S&W Lever Action Rifle in 357 Mag

JamesArthur60 said:

I doubt the word 'lever action rifle' has ever been mumbled in a S&W staff meeting. For a companion to my .357, I bought the same caliber Marlin 1894C. A nice little woods rifle.

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Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy

About 1854 there were these two gun designers. Their names were Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson. They formed a company to build rifles and pistols based on the earlier work of Hunt and Jennings in Norwich Connecticut. Eventually they moved the company to New Haven. They also hired a man as shop supervisor named Benjamin Tyler Henry. At about this same time a successful mens' clothing manufacturer named Oliver Winchester invested in the company and the name of the company was changed to the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company.

But the Volcanic design was never a financial success. The problem was the ammunition. It was under powdered. The ammo consisted of nothing more than a hollowed out bullet that contained a small charge of Black Powder. There was a foil covering and a priming mechanism at the base. But the powder charge was too small to develop enough energy to be a reliable man stopper.

Smith and Wesson eventually lost interest in the project and sold their interests to Winchester. Winchester directed Henry to redesign the ammunition, and he came up with a more substantial 44 caliber rimfire round. Then Winchester had Henry completely redesign the rifle for the more powerful round. The Henry Rifle of 1860 was the result. This was the first levergun of what became the extensive Winchester line up of rifles.

Smith and Wesson wound up in Springfield Massachusetts where they started up a new company producing revolvers in 1857. The rest is history.

As far as S&W producing a lever gun today, I can assure you they have no interest in it at all. Back in 2000 when they produced an updated version of the Schofield, they did not sell like hotcakes. S&W knows where their bread is buttered, and it is not in lever guns.

If you want a nice American made 357 Mag levergun, buy a Marlin.

I have included a photo of some Volcanic firearms. The two handguns and the small rifle near the bottom of the photo are Volcanics. All the other rifles are Henrys. I have handled an original Volcanic rifle, they were quite small.

P.S. The reason you can't find a Marlin is because they just relocated to the Remington factory in Illion NY. They are still firing up for full scale manufacturing. Give it a little bit of time and you will be able to find a Marlin.

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jca said:

If you want a nice lever action rifle in .357 caliber that is readily available to go along with your S&W revolver, i recommend you consider the Henry Big Boy. Every piece of the rifle is made in the USA and the action is as smooth as silk. In my opinion alot smoother than the Marlin. I've had mine for a little more than two years and purchased it for about $600. No regrets

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Driftwood Johnson said:

"Let us not forget that Henry has been around since the 1860's,
I have never heard a complaint with their Lever-Action guns"

That is a misconception that the folks at Henry Repeating Arms would like you to believe. The company started up not too long ago and took the name 'Henry' simply because it was in public domain, and for name recognition. They have nothing to do with the original manufacturer of the Henry rifle. That company eventually became the Winchester Repeating Arms company, as I mentioned earlier.

Click to expand...

Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy

About 1854 there were these two gun designers. Their names were Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson. They formed a company to build rifles and pistols based on the earlier work of Hunt and Jennings in Norwich Connecticut. Eventually they moved the company to New Haven. They also hired a man as shop supervisor named Benjamin Tyler Henry. At about this same time a successful mens' clothing manufacturer named Oliver Winchester invested in the company and the name of the company was changed to the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company.

But the Volcanic design was never a financial success. The problem was the ammunition. It was under powdered. The ammo consisted of nothing more than a hollowed out bullet that contained a small charge of Black Powder. There was a foil covering and a priming mechanism at the base. But the powder charge was too small to develop enough energy to be a reliable man stopper.

Smith and Wesson eventually lost interest in the project and sold their interests to Winchester. Winchester directed Henry to redesign the ammunition, and he came up with a more substantial 44 caliber rimfire round. Then Winchester had Henry completely redesign the rifle for the more powerful round. The Henry Rifle of 1860 was the result. This was the first levergun of what became the extensive Winchester line up of rifles.

Smith and Wesson wound up in Springfield Massachusetts where they started up a new company producing revolvers in 1857. The rest is history.

As far as S&W producing a lever gun today, I can assure you they have no interest in it at all. Back in 2000 when they produced an updated version of the Schofield, they did not sell like hotcakes. S&W knows where their bread is buttered, and it is not in lever guns.

If you want a nice American made 357 Mag levergun, buy a Marlin.

I have included a photo of some Volcanic firearms. The two handguns and the small rifle near the bottom of the photo are Volcanics. All the other rifles are Henrys. I have handled an original Volcanic rifle, they were quite small.

P.S. The reason you can't find a Marlin is because they just relocated to the Remington factory in Illion NY. They are still firing up for full scale manufacturing. Give it a little bit of time and you will be able to find a Marlin.

Click to expand...

Driftwood Johnson said:

"Let us not forget that Henry has been around since the 1860's,
I have never heard a complaint with their Lever-Action guns"

That is a misconception that the folks at Henry Repeating Arms would like you to believe. The company started up not too long ago and took the name 'Henry' simply because it was in public domain, and for name recognition. They have nothing to do with the original manufacturer of the Henry rifle. That company eventually became the Winchester Repeating Arms company, as I mentioned earlier.

Click to expand...