I want a good shooting. 38/357 lever gun. It must have a loading gate. I had a Rossi 92 that was nothing but garbage. Rusted and pitted receiver upon disassembly. Wouldn't cycle more than a few rounds and the bore looked like someone dragged a nail through the last 2 inches or so.  I was recently researching Winchester 1873 and have read good things. Any thoughts on what would be a good rifle to look at?

See if you can find a Marlin 1894C (18 ½”), or if you are really lucky, a Marlin stainless SS357 LTD (16 ¼”) like I did.

Uberti - 1873 or 1883 Burgess
Winchester - 1873 or 1892

Pics follow

Odd, my Rossi runs like a champ.

OP must have had an abused piece of trash.  I have owned at least 5 of them that were excellent.  I now own a 16" stainless Rossi that I will never sell. Rust isn't an OEM item, it is usually installed aftermarket by a shit head. 

I also recommend the JM marked 1894CB Marlin.  I have an 1873 Uberti/Winchester, but it isn't hard to admit the Marlin is a stronger gun. 

I agree.  I have two Rossi 357mag levers; a 20" carbine and a 24" rifle I've had since 2009 as well as working with a neighbor's 357mag rifle who, after shooting mine, bought one and asked me to set his up like mine.  All three are solid and after I gave them a Steve's Gunz action and trigger job, they run smooth as snot and are accurate as heck.  OP sounds like he bought a used or pre 2000 Rossi which has decidedly lower quality machining.

All the Rossi 357mags I know of at our club (a few dozen at least) are reliable and accurate.  While not as fast as the Uberti '66 or '73 models for a CAS competition, their action design is much stronger than the toggle link design and they can stand up to full power (and over) Elmer Keith level 357mag loads.  Further, with my tang and globe sight setup on my rifle that gives me a 30" sight radius, my Rossi rifle is plenty accurate enough to plink bowling pins at 200 yds and shoot a steel ram at 300 yds; all with my 158grn handloads.

got to go with the marlin 1894c. they are great shooting rifles. i have mine set up with xs ghost ring sights and it looks sharp. the only downside to this is finding one. they seem to be pretty scarce these days unless you pay some steep prices. and the possibility of finding a nice one for good price then if your like me will only want to shoot every so often as to not take the chance of getting it scratched or dinged up. then you will want another one you can shoot all the time because they are a blast at the range.

One word, Taylor's Alaskan Takedown.
I just added one to my collection of Lever Gun's and love it. The fit and finish are so good I want to use my Rossi 92 as a canoe paddle!
Mine is in .357 but it is available in other cal's as well.

Their take down method has been used for over 100 years so it is tried and true.
The Skinner sights are perfect, and is has a Scout Scope base available should you be inclined.
I havent shot the rifle yet so will be posting after I break it in.

CDNN has a couple of Winchester 1873s listed. These are made by Miroku in Japan and are extremely well made.

CDNN