deerslayer

Gotcha, thanks for the tip.  I had forgotten that Marlin had even moved from CT. 

Sportsman's Warehouse in Southaven has a youth Marlin .357 for $419.  I haven't shopped around for them, but this seemed a decent price. 

  Yep, I used my reading skills to check other RIFLE .357 data, but none of them pushed 180s, 158s, or even 125s anywhere near a .30-30/170.  So what kind of velocities do your books publish for .357?  You left out the most important detail.    The 150 fps comment was meant as a tongue-in-cheek reply to a poster who suggested that I go buy a .357 to test myself.  Buying a new rifle didn't seem worth the trouble. 

    No idea how you derived the assumption about 150 being the difference between good and bad from my earlier post.    I've never been aware that the .30-30 has been within reach for .357 rifle handloads and I can't find any load data that gets it even close.  Maybe Sierra, Hodgdon, and others just don't know what they are doing.  The only people I can find loading .30-30 class .357 is Buffalo Bore and after googling their products for five minutes and finding numerous complaints of stuck cases, I can see why some of their ammo is several hundred fps faster than anything else.  I wouldn't put it in my gun. 

After reading some more on Buffalo Bore's website, I am even more skeptical.  They describe their .308 "sniper" round as being excellent for deer at 500 yards with a Sierra Matchking 175, due to their load's special velocity.  2640 fps is not earth-shattering and Matchkings are a poor choice for big game.    Touting their .30-30 load as a grizzly and moose round and claiming that you can kill four deer with one shot takes the cake, though.  I don't think the claim was tongue-in-cheek.   Whatever the case, an iron-sighted lever action .357 or .44, especially a 16" 94 Trapper, would make a neat, close-range brush gun for deer.  I regret handing one back to the guy at the gun counter back in the mid-90s. 

  Doesn't seem worth the effort to lose ~150 fps.

He's milking the grip.  Tip of the trigger finger was a good start.  Get the strong hand as high into the grip as possible.  No need to crush the gun.  Apply light pressure on the frame above the trigger guard with the side of the weak thumb.  Take all the slack out of the trigger and fire from there.  See the rear sight while making the front sight crystal clear.  At this range, the target should be fuzzy, but not blurry.  If he dry fires a few times with his eyes shut, he'll quickly learn the feel of the trigger after the slack (unless it's a Kahr, which has no slack).   

Ok, I see where you're talking about--I didn't actually click on the round.  I still disagree with whomever I disagreed with above.  Buffalo Bore's .357 still doesn't match their .30-30.  If I had a .357 rifle, I'd be tempted to buy some of this stuff and find out for myself.  2100+ is hundreds of fps faster than anybody else's.

The only .357/158 load I found on their website was a pistol load @1475 fps.  I found no .357 rifle loads.  They did list a .30-30 with a 190 gr bullet at 2100 fps.  This load and your .357 rifle load both seem a bit optimistic.  I guess a chronograph would end any debate.    I'm not saying that a .357 is too weak for deer, but I still don't believe it is a .30-30 class round. 

Bass Pro sometimes has a Franchi in stock.  A 20 seems easier to find than a 12.  Mine is a 20 and so far, so good.  My $60 Mec 600 Jr. (used) will soon be cranking out 20 ga. AA super-sport clones.  Skeet shooting goodness!

I'm not in Nashville, but I see them around here.  Nice looking Turkish imports, but I know a couple people who have recently sent back their CZ shotguns (1 auto, 1 O/U).  They put a new bolt in the auto and replaced the entire O/U gun.  Great customer service, no doubt, but I prefer well-known companies with little or no customer service feedback (because no one has needed their customer service).    Having said all that, I recently got a Franchi Instinct O/U.  It's Italian-made and is only $150 or so more than the CZ.  Ruger is re-introducing the Red Label for ~$1000-1100.  I have no experience with them, but a high school trap coach friend says to run from them, old or new.  Grain of salt--this is the same guy who told me to get a Browning or a Beretta if I wanted to save money.  Also, Winchester re-introduced the Model 101.  It's a Belgian-made FN and is roughly $1000.  I handled one and loved it, but the Franchi pointed a lot more naturally for me. 

