[ENGLANDER]

Hello from Scotland~

Saturday at the range i finally got a chance to shoot a marlin straight grip in .357 Magnum. Wow- lovely rifle i was using seller & belliot 158 gn at 200 yards with a scope, easly hit the black every time !

What a neat/handy little rifle (sadly not mine)

I have heard many good things of .357 magnum and its killing abilty at reasonable range.

I really loved shooting this little rifle and have no doubt that it would dispatch our smaller Deer species very well indeed.

Trouble is up here in Scotland we have a ludicrous law that say all Deer rifle must have a MZ of 2450 f.p.s ! Whilst in England you only require a ME of 1700 ft/bls.

I will NOT keep a gun that i can not hunt with and it seems unlikely that i can get a .357 to 2450 f.p.s
I may be able to get it licence to use in England, although the police will take convincing.

Is it possible to rechamber a marlin .357 magnum to .357 Maximum ??? Can it reach 2450 f.p.s ???

Im open to cast gas check any bullet weights, what about about 100 gn hard cast ?? Any suggestions ??

Regards Englander

 

[imashooter2]

.357 Max is too long to feed in the Marlin 1894 action.

 

[CD Cash]

.357/Velocity requirement

Hi Englander,

I wish I had a solution to your question...sounds like the 357 Max. is too long? Can other listers confirm? One thought, and this may not be an option for you since it was hard enough to get your 444 lever over there in Scotland. The 356 Winchester(.358 cal) is very versatile and fires the gamut of 357 pistol bullets(Speer manual lists them), .358 in Jacketed and cast. It is the only round I can think of that would deliver your velocity requirement in that caliber and still be a "handy" little rifle. My "Big Bore" feels like a small little gun...until it goes off that is(me being a recoil wimp). I am shooting RCBS 200 grain cast at between 1700-1800 fps but could easily jack that up to just below 2500 fps with that weight in a bullet. Feeding short pistol bullets into it becomes an issue in my gun(have to single load the smaller stuff). Components don't seem to be that hard to come by, but that may change in the future. One bonus for you that was brought to my attention by "Slim" Iorg is that you can form 356 cases from 444 Marlin brass using Redding? dies. I may make an investment into that puppy real soon. Good luck to you and just wanted to mention this possibility in passing. The 35's seem to be a good way to go for the caster in many aspects. I've gotten great accuracy to start with mine.

 

[imashooter2]

1.620 inches is the longest COL that will feed through my 1894C. The .357 Max has a case that is 1.605 nominal and an approximate COL of 1.940.

.357 Max is too long to function in the Marlin 1894 action.

 

[ENGLANDER]

Cash~

I have spoken to Mr Iorg some time ago regarding .356 as i found a second hand Winchester 94 if it was a Marlin i would have snapped it up ! I agree with you and Mr Iorg the .356 is a dandy calibre and IF i ever find one in chambered in a Marlin i will buy it ...........

Shame our crazy laws means i cant try .357 out on our deer, like i said legal in England !!!

Loved the feel of the Marlin .357 but i wouldnt buy one just for target shooting.........

Regards Englander

 

[Tio]

Englander:

Marshall has a very good post on this forum regarding the usefullness of the 357 carbine. It is dated March, 01. His pet loads, using his 185 grain bullets, generate 1850+ fps and around 1400 fpe. These are still under your necessary thresholds. If you could qualify the rifle using one round, and hunt with another, the Magsafe 70 grain round does 1850 fps from a 4" revolver, and may break 2400 fps from a carbine. But you wouldn't want to hunt with any bullet lighter than 158 grain.

Another possibility is mentioned by John Taffin on his site. It's the 357 Bain and Davis, which is a 44 mag cartridge, necked down to 357. Taffin says it's only a matter of buying a 44 mag rifle, and 357 barrel, and having the 357 chamber opened up for the Bain and Davis round. You could break 2400 fps with it, but maybe not with huntng weight bullets.

Best of Luck

Darrel

 

[Augustus]

Tio,
I've looked for the post you mentioned by Marshall and haven't had any luck finding it. Is there a way you could direct me to it? Also do any of you know if a Marlin 94 has a preference for bullets heavier than 125 gr. So far the only loads I've tried are UMC 125 jsp and they don't group worth a darn. It is a microgroove barrel. Would the 158's or 180's be more likely to shoot better.



