels were a little stronger.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

.357 is a pistol cartridge.

Any rifle that shoots it will have pistol performance.

[El Gato]

Reason I ask is that as a rifle it's sort of underpowered and that ammo is hard to find and expensive unless you roll your own.

.357 is plenty for varmints, two or four legged. Also smallish game animals. It's got as much power, more actually, as .30 Carbine, which is used by many around here for hogs. Plus more and better defensive loads are available than for .30 carbine. For the two legged variety of varmint, it has the advantage of being a cowboy gun not an evil assault weapon, which in some jurisdictions is a consideration, yet it's quite effective as a home defense weapon.

You can shoot .38 special for practice. That allows for cost savings, and since it's a less powerful round, one not as likely to develop bad shooting habits, in spite of shooing a lot of rounds.

Expensive? Well what ammo isn't in these days Obama? But a quick check found re-manufactured .38 spl at $65 for 250 rounds. Less per round for larger lots.

But for comparison from the same site, and for the same brand (Fiocchi) and bullet type (FMJ) I found 50 round of .38 Spl for 18.57 and .357 for 18.97. Oh, 40 cents difference for 50 rounds. or .8 cent per round.

However I'll concede the "hard to find" virtually all of that ammo is back ordered on the site. But then again, so is the .45 ACP I ordered a couple of months ago.

[Eagles6]

What does it go for?

I generally look on line and ammoman and J&G haven't had any for a while. Georgia State Arms cheap stuff is $20 for 50 + shipping.

When I've noticed it in Dick's Sporting Goods or Gander Mt. or other chains it's generally close to $30 a box of 50 for target stuff. That being said, I reload my own so it's not an issue.

[MHGinTN]

Going to the range tomorrow to see what the .38 spcl Hydra Shoks do out of my Winchester 92 ‘Red Rider’ (it has the ring on the left side of the receiver). It cycles .357 jhp ammo nicely. With the tube full, that rifle has a great balance to it.

[Eagles6]

Hey, I have nothing against .357 mag and that may be what he wants which is why I asked. Just loaded up and shot a bunch today from my revolver.

Just that it's on the low end of the scale for a rifle round and if he wants it for say whitetails he'd be better off with a 30-30 or a .308 and the occasional varmint.

If he wants it for plinking and home defense it would be fine.

I would suggest that anyone that wants to shoot on a regular basis, get into reloading, which I think you already do.

A nice rifle load for the .357 mag rifle is 125 gr. SP over 22 gr. of H110 or 158 gr. SP over 16.7 gr H110.

[oldenuff2no]

I have a Winchester in 45LC that I won't part with. When shooting corbon 320gr 45LC+P soft point ammo it will take down anything in the lower 48 within a reasonable distance. It isn't my go to rifle for elk hunting but I do hunt hogs and blacktails with it.
The action is quick and smooth. I keep this rifle loaded and hanging over my bedroom door at night. It can put a lot of high impact energy bullets down range very quickly.

[Cold Heart]

$18.88 at Sportsmans guide (member price) for 50 for CCI Blazer.
Local discount chain implemented a limit of 4 boxes per customer on all centerfire or sale ammunition after 0bama won the Nobel for Ammunition Salesman Award.

[Eagles6]

Reasonable I guess, now days. Still about $400 a thousand.

Yeah, I still have a box of UMC 158 gr SP that I bought for $7 not all that many years ago.

Still, you can reload with 125 gr JHP for about $170 a thousand. If you cast your own, takes it down to about $60.

[Eagles6]

BTW That is the only stimulus plan that’s worked, unintentionally anyhow.

[Outerdirkness]

Really?! Have you done the ballistics here...the longer barrel totally changes the ballistics on a .357...basic math here.

[PhillyGunslinger]

Your thinking of a 357 in a handgun power sort of way.
There’s a difference between a 180 gr 357 coming out of a 4 or 6 inch barrel, or coming out of a 24 inch barrel !
In actuality, if you handload the 357 for rifle you can load it almost to 30-30 pressures, which makes the 357 out of a rifle quite powerful and deadly. The longer the barrel, the better and more thorough the powder burns, resulting in more velocity. I know guys that took whitetail deer with a 357 mag rifle.