Opinions please - Lee 310gr 44 in...

[RoyRogers]

a Marlin 1894?

Thinking of buying this mold for my son's Christmas present. I would love to participate in the RD copy 265gr 44 mold group buy going on but money is tight these days.

All comments appreciated.

[TCLouis]

The 44 310 has produced the BEST group ever fired out of my Super Redhawk. I wish the nose was a bit smaller in diameter as it has to be seated deep to fit in the SRH cylinder.

Mid South very likely has the best price on that mold.

Still requires a gas check so boolit cost is higher than need be.

[randyrat]

If your talking about the LEE 44 mag 310 gr. I just loaded some 6.6 grians of Unique for a friend to try out. I cast mine out of WWs + a small amount of Tin and they came out 315 grians and i dipped them in thined out 30/70 Mineral spirits and Alox.
He shoots a Ruger Black hawk. I figured it would be a good starting point for some plinkin bullets.
Right now he can barely afford to shoot it with factory loads. Young hard working fellow he is, willing to try some God sending lead boolits. His dad also provides me with lots of WWs.

[dualsport]

Good boolit, accurate in my SBH, 3 1/2-4" groups at 50 yds. I never tried it in a Marlin. You can use it without a gas check no problem, just don't firewall them.

[Mallard57]

I can only repeat what I've heard and that is that the Marlin 1894 has a really slow twist. I believe that it is supposedly too slow to stabilize a bullet that heavy.
Jeff

[hedgehorn]

It is an excellent boolit shooting from a Ruger double action revolver. I have used it with a medium 2400 load as well as Unique and had very good results. I would recommend it.

[Leftoverdj]

The Lee 310 is marginal in 1894s. Some people report good results, Others, including me, don't. Those reporting good results seem to be loading a little hotter than I am comfortable doing.

[jack19512]

That boolit is what my Marlin 1894 likes the best. I don't load them hot just medium. Don't know why others 1894 don't like them.

[JesterGrin_1]

RoyRogers What are you going to shoot them out of?

[RoyRogers]

Thanks for all the answers thus far. My son has a Marlin 1894 and right now just that Marlin is in consideration for the Lee 310gr for us. I've heard some say the Marlin 1894 won't stabalize anything over 240gr and have seen posts where others stated it would stabilize the Lee bullet due to its long bearing surface and that their rifle shoots it well. In this thread Jack19512 states his Marlin shoots it well and LeftoverDJ does not. Guess I'm hoping to see form some sort of concensus form before ordering.

[44man]

Long ago I had Dave Farmer cut me a mold for a silhouette boolit. It weighs 250 gr. It is the only boolit I can get to shoot from the Marlin and then it is only good to 50 yards.
A live round will not eject so I needed to cut the brass down .10".
It does not make sense that it wont clear the action when the Lee 310 and the LBT 320 gr will, the nose is not that long.
If you plan on minute of deer at 100 yards with this rifle, good luck! [smilie=1:[smilie=1:

[Leftoverdj]

Roy, I think the Lee 310 grain bullet is right on the edge of what a 1 in 38" twist will stabilize at .44 mag velocities. The .444 Marlin boys love it, and their rifles have the same twist, but several hundred fps more velocity. I noticed shrinking groups as I worked my charge up, but they were still 3" at 50 yards when I called it quits. I get very good results with a 255 grain KT GC so I was not inclined to push the envelope.

I don't doubt those who get good results in the least. Another hundred fps and rifle to rifle variance could easily be enough to make the difference. You should just be aware that there is a chance this bullet will not work for you.

[JesterGrin_1]

Many like the Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag but it depends on what you expect as to accuracy. I have found the Lee 310Gr sized at .432 with 21.0Gr of H-110 or W-296 and a CCI LPP with an AOL of 1.620 to shoot groups at 100 yards of 2 to 2 1/2 inches. And they stabilize fine. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=60336&highlight=310

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/IMAG0051.jpg

[44man]

Many like the Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag but it depends on what you expect as to accuracy. I have found the Lee 310Gr sized at .432 with 21.0Gr of H-110 or W-296 and a CCI LPP with an AOL of 1.620 to shoot groups at 100 yards of 2 to 2 1/2 inches. And they stabilize fine. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=60336&highlight=310

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/IMAG0051.jpg
You are indeed lucky, I have done it a few times but can never duplicate it. The next day it can be 6" with a few off the paper, never to be found. The gun confounds me when I shoot a real nice group once but never again.