Thanks, Augustus

 

[alyeska338]

Augustus,
I'm not sure which thread Tio was refering to, but here's a couple of links to Marshall's responses on the Marlin 357 Mag

http://shootersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1906

http://shootersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2208&pagenumber=1

http://shootersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2217

http://shootersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2188

http://shootersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2106

I don't know if any of the above are what you are looking for, but hope it helps!!!

Take care

 

[Tio]

Augustus:

I was referring to post #2188, which Alyeska338 provided in the previous post. You can get there by clicking on the link he provided. That thread is currently on page 24 of this forum.

You can see the entire forum by going to the bottom of the page, (in the forum, not in a thread). In the shaded bar, the text starts with "From", the last box is probably selected "last 100 days". Change it to "beginning". Click "Go". You'll then be able to access all the threads in the forum.

Near the bottom of the page is a window labeled "search this forum". You should be able to enter "357", and get dozens of hits, including thread 2188. Currently you get only 5 hits. Apparently, the search tool is not working properly since the restoration of the web-site crash a few months ago. I alerted Marshall to the problem last week and he assured me he will have it corrected.

With the threads that Alyeska provided, you should greatly enhance your enjoyment of your carbine.

Darrel

 

[Reb]

Hi Englander,

Greetings from a descendant of your home land. I was checking on some max velocities for the 357 Mag in a rifle. Paco Kelly has a load that he uses in his 24" Winchester that gives 2500 feet per second with a 115 grain .356 (9mm) hollow point. He reports excellent accuracy and explosive impacts. It is, needless to say, a very hot load.

I have a Stainless 24" Rossi 92 in 357 Mag and love it. My deer load for it is a 158 gr. JHP at about 1900 fps. My fun load is 2.6 grs. of Unique under a 148 gr. soft lead semi-wadcutter. It only "pops" and is a delight to shoot. No ear plugs needed. Yet it still WACKS with authority and is quite accurate past 50 yards.

By the way the 356 Winchester with the Speer 180 grain bullets will exceed 2600 fps. I prefer the Winchester 94 Big Bore package over the Marlin rifle. The Wichester seems to handle better to me. But then I am currently fighting with a 356 Win in the 94 trying to get better accuracy.

Best of luck,

Reb

 

[MikeG]

Reb,

What brand of 158gr. JHPs are you using? How do they perform on deer?

 

[Reb]

MikeG,

The 158 gr JHP is a commercial loading from Georgia Arms and marketed by them as their "deerstopper". Since they shoot nice tight cloverleafs, I have decided to stay with them instead of handloads. I have been unable to connect with a deer using this rifle so far. Events seem to conspire against me when I am afield with it. Still hopeful though!

I have fired some Remington 158 gr JHPs from my 356 but they are varmit only at those velocities. I have never recovered anything but the jacket!

Reb

 

[WAGNER95696]

Hello from Scotland~

Saturday at the range i finally got a chance to shoot a marlin straight grip in .357 Magnum. Wow- lovely rifle i was using seller & belliot 158 gn at 200 yards with a scope, easly hit the black every time !

What a neat/handy little rifle (sadly not mine)

I have heard many good things of .357 magnum and its killing abilty at reasonable range.

I really loved shooting this little rifle and have no doubt that it would dispatch our smaller Deer species very well indeed.

Trouble is up here in Scotland we have a ludicrous law that say all Deer rifle must have a MZ of 2450 f.p.s ! Whilst in England you only require a ME of 1700 ft/bls.

I will NOT keep a gun that i can not hunt with and it seems unlikely that i can get a .357 to 2450 f.p.s
I may be able to get it licence to use in England, although the police will take convincing.

Is it possible to rechamber a marlin .357 magnum to .357 Maximum ??? Can it reach 2450 f.p.s ???

Im open to cast gas check any bullet weights, what about about 100 gn hard cast ?? Any suggestions ??

Regards Englander

Does Scottish law say that you have to make 2450 fps with the actual load you are hunting with or just that you have to demonstrate that the gun will reach 2450 with SOME load? It is possible to reach 2450 with light bullets, 95-110 or, possibly, 125 grains but they are really too light for deer.