Marlin in 44WCF?

[LIMPINGJ]

I bought a Marlin 1894S chambered in 44WCF the other day. Checking Marlin's web site I did not find this model. Does anyone know the years they were offered in this chambering? The owner said he needed to raise some money so was selling a few guns. I paid $295.00 for it , how does this sound in your part of the country? I got the box of ammo he had bought when he bought the rifle and 3 rounds were fired. So not NIB but close. If you have one of these rifles how do you like it in the 44WCF chambering?
LIMPINGJ

[6pt-sika]

Very good price IMHO [smilie=1:

Blue Book shows 100% for the more standerd calibers at $450 . So I would think the 44-40 or 41 MAG at 100% could be as much as 20% more or $525-540 .

[9.3X62AL]

In 2000, I worked a brief stint as a management trainee for a chain of hunting/fishing stores in the Southern California area, Turner's--AKA The Evil Empire. During my time there, we had a NIB Marlin 94 variant in stock in 44-40 WCF, price set at $400 after being lowered a few times. In the almost four months I was there, not one customer asked to see it. It was calling to me, but after seven months of no salary from the Sheriff's Department while the County played coy cat-and-mouse with my Worker's Comp case--I had no bizness shelling out $400 for a rifle. So--$295 is a real fine price, I think. One That Got Away, in my case.

The Marlin 94 will allow you to exploit the full capability of the 44-40 High Velocity loads used in the Win 92 and older Marlin 94 rifles. I enjoy shooting my Win 73 in 44-40 WCF, but load things down in deference to its weaker action strength and 1897 metallurgy--200 grainers at 1100-1200 FPS. Not a Mastodon Slayer, but this rifle put well over 100 muleys and blacktails on the hook during its lifetime, as well as a couple black bears from what my grandmother recalled. Pondering this, the folks using the MegaBlaster belted magnums on our local coyote-sized deer make me smile.

I haven't tried any of the Starline 44-40 brass yet, but I do know their 32-20 brass is head-and-shoulders better than its WW or RP counterparts. I won't buy another "mainstream" 32-20 case, and a wholesale shift to Starline in 44-40 is pending here as well.

[6pt-sika]

I have a pair of 1894's that were made after 1999 in the 44-40 caliber .An 1894CB and a 1894CCL , they are virtually the same except the CB has 24" barrel and the CCL has a 20" barrel .

Be aware that when Marlin made these as well as the one you now have they used the same inside barrel diameters they use on the 44 MAG .

So you can use a Lyman 215 grain SWC GC mould very easily in your rifle :drinks:

[Harry O]

I bought one of them in the early to mid-1990's sometime. The one I have is a Marlin 94 with a .44 Magnum barrel (like has been mentioned) and microgroove rifling. It has a round 20" barrel. I understand that there were other versions made with different specs (like for Davidsons).

It took a little while to get it shooting, but it was not really that difficult. The chamber is large enough to take 0.431" bullets, so there is no problem with the oversized barrel (unlike my 44-40 Rugers). I also use a little harder than normal bullets so they grip the microgrooves (somewhere around Bhn 14-15) and don't lead the barrel.

BTW, the very worst leading I ever had was in this gun with some soft CAS 0.427" cartridges the very first time I shot it. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the barrel looked like it did not have any rifling at all -- smoothbore. I had some Winchester jacketed cartridges, too, and tried to shoot the leading out, but did not have any luck with that either. It just spread it out further. Anyway after spending a lot of time cleaning out the leading, I measured everything and matched the bullets to the rifle. No problems since.