Marlin 1894 .44 Mag Cast Loads

[04hunter]

Hi everyone. I have read over 40 pages of threads on this board about cast bullets in the .44 Mag and am slightly more confused than normal. For the sake of argument, lets say I have a Ballard rifled, Marlin 1894 in .44 mag and a Lee 200 RN plain base mold. Will this bullet provide decent accuracy (3 inches or less at 100yds or so) for plinking with a moderate to low recoil load? What speed (approximately of course, as all guns are different) would provide the best accuracy without leading? Will this mold produce bullets that are large enough to fill the Marlin's bore? Sorry for all the questions, but I couldn't read a thousand thoughts and put them all together. Thanks for any and all info.

[Wally]

Had a Marlin 1894 in the past. The Marlin requires a bullet in teh .431"+ area to shoot well. I now have a USRA 94AE..same deal. Both work best with heavier bullets. I've tried for years to get a good light one to work in mine--the best light one was a 429215..which is a 215 SWC with a gas check. Also, typically one needs to shoot at less than 1,800 FPS with cast in this caliber, although others may disagree.

Also a RN may not be a good bullet in a tubular magaize..I would not dare use one.

Also, I find that .44 Special shoot very well in mine.

In this caliber one has to experiment to find what works best for them.

[04hunter]

Wally, thanks for the reply. I am sorry I meant that the Lee mold was a roundnose/flat point.

[country85]

Step one would be to slug your barrel, if's it's an older marlin it'll probably slug around .432 or so. Being a 1 in 38'' twist most likely I think 200 grains is gonna be a tad too light, I'd try a 245 to 255 SWC or RNFP. Start low and work up a load. The Lee 310 grain RNFP's do well but you'll have to push em at around 1375 to 1450 minimum to get em to stabilize in that slow of rifling.

[Moondawg]

I just unloaded a Marlin 1894 ballard rifled in 44 mag. Nothing would shoot good in it. Not light weight boolits, or heavy boolits, or GC boolits, sized from .431 to .432, using powders from fast to slow. Of course the fact that the barrel had a real tight spot just below where the rear sight dovetail was may have had something to do with its inaccuracy. It looks like the factory jammed a overlarge rear sight into a oversmall dovetail, bulging the barrel down a little. The barrel walls on the 44mags are not real thick to start with. The constricted area and the bore ahead of it was also the spot that wanted to lead real easily. I discovered the tight area when I slugged the barrel. In fact it was a couple thousands worth of constriction. After six months working with the gun, I gave up and unloaded it. Life is to short to spend it messing with a rifle that will not shoot under 6" at a 100yds. I would not buy another Marlin 94 with a round barrel,without first slugging the bore. The cowboy guns with octogon barrel may be better because the barrel may be thicker. I hope you have better luck than I did. BTW, my Marlin 94 in 357 mag, shoots like a house afire.

[Wally]

Wally, thanks for the reply. I am sorry I meant that the Lee mold was a roundnose/flat point.

I have that one---I have done well with it at 50~75 yards---at 100 it is not as good as heavier bullets.

[Wally]

I just unloaded a Marlin 1894 ballard rifled in 44 mag. Nothing would shoot good in it. Not light weight boolits, or heavy boolits, or GC boolits, sized from .431 to .432, using powders from fast to slow. Of course the fact that the barrel had a real tight spot just below where the rear sight dovetail was may have had something to do with its inaccuracy. It looks like the factory jammed a overlarge rear sight into a oversmall dovetail, bulging the barrel down a little. The barrel walls on the 44mags are not real thick to start with. The constricted area and the bore ahead of it was also the spot that wanted to lead real easily. I discovered the tight area when I slugged the barrel. In fact it was a couple thousands worth of constriction. After six months working with the gun, I gave up and unloaded it. Life is to short to spend it messing with a rifle that will not shoot under 6" at a 100yds. I would not buy another Marlin 94 with a round barrel,without first slugging the bore. The cowboy guns with octogon barrel may be better because the barrel may be thicker. I hope you have better luck than I did. BTW, my Marlin 94 in 357 mag, shoots like a house afire.

I did the same with a Marlin and a Browning B92...my USRA94 shoots much,.much better. It even does surprisingly well with a 429360...

