Description
The Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum is the 1854 in its traditional configuration: walnut furniture over a forged stainless receiver, a 19.25 inch barrel and a large loop lever. It looks like the lever guns people picture when they hear the words, and it carries modern features the originals never had.
Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum Why 357 Magnum in a Rifle
Thirty-five seven Magnum was designed as a revolver cartridge, and a nineteen inch barrel transforms it. Velocities climb several hundred feet per second over what a handgun produces, turning a capable defensive round into a genuinely effective deer and hog cartridge inside a hundred and fifty yards.
The Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum holds 10+1 rounds, which is a great deal for a lever gun and a consequence of the cartridge being relatively short. It also chambers 38 Special, which means cheap, mild practice ammunition from the same rifle with no adjustment required.
That pairing with a revolver is the traditional appeal. A 357 rifle and a 357 revolver share ammunition, which simplifies everything about feeding both, and it is why the combination has been popular for well over a century.
Modern Features, Traditional Looks
The receiver is forged 416 stainless steel with an Armornite finish, which is stronger and considerably more corrosion resistant than the carbon steel a traditional lever gun uses. Underneath the walnut, this is a modern rifle.
The barrel is stainless with an Armornite finish and a 5/8 by 24 threaded muzzle with a protector fitted. That is the standard thread pitch for 30 caliber suppressors, so a can or a muzzle device mounts directly. Suppressing a 357 rifle with subsonic 38 Special is remarkably quiet.
The removable magazine tube is a genuinely useful feature that older designs lack. It lets you unload the rifle safely and completely without cycling every round through the action, which is both quicker and considerably safer than the alternative.
Adjustable XS ghost ring sights with a gold bead front give a fast, rugged sight picture. The large loop lever cycles with gloves on, a flat trigger breaks crisply, and a cross-bolt manual safety handles the safety duty. Walnut furniture carries textured grip panels.
Setting Up the Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum
The XS ghost ring sights are good enough that many owners never mount an optic. A large aperture rear and a gold bead front is one of the fastest iron sight combinations ever devised, and it works in the low light of dawn and dusk when a lot of hunting actually happens.
If you do want glass, a red dot is arguably the better match. Thirty-five seven Magnum is a hundred and fifty yard cartridge at the outside and most shots are much closer, which is exactly the envelope where a dot is fastest. It also suits the way a lever gun is shouldered, quickly and often from awkward positions.
A sling is not optional on a hunting rifle. Set the attachment points where they suit your build rather than accepting whatever a factory decided, and get one wide enough to carry comfortably on a long walk.
Handling and Maintenance
Lever actions load through a side gate and are cycled by hand, which means they are indifferent to ammunition pressure in a way a semi-automatic is not. Mild 38 Special practice loads and full-power 357 Magnum hunting loads cycle equally well, which is much of the appeal of this chambering.
Keep the magazine tube and the action clean. Lever guns collect debris in the tube and around the loading gate more readily than a box magazine rifle, and a piece of grit in the wrong place can tie up the action at exactly the wrong moment. The removable magazine tube makes this considerably easier than on older designs.
Walnut benefits from occasional care. A light coat of an appropriate stock finish every year or two keeps it from drying out, and keeping solvent off the wood during cleaning avoids clouding the finish. Stainless is corrosion resistant rather than corrosion proof, so a wipe with an oiled cloth after a wet day in the field is still worth the thirty seconds.
Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum Specifications
- Manufacturer part number: 13810
- UPC: 022188899061
- Caliber: 357 Magnum, also fires 38 Special
- Capacity: 10+1 rounds
- Barrel: 19.25 inches, 1:14 right hand twist, stainless with Armornite finish
- Muzzle: 5/8 x 24 threaded with thread protector
- Receiver: forged 416 stainless steel with Armornite finish
- Furniture: walnut with textured grip panels
- Sights: adjustable XS ghost ring rear, gold bead front
- Trigger: flat with crisp break
- Safety: cross-bolt manual
- Magazine tube: removable
Why Buyers Choose the Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum
A lever action carries and points better in thick country than almost anything else. It is short, fast to shoulder, works from either shoulder, and 357 Magnum recoil in a rifle this size is genuinely mild.
Straight-wall cartridge regulations in several states make 357 Magnum legal for deer hunting where bottleneck rifle cartridges are not. That is a real practical advantage for hunters in the Midwest, and worth checking against your own state rules.
One safety note specific to tubular magazines: use flat-nosed or polymer-tipped ammunition designed for lever guns. Pointed bullets stacked nose to primer in a tube magazine are a genuine hazard, and appropriate 357 and 38 Special loads are widely available.
Who Should Buy It
The Smith Wesson 1854 Walnut 357 Magnum suits hunters and shooters who want a classic lever gun with modern construction: brush and timber hunters, straight-wall states deer hunters, revolver owners who want a matching rifle, and anyone who simply prefers walnut to synthetic.
Learn more from Smith and Wesson, or browse the rest of our firearms selection.
Every firearm we list ships to your chosen FFL and is transferred there after a background check.
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