Marlin 1894 44! how accurate?

[longuner]

Hey guys, I have a 44 mag Marlin and i was wondering what kind of accuracy yall get and with what kind of bullets. I may need to put a scope on it for a project and want to know if its worth the time or effort.

Thanks,

Longuner

[NickSS]

You need to slug the bore to know how fat a bullet you will need. I have owned several both with micro groove and ballard type rifling and all of them took bullets larger than .430". The one I have today shoots a bullet of .432" and it has ballard rifling. The only bullet I use is a RF Lee of 200 gr weight and I only load it to a max of 1300 fps. I use it for cowboy action shooting and it is plenty accurate for that sport.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Mine is a .41 so it should be about the same.
+1 on the throat slugging... Marlin throats are normally fat so the cast boolit must fill it. My .41 needs .412 slugs to shoot well. Even .413 fits and work a shade better.
I expect to have 1.5 " at 50 yards from a good load and less from the tweaked loads. Never got to 1" but 1.3" at 50 yards is not impossible. I have not tried but 1 GC boolit and that is a 265 Pushed with all the 1680 that would fit. That is one thumper and will shoot at the 1.3-1.4" at 50 yards.

[Ranch Dog]

In that it is a Marlin it is simple. You need a .432 bullet. I pay no attention to the rifling, as I have both and they shoot equally well. I shoot my rifles at max loads and see great accuracy. I'm shooting both my TLC432-265-RF and the TLC432-300-RF. I actually favor the heavy bullet despite the claims that the 1:38 doesn't favor it.

My little short "P", a carbine based on the Guide Gun sporting a 16 1/4" ported barrel loves the heavy bullet and I've killed quite a bit of game with it. I shot this spike in December with the rifle that sports a Bushnell Banner 1.4-4.5X32 at 100-yards. The bullet struck the point of aim and the deer went straight down.

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Hunting/2010/RD_1894P_Spike.jpg

Some of the largest hogs I've killed have been killed with this little rifle. This beast was at the feeder in the background, 100-yards from my back door. Another POA hit with the 300-grain bullet. He went about 25-yards but a hog has a lot of primal energy that a deer doesn't.

http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/Hunting/2009/090323_hog.jpg

This combo has also deliver the greatest number of hogs I've killed with one shot. I put a string of corn in one of my food plots that the hogs were terrorizing and about 25 to 30 came in. I had them lined up line they were eating at a trough. I lined up the shot to maximize the hits through the lungs. At the shot 80-yards out, three dropped and I recovered a fourth about 65-yards away... dead. I killed two others as the group ran. The last of the two was a 100-pound hog running straight away from me at a later lasered range of 125-yards. The bullet entered through the top of his left hip, clipped the bottom of his spine about half up the body and exited his front shoulder. He rolled up in a ball.

Here is another hog I shot at 100-yards on a food plot above my house while my wife held a light on him. This is the impact side of that Flat Point bullet striking him. POA and impact was at the base of the "L" the bullet painted on him! Yes, it blew through him.

http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/Hunting/2009/090208_hog.jpg

I've learned to fill the leade, throat, and step with lead and push it at a maximum pressure. The Micro-Groove or Ballard and 1:38 doesn't mind it a bit. I use 21.0-grains of H110 for 1535 FPS. I shoot .61" 5 shot groups with this at 50-yards and 1.5" at 100-yard. I've actually shot it on my range at 300-yards and it is very predictable.

[longuner]

Well guess that sums it up, I do have the 265 Ranch Dog mold. How about reduced loads say in the 1000 to 1200 range?

[1Shirt]

Michael, Thats for sure impressive! You da man by golly like they say in Minnisoota.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Ranch Dog]

Marlin uses a weird step on all their 1894s very long and shallow, approximately 6° 30", running from 5° to 7° depending on the cartridge. I assume this is to allow a cartridge to smoothly travel from the tube, up the carrier, and into the chamber. The bottom-line is it creates a lot of space that must be filled.

[Ranch Dog]

Well guess that sums it up, I do have the 265 Ranch Dog mold. How about reduced loads say in the 1000 to 1200 range?

I've never shot them but the reports back I have are the hotter the better.

[Ranch Dog]

Michael, Thats for sure impressive! You da man by golly like they say in Minnisoota.
1Shirt!:coffee:

It's all in the spotter and I've trained her pretty good on how to handle the light! That big old beast landed right where he was shot. That field was just planted and he was out there sucking up seed.

