Birthday gun for myself.

[rnArmy]

Rifle delivery was attempted yesterday but of course I worked 12 hours and missed. Should be ready for pick up at the local office after 1pm today!!
Don't think I'll have time for pics and weight etc today but will try to get those tomorrow.
Also got a bunch of .38, +P, and .357 boxes in the mail earlier in the week (including the $$$ Hornaday) so whenever I get the chance I'll have decent variety to test.

I am looking forward to pictures and your impression of it after you put some rounds through it.

 

[Grassland]

Ok so it arrived. I've only spent about 20 minutes with it before it went in the safe, so will get some time behind it next weekend ideally.
I've cycled the action a dozen times empty and ran five cartridges through it without firing.
I've also taken it down three times.

Specs as according to my budget tape measure that sits on the work bench, and the kitchen scale:
Length assembled 30 5/16s from the muzzle to the furthest point on the butt plate. Disassembled the longest piece is the action and stock and it is 19"
Weight is 5 lb 12 oz according to my kitchen scale, 6.5 lbs according to my bathroom scale (me alone me with rifle) while empty.
Shorter than my Chinese 870 clone, and far lighter, and of course rifle sights rather than a bead.

First impressions:
the loading gate it super stiff. I've been lead to believe this is typical of new lever guns in general. .357/38 is a much smaller cartridge than 30-30 and I find it much harder to load quickly than my friends Marlin in that chambering.
I'm sure this will improve with time and practice.

The action is reasonably smooth, the lever itself is so far fine, although I haven't tried it out with gloves yet.
Take down is easy, but reassembly is less so. The barrel has to be just right for the magazine tube to go in all the way and screw down properly.

It comes to my shoulder and points fantastic for me, and the day glow front sight stands out, although this quick check wasn't outdoors so the front sight could be hard to see if bright.

It holds five .38 special SJHP in the tube.

I look forward to working this gun in, and going over the fit and finish in finer detail over the next weekend and couple weeks!

 

[Grassland]

Disappointing, I've had failure to ejects with specifically UMC .38 special lead nose. It's like the extractor doesn't get a full grip on the rim, and also like the empty case is a bit tight in the chamber. I only fired five live rounds through it, but been cycling some other live rounds of same box, and also of other .38 special and .357 plus the empty casings of the five .38 and extraction isn't 100%.
I don't think I'm being gentle on the lever either

I basically need some time to go to a range and use it. I had to leave my camping trip early and come home to go back to work as we went from daytime highs of 8°c to 25° over the weekend and everyone needs air-conditioning. So will probably be a couple months before I get a chance to use it again.

 

[BritKLR]

Disappointing, I've had failure to ejects with specifically UMC .38 special lead nose. It's like the extractor doesn't get a full grip on the rim, and also like the empty case is a bit tight in the chamber. I only fired five live rounds through it, but been cycling some other live rounds of same box, and also of other .38 special and .357 plus the empty casings of the five .38 and extraction isn't 100%.
I don't think I'm being gentle on the lever either

I basically need some time to go to a range and use it. I had to leave my camping trip early and come home to go back to work as we went from daytime highs of 8°c to 25° over the weekend and everyone needs air-conditioning. So will probably be a couple months before I get a chance to use it again.

That‘s frustrating and worrisome. Gun warranties/repairs can be a real problem so, make sure to contac the dealer/manufacture ASAP and get the process started. I wouldn’t wait months to get it dealt with. good luck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It might clean up with more use too, I would try to run it a bit and see if if it comes out of it. Make sure you activate the warranty though.

I fought a Marlin tooth and nail back when they got bought out. There were good to deal with and all but they plain and simple couldn't fix the gun. After sending it back twice I think for repairs I got my money back.

 

[rnArmy]

Depends on the gun.

 

[Todd780]

Depends on the gun.

Beat me to it.

 

[MTVR]

A 10.5" AR pistol with a wrist brace would be very effective as a truck gun...

 

[MTVR]

Regarding Grassland's lever gun issues- I bought a Rossi R92 lever gun back in '99. It was blued, 20", in .45LC. It was pretty stiff when I took it out of the box, and did not loosen up with use. I took it apart and worked it, lightening and polishing, and it ended up pretty slick. I sold it in '05.

My wife wants a Rossi R92 in stainless, 16", in .44 Mag. Every one that we've handled recently, has been pretty slick right out of the box.

