Marlin 1894 .357 powder ?

[randy_68]

I am working up some loads for my Marlin 1894 .357 to deer hunt with this fall. The bullets will be Noe 180 wfngc and the Cast Performance 180 wfngc. I am almost out of H110 and Lilgun and no one around has any on the shelf. One dealer told me he had Trail Boss, Power Pistol, Clays and Herco. He recommended Herco but I'm not sure that's what I want to use.
Any one have any other suggestons on what to use for a good heavy hitting accurate load for this Marlin with the 180 gr lead bullets?

[fecmech]

With 180's I'd wait for the slower powders like H110,4227,2400 if you want to run at top speed. That said you could easily get 1200-1300 fps out of a rifle using Power Pistol or Herco with 180's. Unless your deer are wearing Kevlar that should be sufficient to kill one.

[randy_68]

well I kept calling around and located a stash of Lilgun and 4227. I'm going Sat to pick some up. I forgot I also had used 4227 before but just never found the right load before I ran out. H110 and Lilgun both worked great.
Thanks for the reply

[osteodoc08]

I've had good luck with power pistol, H110 and Lilgun in the marlins. IIRC, there were a few posters on another forum that had the most velocity with the LilGun

[bobthenailer]

Even though i have 296/H110 , 2400, surplus WW 820 ,H4227 and 1680 on hand, my choise would be LilGun powder as i get excellent/equal accuracy as well as a extra 150 to 200 fps higher velocties than with other powders, i also get little over 1,700 fps with 180 gr cast bullets , this is not quite a max load but the most accurate with that powder.

[JSH]

My findings were the same as bobs. The 357 with 180+ bullets sure seemed to like to be pushed to the top end or close to it. Accuracy was good to fair with a moderat load, which I was actually really pleased with. But I thought least just crowd them some more and see where the threshold is with my alloy lube and gun. I was pleasantly surprised.
This is in a Ballard rifled marlin lever gun.
Jeff

[Jack Stanley]

Back when I was on the quest you are I tried 296 and Accurate Arms number nine and Accurate number nine was the better of the two for me . Though it was long enough ago I don't remember why , ah well , I got enough loaded to ventilate deer for a very long time to come .

I hope ya find the stuff that suits your needs .

Jack

[358 Win]

I cast the Ranch Dog 359-175. It weighs 179 grains fully dressed with my alloy of air cooled wheel weight metal + four ounces of tin per 10 pound pot. I use 13.5 grains of Alliant 2400, a standard small pistol primer, and Magnum cases for 1616fps out of my 1894C. The same load is the most accurate also from my 1894CBL with it's 24" full octagon barrel and receiver site. I have a Bushnell Banner fixed 2.5x20mm on the 1894C. My extensive testing with both the 1894C and CBL has indicated a velocity difference of only 25 to 35 feet per second between the two barrel lengths with identical loads. My present lots of 2400 and ACC#9 show the same velocity grain for grain, I just use the one producing the best accuracy. With the Lyman 358156 SWC bullet (164 grains fully dressed) 15.0 grains of ACC#9 and a standard small pistol primer, gives me 1800fps from the 1894C and is the most accurate load tested so far in the 1894C and my four inch S&W 19-4. In the 19-4 the speed is 1360fps. I'm lucky to have stumbled on a fast and accurate load for both firearms. Both the 1894C and the S&W 19-4 with the Lyman 358156 are capable of cleaning killing a deer within their respective range limitations.
358 Win

[FergusonTO35]

Hey guys. I'm fixing to work up some loads for my own 1894C with micro groove. I have a bunch of Lee .358 158 grain flat point slugs with gas checks that work awesome when loaded with mid range charges of Unique. They are cast out of a motley mix of range lead and WW that works great in my .30-30's. I will be using .357 cases and small pistol magnum primers, I do have small rifle primers also if you think those would be better. I have Blue Dot, H110, and a small amount of H4227. I would like to get these up to 1750 fps or so with good enough accuracy for hunting, something like 3" at 100 yards. According to my Lyman manual any of these powders should work. Which one do you think I should try first? Any pet loads to share?

[Tazman1602]

2400 hands down.

Art

[BABore]

I'm using Alliant 300-MP and a CCI 550 primer to drive a 180 gr CG boolit to 1,760 fps out of my 24" bbl'd Marlin CB.

[jmort]

110 and 300 MP are similar. 110 will get you the highest performance. I stay lower on the food chain with Unique and Blue Dot in .357/.38 and I am happy with results, but if you are aiming for 1,750, go with the 110 and magnum primers 4227 and Lil'Gun are similar and should work as well. Just can't get the stories of flame cutting and Lil'Gun out of my head If I were to step-up from Unique/BluDot I'd go to 2400. Second tier in terms of ballistics, but works real good.

[FergusonTO35]

I see that, unlike the Hodgdon manual, the Lyman Cast Boolit manual lists charges for 110 within the usual starting to max range, with no warnings about reduced loads. This is the .357 data in the rifle section. I wonder if the reduced loads are just a problem in revolvers?

[FergusonTO35]

Loaded up some gas checked 158's over 13.6 grains of 110 with a small pistol magnum primer. Took them to the range today with the Marlin 1894C. At 50 yards they did pretty good accuracy wise, better than the same cartridge with 8 grains of Accurate #5 by comparison.

[44magLeo]

Don't use the small rifle primers. They are taller than small pistol and will stick out above the case head. this can cause slamfires. If You do get them to not slam fire the Marlins for pistol cartridges have a lighter hammer fall and might not hit the harder rifle primers hard enough to fire consistantly.
Leo

[Scharfschuetze]

44magLeo,

While that is true for the LR and LP primers, it's not the case for the smaller diameter SR and SP primers. They are the same height. I wish the large size primers were all of the same height too.

I use SR primers in a few of my Marlin 1894 high velocity 357 loads and have not noted any issues with seating the primers below the base of the case. The often quoted correct depth below the base is: .004"

Back to the original question though, I guess if I couldn't find Lil'gun or H110 powders for my 1894, I'd go with 2400 or 296 for best velocities.

[williamwaco]

I am working up some loads for my Marlin 1894 .357 to deer hunt with this fall. The bullets will be Noe 180 wfngc and the Cast Performance 180 wfngc. I am almost out of H110 and Lilgun and no one around has any on the shelf. One dealer told me he had Trail Boss, Power Pistol, Clays and Herco. He recommended Herco but I'm not sure that's what I want to use.
Any one have any other suggestons on what to use for a good heavy hitting accurate load for this Marlin with the 180 gr lead bullets?

I am not sure what you want to use, but Herco is my all time favorite. I like it even better than 2400.

[LynC2]

Trying to find some powders is still a royal PITA! I found a good load with 296 in my Rossi lever, but darn near ran out of powder. Fortunately while visiting a friend in TX he sold me a few pounds that he no longer needed. I still can' find any Lil'Gun to try.
BTW Scharfschuetzer is correct about the primers and I use SR in my Rossi on a regular basis.

[waco]

How much 2400 are we talking with the 180? 11-12 grains?

[pcw907]

How much 2400 are we talking with the 180? 11-12 grains?

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Ed. page 259 cites 11.1 to 12.3 grains of 2400 for the Saeco 180gr #354 with Lyman #2 alloy.