I'm a 444 Marlin nut, I always thought the 44 in a rifle was weird. I mean why bust a cap when you can really bust a cap. That little "P" and I have really taken a shine to each other and it has become my ranch rifle, truck gun, and sits in a rack at the back door.

[76 WARLOCK]

I wonder if any of the above would apply to my 1894 cowboy limited 11in 44wcf I have not slugged it.

[Ranch Dog]

I suspect it would. Even the 336-44 is cut the same, a lovely rifle!

[EDK]

Didn't they change the rifling in the 444s? I would guess that MARLIN used the same twist barrels in any and all 44 calibers, sooo someday the 44 magnums will have a faster twist. Oh well, live with what we have for now.

Those little 1894s will a 16 inch barrels sure are handy little guys. I carried one cut down to 16.5 in a saddle scabbard for 20 years...only came out to shoot or clean it. (Gave it to my step son who promptly traded it for a .264 Win Mag bolt gun...one of his numerous bright moves!) Real seriously thinking about scrounging up another round barrel gun and having it set up like my old gun.

Love the TLC 432 265 at various levels in the rifles...shoots good in the revolvers, but gas checks aren't needed for my preferred loads. The NOE version fill that niche.

:redneck::cbpour::Fire:

[kelbro]

21.0gr and 22.2gr of H110 behind the 265gr RD shoot 1.5"@100yds in my 1894 with Skinner aperture sights.

[Airborne Falcon]

Ranch Dog, I'm going to have to give one of your molds a try. I've downed many a deer and pig with my little 1894P as well. It is in the truck with me more than any other these days, although still with no glass, I recently put a set of peeps on it hoping to squeeze one or two more years out of these old eyes before being forced to mount glass.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/gallopazzesco/Mobile%20Uploads/utf-8BSU1HMDAwNzgtMjAxMDA2MjQtMTAxM.jpg

[HEAD0001]

I have had a few 1894's. Two in 44 magnum. Both had low power scopes on them. Both would keep the bullets that i cast into 2" or slightly less groups at 100 yards. I was happy with the accuracy of all my 1894's. I had a feeding problem with one but I was shooting heavy for caliber bullets. When I switched to a lighter bullet that problem went away(300 grainer in 44 magnum). Tom.

[JesterGrin_1]

I guess I was never as lucky as Ranch Dog or the others. As the best I could ever get out of mine at 100 yards is between 2 to 2 1/2 groups. Do size them at least .432. My rifle did ok with the Ranch Dog 265Gr but never had a chance to try his 300Gr out. But did use the Lee 430-310 RNFP/GC sized .432 with good effect.

And by the way there is a group buy going on for the Lee 430-310Gr but I think sized .434 in either plain base or Gas Check and you can even get a hollow point mold.

[Lloyd Smale]

your doing better then me. The best 94 i had woud do about 4 inch at a 100 and my P will only do about 6 and thats on a good day. It is a very finiky gun and if it werent so cute and handy it would have gone done the road long ago. Ive just come to only take it out when i know the hunting range wont be past 50 yards. Like ranch dog said heavys are the way to go in it. With lighter bullets its lucky to stay on the paper at 50 yards.
I guess I was never as lucky as Ranch Dog or the others. As the best I could ever get out of mine at 100 yards is between 2 to 2 1/2 groups. Do size them at least .432. My rifle did ok with the Ranch Dog 265Gr but never had a chance to try his 300Gr out. But did use the Lee 430-310 RNFP/GC sized .432 with good effect.

And by the way there is a group buy going on for the Lee 430-310Gr but I think sized .434 in either plain base or Gas Check and you can even get a hollow point mold.

[AKtinman]

Great thread!

Last weekend I found a gently used 1894 Cowboy Limited 20” at a gun show and it came home with me.

Haven’t found a lot of info on the web about this model, but the serial starts with “93” and other than 2 minor wood dings, the gun looks about new. It does have “JM” stamped near the chamber.

I’ve got an order to be mailed tomorrow for one of the Ranch Dog 265 grain molds.

I also have an old NEI SSK 285 grain mold that I’ll have to dust off and try out.

This will be fun!

[robertbank]

This will be the dumbest question ever asked on this Forum do be easy on this old Canuck. Are those feral hogs suitible for eating or not? We obviously don't have them up here so I just got to ask.

Take Care

Bob

[Bodydoc447]

The feral hogs I have gotten were delicious! I generally just make sausage out of them, though. I grind them with a little extra fat since they are so lean and make mostly Polish sausage and brats out of them. I just got some "high temperature" cheese to make cheddar brats for the next time I am lucky enough to get a hog.

