Accurate mold 43-260B won't work in marlin 1894?

[whelen fan]

I have been looking for a mold that will with in my sbh and marlin 1894. I emailed Tom and he said the 43-260B won't work in lever guns as crimp to nose on that bullet is.375 which makes the bullets longer than salami spec.

I'm very confused by this as I see time and again posts of people shooting even heavier bullets in lever guns. I even read the article on lever guns that often gets advised here and the author shot heavier rnfp bullets no problem in stock marlins.

Can someone enlighten me?

[Shuz]

In my experience, Marlin 1894's in .44mag can be very finicky with respect to overall length. Too long and they won't feed properly. That's what Tom is referring to. I am not familiar with his 43-260B, but there are many designs that will feed thru a Marlin 1894. One such design is the Lee 200RNFP. It fed well thru my Marlins from 1.592 to 1.620 OAL. According to my records, the Ranch Dog 265 fed well from 1.543 to at least 1.550. A Lyman 429640, a nominal 270g boolit, fed well at 1.700. I could usually find some OAL with any boolit that would feed thru my Marlin 1894, my problem, tho, was that nothing would shoot accurately, even at .432 diameter! I sold my 1894 and now just enjoy my Winnie Trapper in .44mag and my Marlin 444SS in .444 Marlin, which both shoot cast beautifully. Good luck in your quests!

[stocker]

Too much length outside of the case. Yes, heavier bullets can be used but they will have more of the bullet inside the case and use a shorter nose and a crimp groove located correctly to maintain correct OAL.

[stocker]

Have a look at Tom's 43-300G as I think that might be your huckleberry. Ask Tom about it.

[knifemaker]

whelen fan;
If it is for a marlin 1894 44 mag. I would look at other molds in Accurate's inventory in the range of 250-265 gr. Reason for this is your Marlin has a 1 in 38 twist and some of them will not stabilize a 300 gr. cast bullet. Some guys are lucky and run onto a combination and can get a 300 gr. bullet to stabilize, others end up getting rid of the 300 gr. bullet and back down to a weight of 265 gr.
Get ahold of Tom and have him reccomend to you a mold that will cast a 265 gr. boolit and make the overall lenght requirements that is needed to feed in a marlin 94. I also reccomend that you request the mold to drop a boolit of .433 or .434 dia. as the marlin 94 is famous for oversize barrel groove dia. A larger dropped boolit give you more room to size to your rifle's groove dia.

[bones37]

I am not familiar with the 43-260B, but I can tell You that the 43-250K feeds and shoots well(enough) for me in my 80's vintage Marlin 1894 with microgroove barrel. I also agree with Knifemaker that You need a mold to drop at least a .433"boolit, especially if it is a microgroove barrel.

[Heavy lead]

Tom cut that mold to my specs, I asked him to modify one of his designs, I have a Marlin 44 1894, I will run some through tomorrow night and see, I love the mold in the 44 wheelguns I have, just haven't shot them from this rifle yet, I can cast a few up for you and send them off if you like as well, as if they did work in mind, that still doesn't mean they'll work in yours.
Let me know, be glad to send you some off. Have some hardball in the pot I can cast you some, actually need to cast some anyway, think I'll just do it tomorrow night.
Mine drops about .432, but Tom will cut it bigger for you if you want, he makes great molds if you don't already know this.

[knifemaker]

Whelan Fan; Heavy lead is willing to do you one great big favor. Take him up on it. Not every day you get to try the boolit in your gun prior to putting your hard earned money down on a mold.

[BubbaJon]

I have shot the LBT 250 and the NEI #252 which have a very similar profile and they cycle no problem. With a seat depth of .34 that means the COAL would be (.705 - .34) + 1.285 (brass length) = 1.65" which is a tad longer than "spec" but shouldn't be a problem. I have several rounds I load that come in at 1.68" and they cycle fine. That being said - better to avoid problems by sticking with suggested specs.

[BubbaJon]

whelen fan;
If it is for a marlin 1894 44 mag. I would look at other molds in Accurate's inventory in the range of 250-265 gr. Reason for this is your Marlin has a 1 in 38 twist and some of them will not stabilize a 300 gr. cast bullet. Some guys are lucky and run onto a combination and can get a 300 gr. bullet to stabilize, others end up getting rid of the 300 gr. bullet and back down to a weight of 265 gr.
Get ahold of Tom and have him reccomend to you a mold that will cast a 265 gr. boolit and make the overall lenght requirements that is needed to feed in a marlin 94. I also reccomend that you request the mold to drop a boolit of .433 or .434 dia. as the marlin 94 is famous for oversize barrel groove dia. A larger dropped boolit give you more room to size to your rifle's groove dia.
This is 100% good advice - I would suggest the 43-265M or the 43-275M both which will come in right at suggested COAL.