old Marlin tips needed.

[adrians]

hello and good morning,
i have just put a Marlin mod 94 in 32-20 on layaway and was curios what little things i need to know about this rifle afore i get to shooting it,, first i'll slug the bore but after determining the size is there anything else i should know about this rifle ?.
This is my first Marlin so i know nothing,,,,,,.

oh and this rifle is 111 years old .:twisted:[smilie=1::twisted:

[FergusonTO35]

Lucky man, my Dad used to have a new production 1894 in .32-20. All I can say is you need ammo, lots of it!!

[TXGunNut]

Does sound like fun indeed. If you're not set up to cast & load for it you can still find ammo on the shelf.

[adrians]

well i have the mold it's the older 3118 ,the blocks and handles are one piece and no vent lines, i read somewhere that this was/is a good boolit for the 32-20.
All i need now are the dies and some brass,,,, midway has the brass but i'm not sure what dies to get ,cowboy or standard,

The rifle according to the Marlin people say it was born in 1901.
have a good one :D

[torpedoman]

32-20 brass is very thin and delicate. cheapest supply i have found is. affordablebrassandbullets.com

I have not seen anyone who carries it outside of cabelas in a while.
fun round thankfully mine is a rolling block so i can't burn it up as fast as you will.

[TGM]

Get the Lee die set with the factory crimp die so you can crimp as a seperate step.

TGM

[Walter Laich]

be sure to keep the screws tight--Marlin is known for loose screws

[Whit Spurzon]

I have a 1905 vintage 1894 in that caliber and use the Lyman 311008 and the RCBS 32-98 SWC with good results in it. So far both Unique and W231 have worked well enough that I haven't done much experimenting beyond that. I load both to 1.592" and actually crimp on the driving band. I shoot both as-cast; .314" & .316" respectively. My bore slugs out at 3126"

I prefer the RCBS Cowboy dies to the Lee. You can buy the factory crimp die separate if you want to crimp with an extra step.