Doc

[JesterGrin_1]

your doing better then me. The best 94 i had woud do about 4 inch at a 100 and my P will only do about 6 and thats on a good day. It is a very finiky gun and if it werent so cute and handy it would have gone done the road long ago. Ive just come to only take it out when i know the hunting range wont be past 50 yards. Like ranch dog said heavys are the way to go in it. With lighter bullets its lucky to stay on the paper at 50 yards.

Well Lloyd Smale it was a long darn road to get mine to even shoot down in the 2 1/2 inch range at 100 yards. I mean hundreds of rounds trying. The best I found were the 300 Gr class of Boolits pushed hard.

I tried a 300Gr TCP/GC that would do 2 Inches at 100 yards but due to the small meplate I did not go with them since I planned to hunt with it. So I settled on the Lee 430-310Gr RNFP/GC sized at .432 with 21.0 Gr of W-296 in a Rem case and a CCI Large Pistol primer not the Mag as it does not normally get cold enough down here to need a mag primer.

And unlike you Lloyd Smale I just was not confident enough to use the rifle to hunt with since most of my shots start at 100 to 150 yards so in the end I traded the Marlin 1894SS in .44 Mag for a Marlin 336 CB in 38-55 and trying to work with that one at this time.

[dgslyr]

This will be the dumbest question ever asked on this Forum do be easy on this old Canuck. Are those feral hogs suitible for eating or not? We obviously don't have them up here so I just got to ask.

Take Care

Bob

The sows and young ones are really tasty.The mature boars stink to high heaven when they are being cooked.You can eat them but you will only cook them inside the house once.

[x101airborne]

Shucks. Piggy..... the other other other white meat. Hogs are guud, mmmkk? A trap full of piggys is like a day with sunshine. Its all good! Michael got my 44 mag lined out with his round. I too tried the lee 430 300gr'nr with dismal results. Ya gotta have at least .432 diamater to work well. Mine is currently shooting around the 2moa range. Good nuff for 200 yard shooting. Zeroed at 100 leaves me 4" high at 50 and 16 inches low at 200.

[Airborne Falcon]

The sows and young ones are really tasty.The mature boars stink to high heaven when they are being cooked.You can eat them but you will only cook them inside the house once.

Good Gosh ain't that the truth. And don't think for a second you ever need to age that pork in the bottom drawer of your fridge for a couple of days either.

I'm not crazy about eating wild hog meat unless, as you typed, they are the young ones. I might take the tenderloin out of the older ones and do something with it from time to time ... but the rest I usually leave for the possums and yotes and buzzards.

They are a pain in our **** down here. Really, in all honesty, worse than the yotes. We are allowed to hunt them at night down here just like we would any other varmint species.

[robertbank]

Sounds like I need to go on a road trip before they put me under the grass. I'll bet they are fun shoots.

Take Care

Bob

[kingstrider]

I have a handful of good 44 molds but the Lyman 429640 Devastator is the most accurate in any gun I've tried. When sized to .429 it will shoot touching groups at 50 yards in my '73 1894 Octagon using a Skinner peep sight.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/refinished1894octagon9.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/devastator50b.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/devastator50d.jpg

[44 flattop]

Last weekend I found a gently used 1894 Cowboy Limited 20” at a gun show and it came home with me.

This will be fun!
Yes, it WILL be fun! I have 2 of the 24" octagon versions and one of the 20". I cannot possibly say enough good about them. The scoped 24" version is my 'main' huntin' rifle, the 20" is my 'truck gun'. But the peep sighted 24" version is my *go to* gun 24/7, 365:smile: Because of that it has spent more time on the trail, more time on the range and more time taking game than most of my other rifles put togather.

44

[AKtinman]

44 flattop:

I had some initial disappointment with this rifle as it jammed on just about anything I fed it. After taking it apart and doing some of the mods suggested on this and other forums, it feeds near 100% now.

Last weekend I cast up some of the Ranch Dog 265’s and have them on the bench ready to load. The NEI/SSK 285 grain is too long for the Magnum case, but feeds fine from the Special case - but that doesn’t leave much powder room. The LBT LFN functions well through the action, but is likely a bit small in diameter.

An older Leupold Compact 2.5x scope was installed, and a few rounds fired at 30 yards for a quick sight-in from the front porch. Ammo used was 429360 over 13.5gr 2400 in the .44 Special case, which is very accurate from my 24-3. Five rounds into a ragged hole shows promise. BTW these rounds jammed on the SWC shoulder during feeding, but were what I had on hand at the time.

