Marlin 1895 mg

[rogsir]

Hello casters.
I am new to casting, just got my lee pot and 3 molds (1oz slug, lee105grs swc and a RN .44), and as i go on this page all my bad experience with lead bullets in my 1895 seems to be relatet to undersized bullets. I have bought and tested all kinds of cast bullets that i could get my hands on, they where all sized to 457 or 458. I could barely get 5" center to center with cast bullets. I bought 300 woodleight bullets a couple of years ago, and i still have 50+ left, the gun is never used, and that is a shame. this afternoon took the gun out and drove a slug thru the barrel, it came out at 459. Will the range dog 460 mold and sizer "heal" this gun ?

[DAMN YANKEE]

Can't speak for the mold you mentioned but check out BRP. You will not be disappointed.

[Tazman1602]

+1 on what DAMN YANKEE said

..................although YES, what you are looking at it a size issue. Get the bullets .001 or so bigger than the barrel slug and that 1895 should shoot just fine. All of mine do NOW that I got that part right.....

I'm not big on Ranch Dog molds simply because I don't like Liquid Alox, it's just messy. But his designs I have in lube groove molds from group buys here and they are some REAL shooters.

If you're just starting out reloading/casting try one of Ranch Dogs 6-bangers lubed with Liquid Alox. From what I understand they shoot very well and the price is really hard to beat.................

Art

Can't speak for the mold you mentioned but check out BRP. You will not be disappointed.

[6pt-sika]

I've been running "original" Ranch Dog molds since their inception .

I DO NOT tumble lube or use Liquid Alox .

The Ranch Dog molds however with the tumble lube grooves do very well in my Lyman 4500 lube sizers !

[rogsir]

I use the lee 105grs. for a plinking load in my 38special, and i have tried both pan lube and tumble lube. TL works for me. I found the brp page, and i will look into it. thanks

[excess650]

I think you've already found the root of your problem as being undersized boolits. With a .460" sizer and mold that casts larger than .459", you should have no problem improving your accuracy.

I shot many thousands of cast with LLA through my .45 when shooting IPSC, and it worked fine. I've also used it for moderate velocity loads in rifles, but use conventional lubes through a lubrisizer for anything that gets a gas check. If Michael Reamy (Ranch Dog) says he's using LLA and getting good resuts, I have no reason to doubt him. His bullet designs are specifically made for Marlin lever actions with their bore/groove/throat/OAL in mind. They are generally short for their weight, and largish in diameter, so apt to work.

[Tazman1602]

I've been running "original" Ranch Dog molds since their inception .

I DO NOT tumble lube or use Liquid Alox .

The Ranch Dog molds however with the tumble lube grooves do very well in my Lyman 4500 lube sizers !

Craig --

I had no idea. How do you lube these with the Lyman 4500 and what lube do you use? I know you've got a ton of RD molds and have a LOT of experience using them.

The RD designed molds I've got with lube grooves shoot really well and when they hit a deer the act like the hammer of Thor.....

I had a bad day with LLA about 25 years ago and never used it since, hence the aversion to TL bullets....Please do NOT think I am saying anything bad about Ranch Dog molds or Micheal, he's been a source of great information for me!


Art

[arcticbreeze]

Craig --

I had no idea. How do you lube these with the Lyman 4500 and what lube do you use? I know you've got a ton of RD molds and have a LOT of experience using them.

Art

As long as you don't size so far as to flatten the TL grooves out of existence you can use any lube. Many use FL, I like speed green. I would guess pretty much any lube would work. I think a soft lube is better but that is only my opinion.

Marc

[Gee_Wizz01]

Rogsir, the Ranch Dog 460-350 and 460-420 were designed specifically for the Marlin 1895 lever actions. I have both of these molds and they shoot extremely well in my 1895GG. I am getting 3" five shot groups at 100yds with either boolit. The 350 gr boolit is easier on the shoulder when shooting hot loads. Ranch Dog has loading data on his website for all of the molds he sells. Be sure to get the .460 lube and size kit he sells too. I have been using the Lee Liquid Alox on these two boolits without any problems. I run the 350 at 1920 fps (actual chronograph readings) and have zero leading. I am running the 420 gr at 1670 fps with no leading at all. You didn't say what your intended use for your 1895 is, but the 460-350 is good for everything I hunt, which includes deer and very large hogs.

