New Marlin 1895 ABL

[osteodoc08]

Wife bought me a Marlin 1895 ABL as a gift and I was pleasantly surprised. In case you're wondering, the ABL is an 18-1/2" blued guide gun with big loop and black laminate stock. A very handsome rifle. Acusport commissioned these from Marlin. It is definitely a looker and the fit and finish is every bit as good as my JM marked 1895GS. Range report and pictures to come. If it's as accurate as my GS, I'll be ecstatic. Now the question is to put on an aftermarket site or a low powered scope......

[osteodoc08]

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[historicfirearms]

I looked at one of these last week and was very impressed. Remington seems to be getting their act together finally. Fit and finish were very good. You will have to let us know how she shoots.

[TXGunNut]

Very nice, looking forward to the range report.

[Lonegun1894]

Looks great!

[casey]

l also have an ABL and love it. I can control it a lot better than a GG with heavy loads. Good looking, great shooter, You will love it.

[osteodoc08]

Got her out and shot some of the RL7 loads. From the bench, the mid level loads gave me the best accuracy and was cutting 1" groups at 50 yards with the iron sights. After about 30 rounds from the bench, my shoulder had enough and I much prefer shooting off hand as my body can absorb the recoil as opposed to just my shoulder.

Everything functioned as designed and I was quite impressed with the ABL. Very satisfied with it.

I cast and coated some of the NOE 186 CB boolits and cant wait to get a gallery load for it to plink.

[Intel6]

Very nice! I have never seen that version before. I picked up a GBL and have been really enjoying it.

Last week I was about to get out and try my NOE 350 RD and the NOE 186 CB moulds in it. The 350's shot real well with both a heavy load of H322 and a milder load of Unique.

I was also very happy with the CB's. They seemed to shoot well and their were not too far off the settings for the heavier more powerful loads. I lubedsized some of them but it was a PITA so I plan on coating the rest of them. I tried them with UNQ and found the 10 gr. load shot well and was right around the 1,000 fps mark I was looking for.

Neal in AZ


http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/Marlin_336_1895_web.jpg

[osteodoc08]

141713

[osteodoc08]

Nice looking rifles there Intel.

[Intel6]

Thanks, I am enjoying them.

I have been messing with the HI-TEK coat and just coated some CB's with Bronze 500. I will try and get some pics.

[44man]

I like those levers!
I hope Rem brings back the 39 Mounty, finest little .22 ever.

[rush1886]

Now the question is to put on an aftermarket site or a low powered scope......


or, perhaps, a Red Dot? Personal recommendation would be the UltraDot.

[siamese4570]

I bought a Nikon 1-4.5 power "African" Model scope a couple of years back. It's got the german crosshair which is three heavy bars (2 horizontal/1 verticle) that terminate abruptly into a fine crosshair at the center. The three heavy bars draw your eye to the center. It's reall fast. I use is on my CAR for coyote hunting and have actually managed a close in running shot. The 4.5 power is still enough to use for longer (100yds) shots. It has a long eye relief would also be handy on a 45-70.
siamese4570

[osteodoc08]

A Red dot to me, while functional, just seems kinda unorthodox on a lever gun.

Ill probably go with a leupold low power scope.

[flint45]

Nice rifle looks great let us know how it shoots.For me I like old all steel lymans but you got to look around for them.

[Dan Cash]

Now the question is to put on an aftermarket site or a low powered scope......


or, perhaps, a Red Dot? Personal recommendation would be the UltraDot.

Lyman or Williams aperture sight. Old Lyman all steel or perhaps even a Redfield if you can find one.
Remove the disc and use as a ghost ring. It will give you alll the sight you can use at the ranges where your rifle is useful and won't make the gun awkward to handle.

[pricedo]

I just bought a Remlin (made since Remington takeover) 1894 in 44 Mag this spring and the wood to metal fit still isn't quite up to what the old JM Marlins used to be.
Not bad though.
Slick & smooth & shoots like a dream and that's what counts.
The Remlins have improved tremendously from the junk that first rolled off the new Ilion, NY factory production lines right after the move from CT.

[Intel6]

Finally got a pic of the NOE CB's that I coated in Hi-Tek Bronze 500. I also did my NOE 350 RD mould for the 45-70 also.

In the pic below L to R:

NOE .40 cal 200 gr. TC - loaded long in a .40 case for my STI's
Lee 500 gr. coated and gas checked - loaded in a .458 SOCOM round for subsonic shooting
NOE 186 Collar Button for 45-70 - same loaded in a 45-70 case
NOE 350 RD for 45-70 coated and gas checked - same loaded in 45-70

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/Bronze_500.jpg

[osteodoc08]

Those are purty. What load are you using for the collar buttons?

[Intel6]

Those are purty. What load are you using for the collar buttons?

I just started out using Unique and was looking for some nice plinking rounds. I tried 7/8/10 grs. and while they all shot the 10 grs. seemed to work well so I am going to work with that for now since it was close to my 1,000 fps velocity goal. I think I may mess with some Dacron to try and make things more consistent. I also may go up a grain or two to see if it improves anything.

Chrono data out of my SBL:

Starline case
CCI LR
Unique
NOE 190 gr. CB Bullet (cast out of range lead so a bit heavier)

7 grs UNQ - 877 fps
8 grs UNQ - 934 fps
10 grs UNQ - 959

[Lostknife]

My Marlin sports a Leupold LPS 1.5 - 6 Duplex in Leupold QR rings. Never fired a Jacketed bullet from it, it's my cast bullet gun.
Lost

[bcr]

Hi Intel6, how do you seat those collar button molds? I have the Mihec mold and I couldn't seat it with a Hornady die.

[W.R.Buchanan]

A Red dot to me, while functional, just seems kinda unorthodox on a lever gun.

I thought the same thing, but for your gun, which is a "modern levergun," a Bushnell TRS25 would be a good inexpensive way to try out Red Dots and you could keep your open sights as a backup. Also since they only weigh 3 oz it won't change the fast handling of that gun even a little.

Fast Handling and quick target acquisition are what that gun is all about. The Red Dot Sight gives that and the Bushnell TRS25 is inexpensive and works great .

I now have 7 of them and the Seventh one is going on my Enfield #4 Mk1" Long Branch which has been bored out to .35-303. Now that's unorthodox! My gun has a Gray Laminate stock and Fore End and all the metal will be Black CeraKoted,,, so the overall look will be very similar to yours.

Nice looking gun!!!

Randy

[g5m]

Very neat, osteodoc.
Nice rifle and thoughtful wife!

[osteodoc08]

Never really thought of it that way Randy. May have to try it out.

thanks g5m. She's a keeper.

[TXGunNut]

Never really thought of it that way Randy. May have to try it out.

thanks g5m. She's a keeper.


Most of my Marlins wear optics as a concession to my presbyopia and to give me a little more shooting time at each end of the day as well as a tool to better judge antlers and other factors for culling decisions. One exception is my "Budget Thutty-Thutty" that wears the same Bushnell Randy told you about. I ordered the first one after reading Randy's endorsement, ordered a second one as soon as I got home from my first range trip after shooting it.

[osteodoc08]

How have the red dots been holding up to the recoil?

[TXGunNut]

Mine are doing fine but have had an easy life compared to Randy's. I think we had a good thread about them awhile back in the Outdoorsman forum or somewhere like that. I'll try to find it before you get back from vacation.