Trail rifle. 44mag, 357mag, or 30-30?

[indiucky]

When the family asks about it I tell them that it is my Yeti gun.

Skunk Ape son...This here is Indiana, we ain't got no Yeti's...just Skunk Apes....

I have got two Marlins, one pre safety and one early 1980's with the safety in 44 magnum...I alo have an early (pre safety) .357 magnum Rossi Model 92..

You would be well served with either caliber or brand.....

 

[gunbunnies]

I would say either a Rossi or a older Marlin in 38/357 magnum. The pistol caliber rifles ring out the velocity and foot pounds of energy out of the pistol calibers quite well. I have a Marlin and a Rossi and they are both good performers. The Marlin is heavier and the action is a bit more rough to operate, but it has the ability to mount a scope properly on top of the action. The Rossi is much slicker to operate and is decisively lighter to carry but isn't really designed to mount a scope on her. The sights on either model out of the box are a bit crude but there are many after market sights available for both guns. Either gun will make a fine companion on the range or in the field. I would pick the smaller caliber living in the Midwest as with the magnum ammo in her she will work just fine on the largest of game you will find around here and with a 38 special you can take smaller game without any worry of destroying your dinner. The 38 special and 357 magnum ammo is readily available and it is a bit cheaper to reload than the bigger calibers. That's my .02 cents worth...

 

[dieselrealtor]

I have an 80's model Marlin .357 & love it.
I am partial to handgun caliber rifles for ammo sharing simplicity.

 

[throttletony]

my vote is 357, just for availability --- I see 357 and 38 spl a lot more than 44 mag or 44 spl

 

[dieselrealtor]

The last deer I killed with .357 was just as dead as one killed with .44

 

[Hookeye]

I would base it off compatibility with your other guns. Unless you have a .44 Mag wheelgun, automag, or Deagle, the .357 Mag is going to be more easily fed and more likely to be a shared caliber.

I would choose variety over compatibility

 

[bwframe]

I chose .357 for consolidation and SHTF. The thinking being that one needs to have something around to shoot .38's (in case that is all there is available.) Going on that idea, .357 is a very viable SD round in a realistic carrying revolver.

 

[Fordtough25]

I would go .357 Mag as well in a pistol caliber. I love my Marlin 336xlr in 30-30 for woods walks.

 

[luvall]

I deer hunt with a Henry 44 love it

I also used a Henry 44 to deer hunt this past year. One shot dropped the buck in his tracks. The Henry goes well with my S&W 629 which I also use for hunting. I use the same hand loads for pistol and revolver so that is a great plus. Depending where I hunt, I will use the pistol or rifle but I pack the same ammo.

 

[Hank in Indiana]

If your a reloader you could go with the 35rem. Just trim the case .120" for deer season. Leave it full length for all other critters.

 

[gunselman]

44 mag no questions asked. I have both a 44 mag marlin and a 35 Remington. The 44 is lighter and handier. 35 Remington is pretty hard to get a hold of right now.

 

[cqcn88]

Look, I know lever actions have a certain allure to them, I have a JM stamped marlin 1894 in .44mag, but I'd steer away if your purpose is to have a hardy bang it around the woods gun. I always thought the same thing, lever actions are supposed to be these hardcore knock around guns cause cowboys would throw them in a leather sleeve on the side of a horse and take off into the wilderness. One loading gate screw later I had a club. Don't get me wrong, it's a neat gun and it shoots very nicely when there are no issues. If I were in the market for an Indiana woods gun right now I'd be buying a .458 socom upper with the caveat that I'd be reloading for it. Anything a .44mag can do a .458 socom can do better, other than ammo cost/availability which is why I ultimately went with the .44mag. And it is a deer legal calibre in Indiana.

That been said, take a look at the Rossi/Taurus Circuit Judge in 44mag. It's a wheel gun with a rifle length barrel. My buddy picked one up after I got the lever gun, it's compact and light and you don't have to work a lever.

In the spirit of actually answering OP question, of those three calibres you listed my vote goes to .44mag no question at all.

 

[bwframe]

...

Took this pair and 50 rounds mushroom hunting with me today. Hiked some pretty steep hills and valleys and barely knew I had them.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You can shoot deer with a .30-30 rifle in Indiana, but not during the regular sporting season.
Nuisance under special permit allows for stuff outside the hunting cartridge spec.

BTW, I had a pre Remlin 1894 in .44 mag, and just working the action for a couple of days smoothed it up to decent.
Scoped, it shot pretty well too.

But the stock design not best for scope usage, so I sold it, went with something else in shortened .35 Rem.

While factually accurate, It still doesnt mean a thing to the average buyer so your logic is a bit flawed. The average Hoosier wants a centerfire rifle for more than varmint control, so its still going to be harder to sell within the state since it cant be used for regular hunting.


Then again, following your logic he could also still hunt tree rats with it, so I guess you are right about it being a good choice for a hunting rifle in this state.

I Too would vote 357 based on cost and versatility. But 44 is very nice.