[Moondawg]

I should add that it all depends on the barrel in your particular rifle, how and what it will shot. Mine came from the factory with a bad barrel, and with the reputation the Remlins have, I was not about to send it back to the now Remington factory to see if they would try to fix it. My carbine was a late model Marlin built just before they transitioned to Remington.

[04hunter]

First off, thanks for the info, everyone. From what I am hearing a heavier bullet would probably do better, while still in a light, plinking load. Would an 1894c in .357 have a better chance at being accurate with a 158gr. bullet, gas checked or not? Or would I stand a better chance with a 336 in .30-30 with the Microgroove barrel? Again, I am just trying to find a lever that will shoot pretty well with light cast loads to have fun with. Not trying to hunt or set any velocity records. Thanks again.

[Wally]

First off, thanks for the info, everyone. From what I am hearing a heavier bullet would probably do better, while still in a light, plinking load. Would an 1894c in .357 have a better chance at being accurate with a 158gr. bullet, gas checked or not? Or would I stand a better chance with a 336 in .30-30 with the Microgroove barrel? Again, I am just trying to find a lever that will shoot pretty well with light cast loads to have fun with. Not trying to hunt or set any velocity records. Thanks again.

I have the 1894C---it is an ideal, fun to use plinker. Even .38 Special shoot very well in it including WC bullets. I find it more accurate than any .44 Mag carbine that I've tried. The .30-30 would be a poor choice for a fun plinker, IMHO, unless you are using gas checked bullets in it.

[04hunter]

Wally,
It sounds like the 1894c may be the way to go. What bullets and powders do you recommend? How big do they need to be? What speeds should I seek? Thanks again.

[fecmech]

For plinking and general fun shooting the .357's are hard to beat. Even with full snort loads recoil is mild. I shoot a lot of .38 spl level loads in .357 rifles and it's like eating popcorn, you don't stop till the ammo is all gone. I shoot 158's and 125's in the 1150-1250 FPS range and average approx 3MOA with a couple Rossi's and a Winchester. They are pleasant to shoot, kind of like a big .22. Unlike the .22 the bigger bullets have more effect on swinging targets etc. Also if you're casting these loads cost about the same as .22's to shoot. I run maybe 4-5K through my lever guns in a year so if you haven't bought the gun yet give the .357's a good look. Brass in .38 spl is plentiful and cheap, also lead goes a lot further with 125-158's vs 200-250 in the .44 or .45. Just thought I'd give you my two centavos.

[fatelk]

I have an older 1894 .44 mag with microgroove rifling. I was having the same the same frustrations as Moondawg, nothing shot better than 6-8".

With help here I eventually figured out that the main problem seemed to have been that there was way too much tension between the barrel and mag tube. I relieved that and reassembled it with the correct torque on the forend screws, and now it shoots much better. I'm using 240gr plain-base flat-nose bullets sized to .4315, with a slightly-below-Elmer-Keith charge of 2400.

I passed up an 1894c .357 mag a while back and regret it now. They look like an ideal little rifle. I really need to get a .357 lever gun one of these days.

[Wally]

Wally,
It sounds like the 1894c may be the way to go. What bullets and powders do you recommend? How big do they need to be? What speeds should I seek? Thanks again.

The nice thing about my 1894C is that bullets from 110 to 170 grains shoot very well in it---no special loads needed...use Red Dot/Bullseye/HP-38 for the ligher bullets and a slower burning powder for the heavier ones....I use Unique. IMHO keep the cast bullets at 1,800 FPS or less. If shoot shoot .38 Specials, try them first. For plinking one doesn't need hot laods.

[Larry Gibson]

Hi everyone. I have read over 40 pages of threads on this board about cast bullets in the .44 Mag and am slightly more confused than normal. For the sake of argument, lets say I have a Ballard rifled, Marlin 1894 in .44 mag and a Lee 200 RN plain base mold. Will this bullet provide decent accuracy (3 inches or less at 100yds or so) for plinking with a moderate to low recoil load? What speed (approximately of course, as all guns are different) would provide the best accuracy without leading? Will this mold produce bullets that are large enough to fill the Marlin's bore? Sorry for all the questions, but I couldn't read a thousand thoughts and put them all together. Thanks for any and all info.

