New 44 design for Marlin 1894

[bmortell]

Ordered/modified a design from accurate specifically for my newer 1894 levergun as my other molds have a honkin nose on em for Ruger revolvers. I based measurements of what id want based off seating a keith at different depths and seeing what would work, at 1.68 length and its .310 meplat it just manages to cycle. So i took a design with the bottom half i wanted and changed the top, its 43-250AT in the catalog now.

It gives 1.64-65 OAL and has .280 meplat and cycles well without taking damage. Its 255gr from WW and PC, seating depth is also about same as a keith for load data. I Wanted plain base tumble groves cause i mostly PC maybe tumble lube sometimes if im extra lazy. People say the older marlins can only cycle 1.60 max length untill you modfy the cartridge stop but from what i can gather the newer ones come "pre-modified" for longer rounds, not sure since when. But this design gives me comfortable margin in newer one.
heres the round on left compared to keith and uh Fat keith


i have some loads made sized .4324 tomarow ill test accuracy compared to the others "that dont cycle" with 2400 powder, and test expansion with soaked phonebooks and put up the data.

[osteodoc08]

Those are purty. Let us know how they shoot.

[Walks]

A very simple design. I like it.

[bmortell]

So i tried em, nothing exciting but not worse than anything else, gun seems to put everything in 1.4in at 25yd with peep sights and sandbags. I measure iron sight accuracy at 25 cause i feel i can gauge my point of aim properly, i do shoot deer targets and plates out to 100. Still stuff to try, i can go harder, increase my sizer a bit right now im 8-9 tenths over grove dia i didnt want to go big at first cause i cant make the sizer smaller.

Kinda disapointed cause i can do 1.25 at 25 with my 9.5" SRH iron sight if im aiming well, course practical accuracy for hunting would be better with rifle anyway.

I tested expansion with Air cooled ww at 1550 impact vel, medium was 7 inch soaked phonebooks, 2 half gallon jugs, 1 gallon jug, box of clothes in a bag. Went exactly through all of it and hit the box with no energy and fell down.

so the shape can expand well aparently, not sure what my hunting load would be yet so this is mostly just to see for reference

If you have suggestions on what to try for better accuracy feel free to share, id like to make it to and inch atleast at 25

[bmortell]

more testing

air cooled ww, pc, .4324, 5shot group, 25yds: ... 19gr 2400 - 1.44"... unique 11gr - 2.3" ... 7gr trailboss - 1.46" … 22.5gr H110 - 2.2" … 23.5gr imr4227 - 2.15"

same baked 400 20min cold water drop: ... 19gr 2400 - 1.8" … 22.5gr H110 - 1.42" … 23.5gr imr4227 - 1.5"

1.4" barrier persists

madness intensifies

[Ramjet-SS]

Did you try a different color?

[Dinny]

My 1894 was born in 2003 and has a low powered scope mounted. I'm interested in trading for some of these bullets and I could work with you to test different combinations and post my results. PM me if this is something that interests you. If not, I completely understand and will be content reading your future posts.

Thanks, Dinny

[bmortell]

im winning!

I moved my front sight 35 thou right to fix poi which isn't relevant, but while I was there I checked the screw on the front sight and it turned down 30 degrees without much effort, also cleaned the baked on lube gunk off the crown with solvent, and weight sorted the water dropped bullets.

repeated previous H110 and 4227 loads. h110 group shrunk from 1.42" to 0.72", imr4427 shrunk from 1.5" to 0.87" basically doubled my accuracy in 1 day

it seems if you maintain your gun it works better ? ! ?, who would a thunk it

[oconeedan]

Loose front sights usually produce horizontal stringing. Did your previous groups have that?
Nice looking bullets. Dan

[longbow]

You might slug your barrel to check for tight spots. I read that on the Marlin owner's forum so tried it and sure enough I had tight spots under dovetails and roll stamping! Since I was having some leading issues and accuracy was pretty mediocre I decided I'd try lapping the bore. I made up a lap and concentrated on the tight spots then worked the lap a bit more towards the breech and a bit less towards the muzzle to maybe put a slight choke in the bore. Once done leading disappeared and accuracy improved.

Mine is a microgroove barrel too so I figured I might just lap the rifling away but it turned out quite well. Fire lapping might do it too and would be easier. I just wanted to be able to feel tight spots loosening up then move on. I wasn't sure fire lapping would be so selective.

Also, I use minimum diameter of 0.433" in my 0.4315" groove barrel.

Longbow

[bmortell]

I think mines fine and its not microgroove, the only spot I have a tiny streak of lead is on the tops of rifling near the front. and 3/4 at 25 feels as good as I can aim to me so im happy there.