If you are disappointed in the taste, not to fear.  Put it in the fridge for 2-3 days and try it again--you won't be sorry!

The easiest mistake is to not position the spring on the slide stop underneath the lock block pin, as mentioned in the last step of your instructions.  Always insert the trigger pin in from the right side.  Never force any of the pins in--they will pop right into place if properly lined up.  Working the slide stop back and forth will help line up the trigger pin.  The recoil spring assembly can be disassembled and reassembled with a pair of pliers--just yank the pin/cap that captures the spring, then stick it back in the hole when putting it back together.  This is useful when you want to change spring weights, but want to keep the stock guide rod.  Some believe that stock Glocks are over-sprung.  Also, if you want to remove the firing pin channel liner, I think a 3/16" bolt does the trick--thread it in and pull it out.  Keep in mind that, once removed, your firing pin channel liner is now your former firing pin channel liner.  No real reason to remove it anyway.    Don't listen to the folks who claim detail stripping a Glock will wear it out.  I've detail stripped several dozens of times each and no one would ever know the difference. 

Hmmm...Hodgdon site says 1381 max velocity for .357 mag/180 and 1757 max for 158.  My Sierra manual says 1400/1800 (rifle section for both sources).  That doesn't compare well to the .30-30, which is listed in both of these sources as 2300+ being easily achieved with a 150 grain bullet and 2100-2300 with a 170.    You fellows must shoot some wimpy .30-30s. 

  That sounds like a bit of a stretch. 

  IDPA-SSP/CDP maybe?  I can't remember how a 21 fits in the box, but I bet there's room for a longer sight radius.  I wouldn't think there would be much of a demand, though.    I also have doubts about the rumor. 

If true, a 5.3" .45 is probably designed to barely fit in the box used by one of the shooting games (sort of like the Glock 17/34).

  Hmmm, sweatshop in China ships fake Coach purses to NY, which are then distributed all over the US to be sold at ghetto flea markets run by illegal aliens.  Some of the proceeds end up getting laundered in West Africa (credit card fraud Mecca, BTW) after some of the money ends up back in NY.  How do the local cops chase this?    Seriously, the tinfoil factor on this site seems to get higher every day. 

DHS raided some foreign types here last year.  They were involved in counterfeit merchandise and various fraud-related activities.  A couple local companies lost lots of money as a result.  DHS did a service to the community that the courts never would have been able to achieve.  How does a company sue China?

  I believe that illegal drugs are much like legal drugs (alcohol, aspirin, Claritin, Ambien, etc) in that different people are affected in different ways.  Rum makes me sleepy, but makes the next guy ready to fight.  Just because meth didn't ruin someone doesn't mean it's harmless for the next guy. 

I clean my guns every 1000 rounds or so whether they need it or not.    Seriously, if I can't trust a gun to run with 200 or 300 rounds between cleanings, I don't want it. 

I've been casually looking at o/u shotguns lately for the same reasons--shoot a little skeet/trap, and go dove/quail/pheasant and MAYBE even duck hunting.  After talking with a few serious shooters and a coach for a local high school trap team, I am hesitant to buy a $600 o/u.  They just don't seem to hold up.  Granted, we are talking about a lot of rounds, but I want something that will last, and the Mossberg, Savage/Stevens, and Stoeger o/u guns often have issues, sometimes quickly.  I've just about decided that IF I do get one, it will be either a Franchi Instinct or the reintroduced Winchester 101 (actually a Belgian made FN).  They are both field-grade guns and are in the $1000-1200 range, depending on the flavor.  Having said that, I have recently put a few rounds through a friend's new $400 Tri-Star and am impressed.  I just worry about the durability/reliability. 

  Practice what you preach and support Kwik. 

  The fact is that my workplace will get posted because an OCer came in and scared an employee.  No theory involved.  The bad part is that this guy probably tells everybody that he's never had a negative reaction. 

  Check out the MSF course at Southwest.  It's half the price:   https://registration.xenegrade.com/southwest/searchResults.cfm?prgID=8&CFID=1643068&CFTOKEN=e594f3c0ff198273-4A60957E-D763-CB93-9C690616CA719E35