357 Max lever gun

[1972RedNeck]

Is there any current make and model of 357 mag lever gun that would be relatively easy to convert to 357 Maximum?

[samsi]

I don't know, but I've daydreamed on it a bit. I wonder if a two position cartridge stop, configured like the magazine cutoff on an Auto 5 might be part of the puzzle. Sort of a 357 mag/max convertible with the flip of a switch.

[Griff]

Is there any current make and model of 357 mag lever gun that would be relatively easy to convert to 357 Maximum?

Define those two words... I believe that a Winchester 94 would be doable, but it would take a fair amount of alteration of the carrier & guides to accommodate that particular length cartridge. It would take at minimum a .357 donor rifle, remove material from the back of the carrier to match the Max's length, and lengthen the slots in the guides to allow the rim to rise up sooner, to present a flatter angle for the Max to enter the rechambered bbl. I doubt you'd be able to feed .357 mags in it again. Or... throw enough money their way... and you might convince Big Horn Armory... Or as Winchester custom shop told me back in the '80s... paraphrasing here, "... you ain't gonna get the .357 Max to do anything the .30-30 doesn't already do!"

[COSteve]

I've thought of it from time to time but the work required to convert a 30-30 is significant and the .357 mag's frame just isn't long enough to make it work.

That said, I've found that using a 158grn bullet with a full dose (18grns) of Lil'Gun powder and a small rifle primer gives me 2,005 fps out of my 24" Rossi rifle and 1,952 fps out of my 20" Rossi carbine. That's a 10% velocity increase over H-110 with the same brass, primer and bullets in my rifle and 9% in my carbine.

As I also have a Mossberg 464 in 30-30 I also handload for, I've decided to pass on the whole idea of the 357 Max.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I came pretty close. Mic opened up a Marlin 94 to feed 180 gr XTPs seated long to crimp in the bottom crimp groove in .357 cases.

19 gr of Lil Gun smoked those bullets out of a 16 inch barrel.

I would think you would need to go to a rifle length action to make the .357 Maximum work.

The .357 Maximum works at 40,000 psi and a .30-30 goes 43,000 psi. So a Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 should work.

[AJMD429]

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Attempts using the Marlin 1895 or Winchester 93 haven’t worked well, due to cartridge length.

It certainly could be done with a long action like a 336 Marlin or a 94 Winchester, but if you’re going to do that, there’s probably no practical reason not to just have it chambered in 35 Remington.

Now….that’s the PRACTICAL answer, but since we gun-nuts love to do stuff ‘jes becuz’, it outta be doable; I may be mistaken but I think there were Winchester 94s and I think Marlin 336s factory-chambered in 44 Mag (not many though since they evidently either didn’t work well or weren’t popular sellers).

There are probably other donor guns like Savage or the one-piece-stock ones from Marlin and Winchester that were chambered in some other odd cartridges (the Marlin was in 30 Carbine, which is short but I think the action was longer than 30 Carbine).

Or a Browning BLR or Henry Long Ranger - again not short and handy like the short-action ‘pistol cartridge’ leverguns though.

The Big Horn Armory 89 is called an “89” because it’s halfway in length between the Winchester 88 and Winchester 92, so it might be perfect, but you’re talking once-in-a-lifetime type pricing from that company. I have one in 500 S&W, and it’s the most expensive gun I ever bought. I did not even get it as a companion gun for a pistol, because that’s way too much cartridge for me in a handgun. I just really like it out of a rifle. However, I think it’s worth it and I can’t imagine it not lasting many generations.

If you are really a 357 Max enthusiast, it’s a heck of a cartridge and a lever action rifle would be awesome in that cartridge even though like (in my opinion) like the 500 S&W, it’s not necessarily a great pistol round other than a Thomson Contender or something like that.

One thought in addition to that cartridge would be to consider the 357 Bain & Davis… it’s basically a 44 magnum case necked to 357, so you get added powder capacity just like the 357 Max, only it will function in a short action levergun. It’s my understanding that at least with the Marlin, you could basically just swap barrels and not have to change any other parts if you started with a 44 magnum 1894.

I have seen load data on AmmoGuide.com for a 170 grain bullet out of the Bain & Davis getting over 1800 ft./s, from a 13 inch barrel. Presumably that was out of a Contender pistol. A 16 inch lever gun should do a little better. Although it is considered a wildcat, the Bain & Davis seems to be easy to make brass for from 44 Mag brass, which should be available for many decades to come, and thus might be easier in the long run to have a supply brass for than the 357 Maximum, due to the latter requiring a long brass case that can’t be made from anything else.

[blackhawk44]

The 360 Buckhammer pretty much makes the idea mute. No doubt that the carbine and handgun would require their own load workups anyway. Since I have never seen anyone wear a 357 Maxi handgun in a holster, interchangeability is not an issue. I would just load the Bucky down a little and carry on.

[44shooter]

I think it could be readily made by a manufacturer, but I don’t think there is easy conversion for any existing models. This is primarily due to odd intermediate cartridge length. I think a single shot (or double or combo) is the best gun for the max, even though it debuted in a stretched revolver which also works.

[wvfarrier]

It would be easier to get someone (starline?) to make tougher 357 mag brass (maybe binary case) and load up. I have been pushing the 140 grain xtp's to 2300fps in a 20" barrel using Lil Gun. It has more energy than 300blk/5.56 until you pass 100 yards

[Tycer]

360 Dan Wesson is a pretty easy conversion. Max would be a pita.