Work with 7.5 - 9 gr Bullseye with that bullet cast of COWWs + 2% tin. My mould drops them right at .431 with that bullet and I size at .430. I also lube with BAC or Javelina. Best accuracy will probably run around 1050 - 1200 fps. If you can cast good bullets, reload them correctly and can shoot and the Marlin is an accurate one then "for the sake of argument" 3 moa accuracy is probable.

Larry Gibson

[HiVelocity]

I too sold my Marlin 44 Magnum awhile back. It shot fine, I just opted to the 1895 in 45-70.

My 44 also only shot heavier bullets well. As a matter of fact, the person who got the rifle also got the Ranch Dog mold [TLC432-265-RF] with it (wish I had the mold back). His 265gr bullet works well and should serve you well. It hits like a sledge hammer.......DRT!

Again, just my .02 worth; R-D is at the top of this page, check it out. Michael doesn't sell what he hasn't tried and worked in his personal rifles.

HV

[04hunter]

Wow, thanks for all the info, guys. I think I am going to start looking for an 1894c in .357. It sounds as if it is a bit more forgiving and easier to work with. If anyone has any further nuggets of knowledge about loading for this, please chime in (molds, bullet weight, shape, powder, etc). Thanks again.

[EDK]

Go over to marlinowners.com and do some reading on the 1894's quirks.

I always recommend lasc.us and GlennFryxell's article on 1894 MARLINS.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM on the various caliber MARLINS is oversize boolit, gas check, hard alloy, higher end velocity; the 1894 in 357 shooters over at marlinowners also like heavier boolits...175/180 grain.

:redneck: :cbpour:

[jodum]

My Marlin 94 Cowboy shoots the Ranchdog 265 gr LFPGC best of all. This bullet at around 1700 fps will break clay targets at 100 yards consistantly. Deadly on hogs and deer.

[Greg G]

With help here I eventually figured out that the main problem seemed to have been that there was way too much tension between the barrel and mag tube.



I found the same problem on my Marlin .44 mag. I had to clearance the barrel with a cartidge roll in a die grinder so that the magazine tube did not put tension on the barrel. It shot a lot better afterwards.

[44magLeo]

I have tried the Lee 200 gr boolit. It comes out of the mold way to small. About .427 to .429. My 44 Malin I bought new in 1977. I shoot mostly Lymans 421429 as cast with ww, AC or WD. both worked well.
I also found that the Lee bullet was to short. If seated to the crimp groove it won't feed from the tube up to chamber. Seated out to the lower lube groove it feeds fine.
It just won't shoot.
I think if I had a 200 gr bullet that came out of the mold at .433 it would shoot much better.
Leo

[Shuz]

I have tried the Lee 200 gr boolit. It comes out of the mold way to small. About .427 to .429. My 44 Malin I bought new in 1977. I shoot mostly Lymans 421429 as cast with ww, AC or WD. both worked well.
I also found that the Lee bullet was to short. If seated to the crimp groove it won't feed from the tube up to chamber. Seated out to the lower lube groove it feeds fine.
It just won't shoot.
I think if I had a 200 gr bullet that came out of the mold at .433 it would shoot much better.
Leo

"Beagle" your Lee 44 200g mould and it will feed fine in your Marlin. I've done it on one of my 2 Lee 200g moulds., and it shoots well in the Winnie Trapper, but not in the Marlin.....but the Marlin doesn't shoot anything well!

[cf_coder]

Just chiming in here as I have both the 1894C .357 (ballard) and the 1894 .44 Mag (microgroove)... I've found that the .44 really likes the heavier bullets. Lowest I'd go is a 240 grain Keith style LSWC. I also have the RD 265 and it's definitely a sledge hammer. I got mine cut 50/50 gas checks to plain based. I have plinkers with the plain base boolit using around 8 - 8.5 grains of unique. Full house loads with the gas checked version using 23 grains of LilGun. On the .357 side, you have a ton of options. I happen to like the Lyman 358156 with a gas check. I'll push those with up to ~18 grains of LilGun and they just keep on goin... great bullet and you'll definitly know you're shooting a magnum load! I also have the RD175 GC and it's a great bullet as well... Lots of options out there. I'd say if you can swing it, get both!

edit: make sure you size them big for your Marlins... I size my .357 at .359 and my .44 at .432... I might even ream out my sizer to get the .44 to .433 as my barrel will handle that just fine. Bullet fit is king with these guys.

Cheers,