Need a info on Marlin LA rifles from an knowledgeable person

[ART338WM]

Was deer hunting public ground the other day and encountered two fellow hunters using Marlin lever action rifles, the bores of which I noticed were likely to small to be chambered in .44 magnum or .45LC. As we were talking I inquired were the Marlins they were carrying chambered in .357 magnum? Much to my complete surprise they replied ".358" as in .358 Hoosier. Without me asking they said all they did was trim down a .358 Winchester to 1.8" and use it in their marlins chambered for .358 Winchester.

Although I consider my knowledge of firearms above average, I'm somewhat lacking when it comes to lever actions as I only have ever owned one, a Marlin .22lr. Having said that am I correct in saying a .358 Winchester's parent cartridge is the .308 Winchester simply necked up to .358 from .308. These two individuals told me all they did to get their 358 Winchester Marlins public land legal was to trim their .358 Winchester brass down to 1.8" and us it in their Marlins.

I didn't question them or in any way give the impression I doubted what they told me as truthful, as there was nothing to be gained and really no reason what so ever to do so. But IIRC shooting a .358 Hoosier involves more modification to the brass than just shortening brass to 1.8".


So can I just go out and buy a Marlin chambered in .358 Winchester and trim the cartridge to 1.8" or as I suspect the chambers of lever actions are no different than bolt actions and simply trimming the brass wont work and as it is the case with a bolt action rifle, you have to not only trim the brass but bump the shoulder back as well, making what these otherwise quite nice fellows said as less than "accurate" so to speak.

Thanks,
Art

Forgot to add I could be wrong, but am I incorrect in my thinking that converting a lever action to shoot .358 Hoosier would be more costly a project than a standard bolt gun and all things considered what real advantage would you gain besides faster fallow up shots?

 

[MisterFurious]

First of all, Marlin never chambered anything in 358 Winchester. I suspect they were talking about the 35 Remington, which is a .358 bullet diameter. Yes, you can trim the cases to 1.8" and it's Indiana deer legal. Not worth the pain in the ass anymore, in my opinion, with 30-30's being legal.

 

[Hookeye]

.30-30 win not legal on public ground.
.35 rem trimmed is.

 

[Hookeye]

FWIW Marlin did kinda sorta chamber some of their guns for .358 winchester

The semi rimmed version of that cartridge is the .356 winchester.
There was a .30 cal version too.........307 winchester.

Winchester unveiled those in the Big Bore 94.
Marlin only did a few in .356.
Quick web check says they (Marlin) didn't offer the .307

 

[Hookeye]

.35 rem trimmed is pretty nice.
Neck tension seems decent, my bud and I ran them in single shots (so no worry about recoil affecting rounds in the mag like on a lever gun).
I would think those running lever guns or those with box mags, to do some sort of crimp for insurance.

 

[Hookeye]

You trim the brass and seat to normal OAL.
Should work fine in any action designed to run the untrimmed round.
I'm not getting why anybody would need to bump the shoulder back.

 

[Hookeye]

The "advantage" of trimmed to legal rounds is that they allow you to use cool rigs that otherwise would not be legal.

Example: Remington did .35 rem rifles in pump 760/7600 and 141, semi auto Model 8, and bot action 600's/Model 7's.

Trim it and it's both public and private land legal, and good to 200 yards.

 

[ART338WM]

Great thanks for clearing that up for me, I obviously miss heard them and they were simply to polite to correct me when I expressed my surprise that Marlin made a gun in .358 Winchester, as I had never seen or heard of any Marlin chambered in .358.

 

[Leadeye]

Haven't experimented with the trimmed 35 Remington in the old Model 8 as of yet.

 

[Hookeye]

Somebody on the forum did an old Model 8, got a nice deer with it too (pic from a yr or so back).
Cool stuff!

 

[Hookeye]

Great thanks for clearing that up for me, I obviously miss heard them and they were simply to polite to correct me when I expressed my surprise that Marlin made a gun in .358 Winchester, as I had never seen or heard of any Marlin chambered in .358.

They might have had rifles converted. Dunno. Quick web check shows folks having converted Marlins to .358 Win but loaded them to shorter .356 win OAL.