G

[6pt-sika]

I had no idea. How do you lube these with the Lyman 4500 and what lube do you use? I know you've got a ton of RD molds and have a LOT of experience using them.

I've pretty much toned down to only 444's and 45-70's now !

With my 44/444 bullets I size now at either .432" or .433" and for the 45-70 I have a .461" die . Got all three of those dies from Buffalo Arms .

I usually use "Thompson's Blue Angel" although I also use the RCBS rifle lube as well depending on what I can get at the time .

[rogsir]

Seems like i could get a good start with the RD combo. It will be used for plinking and hunting white tail deers (smaller norwegian kind) and some red fox'es.

[bigted]

laughing.......may have to shoot those fox 2 maybe 3 times with those smaller 45 boolits...just sayin

once a smartass...

[6pt-sika]

Seems like i could get a good start with the RD combo. It will be used for plinking and hunting white tail deers (smaller norwegian kind) and some red fox'es.

I killed the largest racked whitetail and one of the 3 largest bodied whitetails I've ever taken 2 years ago with a Marlin 1895 of 1978 vintage shooting the Ranch Dog 460-350GC and pushed with a medium load of XMP5744 .

Shot him at about 60 yards and he maybe made it 30 yards after the shot !

That Model 1895 of 1978 vintage that I had was Micro and it did very well with the RD 350 grainer from air cooled WW's . To shoot the 460-425GC in that gun I needed to water quench my WW alloy and push them with a bit more powder in the H322 way of thinking !

[rogsir]

laughing.......may have to shoot those fox 2 maybe 3 times with those smaller 45 boolits...just sayin

once a smartass...

You can't use a gun that is to big, can you

[Ranch Dog]

Wow, thanks for the support of my molds! I've been trying to find the time to format a post with the results of some work I did with my 1895MR and the TLC460-425-RF. The MR is the 1895 rifle but chambered in 450 Marlin. It does use the improved barrel thread/lugs that the "M" uses over the "G" but it still is a 22" Ballard barrelled rifle.

I went nilgai hunting in early December and wanted to use this rifle as it was intended, a big critter getter, so I went back through my work with several of the Hodgdon powders and the big bullet across my pressure trace equipment. The max load of H335 was VERY accurate. That is 55.0-grains pushing the 425-grain bullet out the barrel at 1875 FPS with 41.3K PSI. I have three homes on my ranch and all the occupants commented on how the walls rattled during this work!

What a brute, I was also going to hunt whitetails during this hunt so I shot from a 15' tripod to prep for that. Sitting up on that perch, the rifle was actually hard to hold on to at the shot.

I know some guys don't like Alox and like posters have noted, you don't need to use it with my bullets and they work well in any traditional lube/sizer. I have experienced terrific performance from Alox and this rifle is an example. I bought the rifle new and save the occasional, single Hornady pressure trace calibration round, have only shot my cast bullets out of it. All have been at maximum pressure for testing. The last shot in prep for this hunt was #300, the barrel has not had a patch or brush through it since shot #1. I hope to get to the post about this rifle soon.

[rintinglen]

I can't comment on the ranchdog bullet molds--don;t own one, yet, though the 165 is on the radar. I have, however shot many thousands of rifle caliber bullets lubed with LLA with generaaly excellent results. I have used it up over 2300 FPS in both 30-40 and 30-06 with minimal leading, as well as many tens of thousands of 38 WC rounds. Lately I have been experimenting with the Recluse 45-45-10 LLA-Johnson;s paste wax-Mineral spirits mix. It dries faster and is less tacky,and has worked well in my 32-20, but I haven't run it over 1500 fps yet. I have found that LLA is great on Louverin Bullits, and would expect similar results from the RD designs.
BTW, Ranchdog, you can have my turn when it comes to shooting a 425 grain bullet at nearly 1900 FPS--like the parrot who laid the square egg said, "OUCH."