I’m thinking the Ranch Dog 265 will be just the ticket in this gun.

This rifle replaced a 1895 Guide Gun, which I sold because of the ports. I liked it and it shot the LBT 350 grainer well, but the darn ports were too hard on my hearing. No problem at the range, but off the tractor or ATV without ear protection, and one shot was just too painful.

[44 flattop]

AKtinman

I understand the 265 Ranch Dog is a good boolit. I don't happen to have one but I do have about 30 others from Lyman, RCBS, NEI, SSK, etc. I'm sure you'll have good luck with it.

Of my three .44 Marlin Cowboys, 2 feed anything. One does have a bit of a problem from time to time feeding SWC's from .44 special cases. It seems to be getting better as it is shot more.

If you ever want a really nice feeding bullet and load, try to find a 429640 and load it in a .44 special case with 15 1/2grs of AA#9. The accuracy is fantastic!

44

[Four Fingers of Death]

Do those Ranch Dawgs work well in the 444? I have both, the 1894 in 44Mag and a recent 444 with Ballard rifling (1 in 20 I think from memory). My mate bought a 30cal Ranch Dog mopuld recently and it works a treat!

[ironhead7544]

Ive had a couple of older model 1894s that werent fussy about ammo but the newer model seems to be more difficult to load for. You will have to experiment some. I did find that the original 200 gr FN type 44 WCF bullet gave nearly one hole accuracy at 50 yards when loaded to 1300-1400 fps. The 38 inch twist was designed for that bullet. I use a 6x24 power scope to develop loads and could watch that load go into a tight group. The 300 gr bullets were good for 50 yards but were tumbling at 100 yards. I would stick to 200-265 gr bullets that will feed properly. Just my .02.

[shootingbuff]

Sure wish I could find a "P" model - hint :razz:

sb

[44 flattop]

Sure wish I could find a "P" model - hint :razz:

Heh heh! I know where there is one, been trying to dicker the fellow out of it, probably less than 50 rounds through it. Problem is, he wants me to trade an original Ruger 44 Flattop back to him for it, straight across, that I swapped him out of years ago. And he won't budge. [smilie=1:

44

[rays308]

IMO you can't go wrong with the RD 265. Turned my 1894S into my first choice to grab gun. Was my mini14 with 69gr semi spitz jwords. The little Marlin with the 265gr hits with MUCH more authority than the 223 and is just as handy for snap shots.
With a full load of 296 or H110 the marlin will do under 2 inches at 100yds from a rest and I can bust clay birds all day at 200yds with a little up adjustment of my front sight.
I found that I need to mike the middle of the boolit to sort out any undersize, thats because I run 2 or 3 molds at a time and if I get side tracked the mold cools pretty quick.

Used the 265 on a couple of does this year out of my SRH 9.5, they literaly smack when they hit.
Coyotes, dogs, cats and groundhogs don't like them either.

I'm itchin to try the RD300gr this year. Not sure why, I don't need it. I do like the looks of it though.

Of the 15 or 20 molds I have, Ranch dogs has been 1 of 3 that I haven't had to lap out. This includes older and new molds.

Ray

[shootingbuff]

Heh heh! I know where there is one, been trying to dicker the fellow out of it, probably less than 50 rounds through it. Problem is, he wants me to trade an original Ruger 44 Flattop back to him for it, straight across, that I swapped him out of years ago. And he won't budge. [smilie=1:

44

Wekk that is what you get for teasing me and more than not getting the best of the deal won the flattop :wink:

[bones37]

Ive had a couple of older model 1894s that werent fussy about ammo but the newer model seems to be more difficult to load for. You will have to experiment some. I did find that the original 200 gr FN type 44 WCF bullet gave nearly one hole accuracy at 50 yards when loaded to 1300-1400 fps. The 38 inch twist was designed for that bullet. I use a 6x24 power scope to develop loads and could watch that load go into a tight group. The 300 gr bullets were good for 50 yards but were tumbling at 100 yards. I would stick to 200-265 gr bullets that will feed properly. Just my .02.

I think You're right about the 200 gr. FN type 44 WCF and the 1-38 twist, years ago I had an older gun that wouldn't shoot ANYTHING over a 200 grain, and even at that, it was iffy. I still would like to find a gently used Marlin, and have it barreled with a 1-18 twist so I could use lower velocity rounds in it and still have decent groups.