[chaos]

My marlin 1894 does just fine with RCBS 250 KT as well as the RCBS 240 SWC GC cast out of wheel weights and water dropperd over full charges of 296.

I've heard reports of guys whose 1894's choked on the keith slug. Mine hangs every now and then. Both loads will print really tightsgroups at 50 yards, with many holes touching. They look like Jester Grin's group at 100 yards. I've never tyried heavier slugs out of this gun or any of my 44 cal Handguns as they do just fine for me. I dont see the need for any heavier bullet for whitetails or hogs of any size. They plow right through and hogs I've pointed them at and the ones behind them too If I can get them to line up just right.

I was going to buy that mold you mention as i keep hearing about everyone using those heavy slugs in their handguns. I found that what I have works, so I never fooled with it.

I've also heard a bunch about how Marlins bores are oversized and need real fat bullets to make them print. I've never slugged any of my 44's. I size everything to .430. Maybe I just got lucky?


Just my 2 cents,
Chaos

[Doc_Stihl]

GREAT boolit. The 6 cavity mold and 2 cavity mold are sometimes different. My 6 cavity has a better (deeper) crimp groove.

[longbow]

I have read and been told that the 1:38" twist in the Marlin 1894 will shoot 300+ gr. boolits fine but so far I have been unable to get mine to perform with anything over about 265 gr.

RanchDog says his 300 gr. boolit works well and I have been told that the Beartooth 300 gr. WFN also works well. I have not tried either of those but several other designs and also "J" bullets of 300 grs. would not stabilize in my gun. Decent accuracy to about 50 yards, poor at 75 and keyholes at 100.

Also, I found the OAL for the Lyman 429421 and H&G 503 Keith style boolits too long for my gun so just filed about 0.100" off the cartridge stop so it will now handle the longer OAL.

FWIW

Longbow

[44man]

I even made special molds for the Marlin .44. I have up to .434". I have the RD 265 and the RCBS 250 gr. Nothing is stable past 50 yards.
Marlin changed the .444 to a 1 in 20" twist but will not change the .44. The old .444 was 1 in 38" but they got too many complaints. If the .444 can't drive a boolit fast enough to spin it up, how does anyone expect the .44 to?
The gun needs a pipe wrench on the muzzle to wind up the barrel! :mrgreen:

[Landric]

I just got that particular mold to try out in my .444 Marlin (which has a 1 in 20 twist). I have been loading 300 grain XTPs to about 2000 fps, but since I cast for everything else, I thought it was about time to start doing so for the .444. I got some 330 grain WFNGCs from Beartooth Bullets and they shot nicely at close to 2100 fps, so I expect to have good results with the Lee boolit, provided I can get the mold to work for me. I've never had much success with Lee molds, but I figure so many other people do that it must be me, so I'm trying again.

[JohnH]

I was never able to get the Lee 310 to shoot in a 1-38 twist barrel. I triee it in an NEF 44 mag and later in a Marlin '94 as well. I took my first mold and milled off the gas check shank and made a nice 265 grain plain base boolit that does everything I need it too. I was given another 310 mold and shot the boolits from it out of a Ruger SBH for a time.

In the end I have decided that the balance of velocity, trajectory and energy over 150 yards goes to boolits weighing 270 grains. Long time ago on another forum I wrote a fairly long post detailing this decision. All I can say of it now is that a close look at a ballistics program will bear me out.

I've shot two deer with my modified 310 mold boolit and have been more than happy with the performance it gave. To me, a 300 grain boolit is a 44 Mag is the perfect example of too much boolit and not enough case.

[jack19512]

That boolit is what my Marlin 1894 likes the best. I don't load them hot just medium. Don't know why others 1894 don't like them.






I should add that I have never shot my Marlin 1894 44 mag at a distance of 100 yards yet but at a distance of 60 yards the Lee 310 gr. boolit does very well. The other boolit I have is the Lee 240 gr. but I much prefer the 310 to it.