44 Mag in carbine?

[Link23]

i just got a Marlin 44 mag lever action and i was wondering how should i start casting and loading for this? does anyone have experience with the carbines? i want to shoot something decently heavy (over 250 GN) more to the 300 at full power as it will be my main huntin rifle, recoil will be fine i will be casting out of wheel weights so i need some help for the mold/powder/gas check everthing would be helpful. Thanks
Link34

[Olevern]

My Marlin doesn't shoot the heavy cast too accurately, prbly 'cause of the twist rate. Your's might do alright with heavier boolits - have read over on the marlin owners forum that some do, I stick with 240 to 250 gn boolits sized to .431 and they shoot well. I would suggest that you slug your bore to get the right dia. sizing die for your rifle, but generally boolits for the Marlin's need to be a bit fuller diameter, particularly if it is a micro groove. If you do try heavier boolits and they don't group well, try pushing them a bit harder to get them shoot better.

[peerlesscowboy]

.44 magnum rifles tend to have 1 in 38" twist, revolvers usually have 1 in 20". I don't know why :confused:

[longbow]

I have had a Marlin 1894 .44 mag. for many years and quite like it even though it has its quirks.

I recommend an RNFP boolit design or at least trying SWC's to make sure they feed before buying a mould. Some guns seem to handle them well and others do not. Mine did not!

I have done extensive work on the carrier to get it to feed SWC's which it does reasonably well now.

Mine is 1:38" twist microgroove and suffers from Marlin's sloppy bores. I started out casting and shooting Lyman 429421's and had continuous feeding problems, poor accuracy and bad leading.

After reading about oversize bores and "tight spots" on the Marlin Owner's forum I slugged my barrel and found that it was 0.4315" groove diameter and it had the infamous tight spots under dovetails.

I decided to hand lap it a little and it didn't take much to get rid of the tight spots. Then knowing the groove diameter I got moulds sized to suit, that cast at least 0.432". Using "fat" RNFP designs it feeds well, accuracy is good and leading has disappeared.

I also found that I did not get good results with boolits of over about 265 grs. at ranges much past 75 yards. Some depends on boolit design but a lot on twist and my take is that the longer/heavier boolits are marginally stabilized in 1:38" twist.

I have tried jacketed and cast boolits to 300 grs. but so far nothing I have over 280 grs. or so has given good results past 100 yards.

So, I load mainly:

- 240 to 270 gr. boolit weights
- size at least 0.001" over groove diameter (for me 0.432" to 0.434" works well)
- the Mihec version of the Lyman 429640 (mine is plain base) shoots very well in my gun:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=84905
as does the H&G #503 after carrier modifications
- RanchDog designs are very good too and are specifically designed to suit Marlins:
http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_5_12
- my powder of choice is mostly IMR4227 for heavy loads or sometimes H110; both work well though H110 is the better choice for top end loads I think

Most importantly, slug your barrel and get a mould that casts a boolit big enough to suit the groove diameter.

I hope there is something there that helps some.

Longbow

[Larry Gibson]

You might consider Lyman's 429244 (Thompson GC SWC) cast of 50/50 WW/lead AC'd for your carbine loads. Mine run 270 gr fully dressed and over 23 gr H4227 they ran 1500 fps out of my 16" carbine. They pushed 1650 fps out of a frieinds 20" Marlin carbine. Shot sub 6" groups at 200 yards with both carbines using issue sights (my eyes were better back then). The same bullet over 24 gr H110 ran 1700 fps out of my 16" M94 and shot right at 2 moa at 100 yards. Did not shoot any in a 20" barrel so don't know about that. That load is my choice for the .44 Mag carbine for hunting.

Larry Gibson

[JDL]

+1 on what Larry said. I have had some pretty good groups with Lee's 310 grain but, could see signs of tipping at 100 yards, so went with 429244 (mine is marked 431244). Powdered with 19 grains of WC-820 I get 1528 fps and my grandson kills deer very cleanly.
JDL

[winelover]

I also stick to cast boolets, 270 grains or less, either WFN's or RNFP's in my 1894 Marlin. Mine will feed SWC's without any alterations but I prefer the wider meplats for hunting. I had some commercial cast (Bull-X) 300 gr LFN's that gave good accuracy but I have to single load them. My powder of choice is 2400, but lately I've been using Unique and downloading my deer loads to velocities less than 1200 FPS for better / shorter recovery rates. I don't aim for the shoulders, and I have found that too fast a boolet just pokes a hole thru the animal somewhat like an arrow. Usually, resulting in long tracking. YMMV

Winelover

[sisiphunter]

My micro groove marlin 94 is kinda picky too. I found for a fun plinking load using Lee's 200gr rnfp out of ww quenched and over 6.2gr unique for 800+ish fps (cant remember the exact vel.)

Now for heavy boys, I use the Lee 310gr from ww air cooled, sized to .430, paper patched, very lite LLA and sized 430 again, this over I THINK about 17gr win296/H110. I got excellent accuracy with that load and no leading. I dont bother GCing my 44 as the 310 is the only mold I have with GC. If you plan to load the 310, let me check my notebook first to get the exact powder charge, this is from memory. Also this boolit, doesnot feed 100% in my rifle, most do, but everyone once in a while I get one that doesnt feed properly.

I tried the Lee 240RN, horrible results for anything I tried. I recent got a 429241 Keith style mold, but have yet to try it out at the range.

Hope this helps, Matt

[x101airborne]

I recently went through this with a ballard marlin. Lee SWC 240's would not fill out big enough to fit the throat and accuracy was poor. Got in touch with RanchDog and acquired one of his 300 gr FP molds. Pushed by H-110 on his range, groups imediately went down to good nuff accuracy. Shooting out to 200 yards, boolits went sideways and accuracy was no longer present. I purchased a Saeco plain base 260 gr RNFP mold. With straight wheel weights (I include the stick ons with the clip ons) water dropped and pushed by all the 2400 the book allows, I got good accuracy out to 250 yards scoped. No magic answer, but it works. I now save the 300 grainers for heavy brush hunting.

[parson48]

I had a Marlin .44 mag. As with many Marlins, it had an oversized bore. I bought one of Ranch Dog's 265 gr. molds that dropped right at .432. They shot well in the rifle that I had.

[Fenring]

I like the Devastator (mine come out at 275gr) in my Ruger 96/44 and I load 'em to 1650fps for hunting. Also the Lee 310 which ends up 315gr out of clip on WW's checked and lubed. At 1500fps it's pretty effective on pigs too....

[EDK]

Go over to lasc.us and read Glenn Fryxell's article on 1894 MARLINS...read the rest of them too at your leisure.

The round nose flat point feeds best. I am waiting for a re-run of Mihec's 429640 (got the LYMAN two cavity.) I like the RANCH DOG TLC 432 265 and the NOE plain base clone also. 429667 works well, but is about 250 in my alloy. 260-to-270 seems to be the 'sweet spot' in my ballard rifled cowboys; my step-son got my old micro-groove 1894 cut down to 16.5 and promptly traded it to someone smarter than he was! but it got 429244 through it for almost 20 years.