 

[BritKLR]

Guns are simply machines, from time to time a flawed one gets put out. Simply treat it like that. At one point I was issued a brand new Smith and Wesson, Model 60, 5 shot, 38 Caliber pistol. The damn thing would fire the first round and misfire the next round every time. Countless armory visits, hundreds of rounds fired and nothing changed and I wouldn’t carry it and turned it in, which was a big deal. Now, the Model 60 is an iconic gun, I suspect 100’s of thousands were made and sold, yet I ended up with a lemon.....it happens. Good luck.

 

[Grassland]

The idea of dealing with a warranty claim and not having the rifle for many months on end doesn't excite me.
If, when I ever get the chance, can run a variety of ammo through it and see what's going on, and still have issues, I'll just pay for a Smith to look at it.

I'm still working 60 hours a week in the field and then paperwork in the evening and the weekends are full of housework and errands, so haven't had time to take it out.
Hopefully it doesn't suddenly become prohibited overnight like half the other rifles and shotguns in this country.

 

[Grassland]

Finally got a chance to shoot again last weekend.
Lots of trouble with both .38 special cartridges I had. The 755 fps Remington and the +P were also Remington. Both were UMC but I forget what all details were for each like grains and velocity, bullet type etc but they had lead round nose or hollow point semi jacketed.
Failure to extract and double feeds galore.

Now, with two type of .357 far more reliable. Not where I'd like to see it with a $1500 lever gun but useable in a non life or death situation. One was federal the other Remington. Didn't shoot any of the pricier Hornaday ones yet.


I almost wonder if case length is the culprit here, like with the .38 it pops up the feed ramp top soon and dislodges the case above that's in the extraction phase.

And these are all factory loads there is no hand loads through this gun yet

Edit: the standard .38 feels like a .22 as far as recoil is concerned and I could shoot .357 all day if my wallet would be ok with that.
Kinda think I should have gone with a Marlin Dark in 30-30 or something similar in .44 rem.mag for stopping power.
But we will see if we can get this ironed out as it's reasonably light to carry and points nicely

 

[BritKLR]

Finally got a chance to shoot again last weekend.
Lots of trouble with both .38 special cartridges I had. The 755 fps Remington and the +P were also Remington. Both were UMC but I forget what all details were for each like grains and velocity, bullet type etc but they had lead round nose or hollow point semi jacketed.
Failure to extract and double feeds galore.

Now, with two type of .357 far more reliable. Not where I'd like to see it with a $1500 lever gun but useable in a non life or death situation. One was federal the other Remington. Didn't shoot any of the pricier Hornaday ones yet.


I almost wonder if case length is the culprit here, like with the .38 it pops up the feed ramp top soon and dislodges the case above that's in the extraction phase.

And these are all factory loads there is no hand loads through this gun yet

Edit: the standard .38 feels like a .22 as far as recoil is concerned and I could shoot .357 all day if my wallet would be ok with that.
Kinda think I should have gone with a Marlin Dark in 30-30 or something similar in .44 rem.mag for stopping power.
But we will see if we can get this ironed out as it's reasonably light to carry and points nicely

That's a bummer. Good luck on getting it sorted out.

 

[robert]

Is that gun built on the '92 or the '94? The '92 style guns, ex. Rossis, were build for handgun rounds and tend to function smother and more reliably when shooting the shorter, non-magnum rounds (.38spl and .44spl) than the '94 style guns chambered in a pistol caliber. The longer rounds will still be slightly smoother though; just something I've noticed in the ones I've shot. The pistol caliber Marlins don't seem to be as picky. I agree though that I wouldn't be happy at all if I paid that for a rifle and it was hanging up. On the other hand, thanks to the popularity of cowboy action shooting, there are plenty of instructions out there on how to disassemble and polish the various lever guns.

 

[Grassland]

Alright so the issue is the cartridge length.
Almost all .38 are shorter than the minimum length listed in the manual, which I don't have infront of me.
Cycling .357 seems to be pretty reliable. .38 is failure to extract and double feeds etc. The shorter case length causes it to pop out of place during extraction and dislodge the cartridge behind it.
Knowing this makes mitigation fairly easy, as I'll have to find some .38 that has a longer length, and otherwise use it with .357.
Still annoying but at least the mystery isn't a mystery anymore.