Thread: 357 lever action popularity in NZ

Originally Posted by Got-ya

Without trying to derail this thread to much, how do the available Win 92 clones compare? ie Rossi vs Chiappa vs...... etc? Pretty keen on a 92 in 357. Considered the 44 magnum but I have a 30-30 94 trapper and think that for all practical purposes there would not be a lot of difference at open sighted ranges between those two. If people disagree with that last statement I would be keen to hear.

I dont want to get sued by any manufacturers but in Aus I know quite a few blokes steering clear of Chiappa at the moment.
Rossi is the most common,solid performer, can sometimes be rough, its mass produced in the 3rd world but generally nothing is a deal killer, in that any faults can be smoothed out.
They apparently had quality issues earlier back in the 80's but no major problems since.

The winchester/miroku is the fanciest out of the box, also the most expensive by far.

The Rossi has a slow twist, 1:30 for all their lever guns which is slow for larger bullets. 158 grains or less is what they like the most.
The Winchester/miroku I think has a twist in the 1:20 somethings. Cant remember what the chiappa is.

The Rossi's in 44 had oversized bores up until 2009 I think. Being 44 has about the most bore variation of any calibre on earth across brands( .429 right up to .434, crazy). This was a more an issue for blokes running cast bullets or 44sp level loads, matching slugs to bore diametre for accuracy. Anyway, I think around 2009 they tightened the bores down to .429 again. Most Rossi 357's slug at about .356 or .357 on the dot, pretty precise.

The Rossis are probably the most favored here for hunting, as mentioned you can really push them, the 1892 is about the strongest lever action made. They even did a 454 casull and 480 ruger on them at one point. For cowboy action shooting they and the 1894's used to be the most common but now the 1873's have taken over. A slower, weaker toggled link action but it can be modded to shorter lever throw so they cowboys can cycle shots faster.