I do not know if this has been posted before but it is a very good article comparing the 357 magnum to the 44 magnum out of identical lever action rifles.
Neither is worth much as a hunting round past 100 yards. I view the 357 as a plinking gun and for groundhogs. I am sure that I will see posts about how great is works on deer at ranges well beyond what I would consider but looking at the charts in the mentioned article really show the limits of both.
My daughter killed her first five deer with a scoped Marlin .357 1894 the load was a 180 Hornady XTP in front of Lil’ Gun. Ballistics were probably close to the 180 Federal load. I agree these are 150 yard rifles scoped and inside 100 yards is better. Putting the bullet in the right place is more important than if it is a .357, .44 or .30/30 and for a youngster the light recoil of the .357 makes hits easier. I am disappointed that Lucky Gun did not try a classic 158 gr. .357 bullet. Glad he did try the classic.44 240 grain.
I have a Marlin 1894C that I load with 125 grain .38 Specials for shooting sage rats when the barrel on my .223 gets hot. I have not taken any big game with this rifle but I have a .357 load with a 180 grain LBT hard cast using 2400 that chronographs at 1550 fps. I would feel confident using this on deer and pigs under 100 yards. The 1894C is one of my favorite rifles.
