44 mag in the Marlin 1894

I shot our local pistol caliber levergun silhouette match today with my Marlin 1894, 44 mag. Load was 3.0gr. AA#5 and 28gr. FFFg black powder, under the NOE 200gr. blackpowder bullet. It was shooting as good as I can see, and never did anything unexpected. With the duplex load I shot the whole match and never had to wipe. No leading or fouling buildup. OK fine, so what?

So what is that rifle absolutely refuses to shoot accurately with smokeless powder and normal 44 bullets. It can do reasonably well with .433" bullets gaschecked and stiff loads, and it shoots great paper patched. But regular handgun type loads that I can use in the Blackhawk are terrible.

With this black powder load, I get top notch accuracy, easy on the brass and gun, and the ammo works great in the revolver also. Black powder just makes things so much easier than nitro powder, including cleanup afterward. Great stuff!

-Nobade

cool! What kind of BP?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chill Wills

cool! What kind of BP?

---

Homemade, with Tree of Heaven charcoal.

-Nobade

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nobade

Homemade, with Tree of Heaven charcoal.

-Nobade

---

:drinks: I'm impressed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nobade

Homemade, with Tree of Heaven charcoal.

-Nobade

---

How are you liking that TOH BP? I was getting an extra 50fps over Black willow from my 40-65 with it.

Bob

It works great. Light fouling, and powerful. Still haven't shot any over the chronograph but sight settings are the same as with Old E so it must be moving on out. As a bonus those trees are all over and easy to get people to let you have them!

-Nobade

May I ask what kind of tree is tree of heaven.

I just found a load of 27.5 g of 4895 and a 314299 NOE mold bullet that shoots less than 1" at 100 yards. I'm stopping there. I don't know if I would ever need to break out the experiments again having performance like that. Sounds like your there with your duplex load. cool stuff. I've never tried that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bignut

May I ask what kind of tree is tree of heaven.

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima

Considered an invasive species, it grows all over the US. We called it Paradise Tree in Virginia, but that seem to be a local name. Smooth bark, fast growing, soft wood and smells bad.

-Nobade

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kungfustyle

I just found a load of 27.5 g of 4895 and a 314299 NOE mold bullet that shoots less than 1" at 100 yards. I'm stopping there. I don't know if I would ever need to break out the experiments again having performance like that. Sounds like your there with your duplex load. cool stuff. I've never tried that.

---

Hmm, that sounds like sort of a skinny bullet for the 44 mag. Probably work pretty well in the 30-30 though! :bigsmyl2:

I have been looking for some of the Tree of Heaven here in Alabama but have not found any at this time. I live in a rural area with lots of forest so will probably eventually find it. I have been using the Black Willow for my charcoal. Have yet to load into cartridges. Wish I could find some of the TOH while I'm making charcoal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Avenger442

I have been looking for some of the Tree of Heaven here in Alabama but have not found any at this time. I live in a rural area with lots of forest so will probably eventually find it. I have been using the Black Willow for my charcoal. Have yet to load into cartridges. Wish I could find some of the TOH while I'm making charcoal.

---

Look in places that have been cut over. Clearcut forest, side of the road, vacant lots, etc. It will usually be the first trees growing after an area has been cleared.

-Nobade

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Avenger442

I have been looking for some of the Tree of Heaven here in Alabama but have not found any at this time. I live in a rural area with lots of forest so will probably eventually find it. I have been using the Black Willow for my charcoal. Have yet to load into cartridges. Wish I could find some of the TOH while I'm making charcoal.

---

Power line cuts. It should be all over AL. Grows very quickly. It propagates from seeds or the roots of existing trees. Literally goes from a seedling to a 10ft tree in 2 growing seasons. The leaves look a little like a walnut but if you cut the bark it has an obnoxious smell.

Bob