Got a wild hair and going to go look tomorrow for a .357 lever action.

Any brands to stay away from?

Any to seek out?

Thanks very much.

I own a few 357 levers and have shot and reloaded heavily for them all.
If I were to buy one again for a shooter, it would be the Rossi M92 stainless.
Mine was a 20" but I had it chopped to 16" & threaded.
Look for one that does not have the buckhorn sights on it.

I agree about the buckhorn sights. I have an Uberti with half round and octagon barrel. Great gun but HATE the rear sight

I have an older Rossi (LSI import).  Twenty inch blued.  Runs like a champ.  Mine will even feed full wadcutters if you're careful.  Surprisingly accurate for what it is.  Better than any Win 94 I've owned.

I have a Marlin made in the 70s. A handy little rifle for carrying in the mountains when you add a receiver sight. I can't say about the new ones.

Buds had this for 466.00 yesterday, I see the price has gone up.
I've purchased two octagon barreled Rossi's from buds, they are both sweet shooters.
The two on the top are Rossi R92's .357, 24" on top and 20" second from the top
The 3rd from the top is a 16" 44 mag Rossi

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_385/products_id/56502/Rossi+357+Magnum+Lever+Action+w16%22+Round+Blue+BarrelWalnut

Rear sight is a easy fix.

I have a 16in Rossi and I like it alot.  

Fun to tinker on.
Shoots good.  I like it

The Rossi 92 is hard to beat for the money.

I have a 20" rifle with a color casehardened finish and a 24" rifle with a blued finish.  Both are in .357 Mag and with either 158 gr Federal JSP commercial ammo or hand loaded 125 gr XTP ammo they will both shoot 2.5" groups at 100 yards with a Marbles Tang sight.   I have also added Lyman 17AHB front sights to them and they are great fun shooting steel plates at 200 yards.

I also own a 20" carbine in .45 Colt.  Recoil with the .45 Colt is a bit fierce if you load 250-255 gr bullets to 32,000 psi / .44 Mag performance levels, while maximum loads in the .357 mag are still very pleasant to shoot.  

Now...the Rossi 92s are not perfect and need a little work to get maximum benefit from them.

Wood

The quality of the wood finish was poor for a couple years when it looked like who polish and ran when it got rained on, but they seem to have switched to a new finish that looks better and seems to be waterproof. In both cases however, it's a great stain for the wood and a half dozen hand rubbed coats of Tru-oil on top, with the shine knocked down to a semi-gloss with 0000 steel wool or rubbing compound makes for a very pleasing finish.

Metal

The metal is very nicely finished regardless of whether you get blued, stainless or color case hardened finish.  It will come with a preservative on top and won't really look it's best until it's been degreased and then re-oiled.  I have also never seen a new Rossi 92 that did not have a liberal helping of grit and metal shavings in it, so you'll need to clean it and clean the mag azine tube in particular, since that's where most of the crud seems to hide.

Aftermarket improvements

Stevesgunz.com sells a DVD that shows you how to slick up the action and also sells a reduced power ejector spring that really improves the smoothness and ease of operation of the lever.  He also sells a stainless stele magazine follower and that's a must have item, as the yellow plastic one will eventually expand in the magazine tube and start sticking - before it eventually cracks and splits.

Sights

The rifles come drilled and tapped for a tang sight, while you'll need to D&T a 10-32 hole in the tang if you want to install one on a carbine.  The Marbles Standard Tang sight works very well, and will give .52 MOA clicks on the 20" rifles and carbines and .48 MOA clicks on the 24" rifles and carbines.  As noted above, the Marbles Tang Sight really helps a Model 92 achieve it's accuracy potential and it will do it without ruining the lines or handle of the rifle or carbine.

You can also get a bolt mounted peep sight that replaces the bottle mounted firing pin safety.

And of course you can replace the barrel mounted rear sight with a 3/8" slot blank, with a partridge style sight, or with a folding sight that will allow either the tang sight or barrel mounted sight to be used.

The Merit #3 and #4 adjustable apertures work great with a tang sight as does the above mentioned Lyman 17AHB globe front sight

Other stuff  

You can replace the hammer screw with a saddle ring if you like saddle rings, and there are a variety of stock covers and recoil pads that are made for them as they are popular in SASS shooting.  

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With a little bit of TLC they are very slick operating rifles and carbines that are capable of excellent accuracy for the caliber and class.  Handling is generally superb and the weight and balance of a 20" carbine is hard to beat, but the rifles have the edge in accuracy.  I eventually split the difference with a 20" rifle.    

Here is my 20" Model 92 rifle:



The 20" color case hardened receiver, with saddle ring, tang sight and Merit #4 aperture:



Blued 24" rifle:



Tru-oiled stock:



20" Rossi 92 Carbine along side a 24"  Armi Sport Model 92 takedown rifle, both in .45 Colt.

Dakotafal, Those look great

I bought a Marble rear sight from brownells



I have the Rossi 92  16" 38/357

It's a lot of fun

Nice rifle here (no affiliation) if anybody is local and can talk him down a bit (left cold):  http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1745136#Post1745136

Thanks for everyone's comments. I've been wanting a 357 lever for some time and I think this might push me into getting one.

Just picked up a 20" Rossi M92 locally for $499. Definitely seems to be the best deal going in lever guns.

I really wanted a Marlin 1894 but they are apparently unobtainium. $800 at least for one in poor condition.

The Uberti '73 is quite nice.  Slick and quick action, classic Winchester design.

I have a Henry Big Boy Silver in .357 coming in this week, I'll let you know how I like it

Nice :) can you post up some pictures too?

I imagine that will be doable!

I've got a Henry Blued Big Boy in .357 it's a lot of fun to shoot. Only gripe I have about it is the rear sight, I'm not really a fan of the semi-buckhorn but I think it's more that I'm not really sure how to use it.

Love my Rossi trapper length.  Feels like carrying a Red Ryder in the woods.  I did a lot of work to get it where I want it, though.  Best improvement was the Gunslinger spring kit followed by Steve's Guns safety hole peep sight.  Also put a brass-bead front sight, steel follower plug and refinished the wood with several coats of Truoil.  Can't think of a better woods gun for still-hunting deer.  I'll never get rid of it.

Derek, is that a S&W 686 on the table?  That surely is a nice revolver.  Why is the cylinder blackened, fouling or is it a two tone?

One of these days, I will go into a local gun shop and buy a 357 lever rifle.  I want a fancy one, like a Uberti, but will most likely buy a Rossi.

it's an old 686 custom
it's nust dirty from lots of H110 and UNIQUE powder

it's an old dash-4
I had Andy Horvath cut the barrel to 5" and install a weygand front sight base
dawson fiber front