I'm trying to decide between going with a 357 Magnum or he traditional caliber of 45 colt for a single action revolver and 30/30 or 45/70 for a lever gun.
I don't have any guns in 357 magnum, 45 colt, 30/30, or 45/70 so I'd have to buy reloading components and dies for them regardless.

A buddy of mine had a Colt Single Action Army and a Winchester Trapper, both in .45 Long Colt.  That was a fun combination to take to the range.  If you don't already have other firearms in .357, I'd go with a historical cartridge or cartridges.

Pistol caliber rifles are still pistol calibers.  For a rifle, either 30-30 or my fav, 45-70.  

Now if this is just for fun at the range, I could see a pistol cal rifle.

You reload, but 45 Colt ammo is stupid expensive.

you didn't state your intended purposes but i'll bite.

38/357 will be the most economical to shoot and is still capable of taking deer sized game out to 200yds with propper bullet selection from the lever gun. alot of people like that combo for a fun gun and the cowboy action crowd also goes that route to "game" it (less recoil)

45 colt in a SAA (or the likes) is just right and add a 73 or 92 lever action in 45 colt is a very nice setup. if handloading you can go from mild to near 45/70 trapdoor level loads (in a strong 92 like a rossi) same goes for a blackhawk. you can load honest bear defense loads in 45 colt. a 255 keith with 9gr of unique is a sweet all around load (and roughly the same power level as the original black powder load)

on a side note. in a blackhawk (can't speak of a saa) the 45 colt is much lighter than the 357 model and points better in my opinion.

From a handloaders perspective. if you don't mind using twice as much powder and lead go with the Colt. if you want the best bang for the buck it's hard to beat the 38/357 combo. if you cast your own bullets it can be shot for less money than a 22lr these days.

Get a .357 revolver and a .357 lever action. One less caliber and Buffalo Bore's 357's are powerful enough for deer and hogs.

You may need to gas check real fast .357 when you start putting it in a rifle barrel.

My main reason for getting a Colt SAA in .357 was because I have several .357 revolvers already (S&W's). I did not want to add another caliber to the stable. I plan to eventually get a lever action in .357 to go along with it.

Since you do not yet have any weapons in the calibers available for a six gun I would go traditional and get one  in .45 Colt.

If you're going to be investing in reloading components for whatever you buy like you mention .45 Colt (or long colt to trigger haters) and .45-70 is the hard to beat combination.

Both can be downloaded to powderpuff range ammo, both can be loaded to mega hot destroy the world levels in appropriately strong firearms, and share commonality of some reloading components. (I.E. just having to buy a ton of trailboss LOL) Though unfortunately for both being .45 the actual bullet diameters differ, though I've read about people using paper patched .45 colt bullets in .45-70.


But yea, low pressure high weight bullets in straight wall cases, super easy to reload, cases will last a long time with moderate loads.



.357 mag is great, but IMHO .357 just feels way more at home in a DA gun.

.45 Long Colt is a correct terminology.  
I have seen ammunition in pretty blue and white Colt branded boxes marked .45 Long Colt. I assume the maker knew what they were doing with regards to to the marketing of their products.

You may assume too much. Just because their predecessor corporation created something, doesn't mean those involved in marketing know much about it. Colt probably didn't make that ammo anyway, just struck a licensing deal for their logo to appear on the box. They'll slap their name on anything profitable.




 

.357 would be my vote, extremely economical and great for sharing with novice shooters while still having the ceiling to take down pretty much anything a .30-30 will in a rifle with proper load selection.

Keep in mind that the 357 picks up 400-500 fps when fired from a rifle barrel. The 357 is no joke from a lever gun, and still has very little recoil.

First off, it's un-American not to own a .357 revolver. So that should answer the first part.

I find my Winchester. 30-30 kicks like a mule. So if you're going to get thumped, you might as well get the big bore, and thump the target as well.  Caliber commonality is an okay idea too. I always liked the idea of a .357 lever gun.

Johnson184,

Here are a couple of .357's that give meaning to owning revolvers in that caliber. As said before, everybody should own at LEAST one .357



1979 Colt SAA






1963 S&W Model 19-2








P.S.

Yeah, I know I am contradicting what I said before.

I recently bought an old-model Blackhawk in .357 Mag.  I didn't realize it at the time, but these were built on a slightly smaller frame. It's subtile, but noticeable when you pick it up.  What is more interesting is that it seems to point & balance like the larger New Model .45 Blackhawk.  It just feels better than the heavier New Model .357, IMO.

These posters know what they are talking about. .357 out of a rifle is legit.  It can be loaded quite hot, just barely behind .30-30 performance.

Not necessarily, you can find cowboy loads reasonably priced.  Either way, I wouldn't get into any of them without being able to reload.  

If you want to be really different and do what someone in the 1880s would have done go with .44-40.   It's  what the Winchester 1873 was initially chambered in and Colt chambered the 1873 in as well for ammo commonality.  The Winchester couldn't  be chambered in the 45 colt round.

