357 lever gun for CAS that can handle hot loads for hunting

[Acousticmood]

Hi all,

I've been looking at several lever guns in 357 mag. I'd like to be able to use it at the match but also feed it some hotter loads from time to time. I've read that the Uberti '73 can't handle the hotter loads, but can the Marlin '94?

Thanks!

[Shotgun Franklin]

Many years before CAS I had a Marlin '94 in .357. I guess we shot 100s of rounds of .357 out of it with no ill effects.
My Wife, my Daughter and my Son each killed their first deer with that gun.

[Bow View Haymaker]

You cant go wrong with a marlin.  Another option is the rossi copy of the Win 92.  I've used mine for CAS for several years and also shot many full .357 rounds with it at bowling pins and 200yrd steel.  rossi made a version of this rifle in .454 casull and .480 ruger.  A Winchester 94 would be an ok choice also, just not as good for CAS and th prices are going up. 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

All the rifles produced by Uberti are proofed in government run proof houses. That is the law. If you look at the rifle you will see the proof marks indicating just which proof house the gun was proofed at. Proofing involves firing a special proof cartridge, usually just one. The proof cartridge will probably develop somewhere around 20% to 30% more pressure than the standard load, I am not sure exactly how much. After the rifle has survived the proof cartridge it is considered to be in proof. So a rifle marked '357 Magnum' will have been proofed for 357 Magnum.

The issue with the toggle link guns is not so much can they take a full power round like 357 Mag, it is how much can they take. A few rounds should not be a problem. The question is, how will the action stand up to the repeated pounding of many rounds. I will tell you that a friend of mine bought a used 357 Mag Uberti 1873 a number of years ago. When he got it home, he discovered a hairline crack in the frame. No telling how many rounds were fired to crack the frame, but it was indeed cracked. No telling whether SAMMI standard loads had cracked it, or if some fool had been hotrodding 357 Mag beyond SAAMI standards.

So you be the judge.

Both the Winchester Model 1892 design and the Marlin Model 1894 design are much stronger than the toggle link design and should be able to take a steady diet of SAMMI spec 357 Magnum loads, if that is what they are chambered for. I have a nice little Marlin 357 Mag carbine. Very strong little gun. I have no qualms about firing factory 357 Mag loads through it, as I do not reload 357 Mag.

P.S. the dealer gave my friend his money back.

[Acousticmood]

Good info. Thanks guys.