Truth.  If the action is strong enough (H&R 1871 .45-70 Buffalo Classic single shot), you can load a 405 grain bullet up to 2,100 fps, and Buffalo Bore ammo approximates this.  That is elephant gun and grizzly or brown bear capable - over 4,000 ft. lbs. of energy.  The guy suggesting .30-30 kicked hard, does not know what real recoil is.  This is manageable, but does exceed my .300 Weatherby.  You don't want to shoot it all day, but it will absolutely flatten deer in their tracks.

Or you can shoot low pressure factory  405 grain ammo at 1,400 fps all day long.

I have to ask what other rifles you've shot to compare the 30-30 recoil to?  I've  got two 30-30s and don't  think they recoil all that much.  50-60 rounds is a typical  range session  for me.  I couldn't do that with a 30-06 or 91-30....

Wow. You guys are easy.

It's not hard to get the Internet Chest Thumpers going.



If you would bother to read, I actually suggested getting the bigger rifle.

No...

 

No... what you wrote is just... gross.  Pointing out .30-30 isn't a hard recoiling round isn't chest thumping, it's pointing out that normal shooters don't have an issue with it.


If you think .30-30  "kicks like a mule" and your conclusion is if it's already so bad, might as well go "big bore"... but normal people don't think it has much recoil at all it's a valid question, what have you actually shot to be making your judgment on?


because you're giving really, really bad advice.

Since you plan on reloading I'd go 45LC Revolver and 45/70 Lever Rifle. It's easier to reload straight wall calibers. And they can use the same bullets. I prefer 347 magnum for a more modern SA/DA revolver. I love my S&W 686 model and my dad's Colt Python.

Not really. The .45 Colt nominally uses .452" bullets and the .45-70 uses .458" nominal bullets. You can go a bit bigger with a lead bullet, but not enough to make the revolver bullets ideally sized in the lever gun. So while you could swap them in a pinch, you likely won't get the best results.

I'd go 44Mag for both.

I have owned all of them one of the coolest things I ever did was shoot my 1909 colt my 73 colt SAA and my 38 colt1903 side by side you very quickly understand the hate the Army & USMC had for the 38 in the early 1900s

but it is almost 2020.  I now own only 357s or 38s and am looking at  picking up at least 2 more and a lever action too.

I'm not going to say there is no reason to own a 45lc, 454, 500 mag or 41 there are tons of reason to own those calibers

so if you have the coin get them all.
for what & how & where I shot now 38/357 is the best option.

You would be hard pressed to find a more versatile cartridge than the .44 magnum. You can load it up or down, to handle virtually any task, from paper punching/small game hunting to top end loads for elk/moose/whatever.


I would choose a .44 mag and 30-30 combo, for a revolver and lever action combo.

The .44 can be loads of fun with reduced/wadcutter loads:



I was shooting rabbits with mine on Friday

I'll bet that 44 wadcutter whacks those jackrabbits pretty good.

I am presuming you are getting this for a range toy.  If so I would recommend the .357 for both since it is a good cartridge to reload and if you want to purchase some plinking ammo the .38sp is relatively inexpensive re-manufactured or in bulk, Freedom Munitions and Ventura come to mind. On the flip side, if you like shooting crazy hot loads (like I do) you can make those .357 scream, there are a number of ammo manufacturers that offer hot loads; Buffalo Bore is one of the hottest (Heavy 357 Magnum 125 gr. J.H.C. - 1,700fps/M.E. 802 ft. lbs.), Double Tap and Underwood also have some pretty stout loads. Like other said, you could get a SAA revolver and a lever gun in .357, but if you go this route and get a .357 lever gun make sure it will take the 38spl loads also as some don't.

However, in my opinion, the large bore calibers are so much more entertaining to shoot, if funds are no concern go with the .45 LC and 45-70.  My favorite hand gun that I have ever shot in my S&W M69, .44 Magnum. I prefer the DA revolver to the SA revolver for flexibility but there is something about those Colt style SAA, they are just so much fun to shoot, it's like the difference between driving a modern car compared to a classic.  The M69 would be like  a 2017 Corvette while an old Colt SAA in .45 LC would be like a 1970 Challenger and the Uberi replicas a 2017 Dodge Challengers.  While there is no question the newer cars are great vehicle, it's not as fun as driving a classic.

But if your not worried about price, I would say get a SAA Colt in .45 LC and the rifle in 30/30.  The 45-70 is a lot to handle and I have found that super hot calibers get a lot of attention at public ranges, not necessarily always good attention. The Double Tap 320gr 44mag creates quite the the concussion indoors, when i shot those inside for the first and only time, the other shooter on the same line would have to stop because it was so distracting. I stick to 44spl indoors, even the standard 44mags are pretty distracting.  If you have a private location to shoot then that is no concern. Another option could be .44 magnum or the 45-40 for both guns.

There are a lot of choices out there, try and shoot some if you can.  When I was looking for a big bore revolver it took me a few months to make a decision. Go with your gut.  Good luck.

I just noticed the original post was 4 month ago.  Wonder if he made a decision.  Odd that he never responded to the thread.