Marlin .44 mag feedback please

[tja6435]

I'm strongly considering a Marlin chambered in 44 Mag. I know of the 1:38 twist rate but doubt it'll be a problem. My heaviest 44 mag mold drops a 320gr flat point boolit, which should stabilize if velocity is high enough.

My local shop has one for $650. Good price? Guy behind the counter said he rarely gets them in chambered in 44 mag.

Thanks for any info

[Hickory]

Marlin did not make many 44 magnums in the 1895 action, part of
the reason was that they had problems with it feeding poorly, it tended to jam sometimes.

[Kestrel4k]

Which Marlin for the OP, a 336 or a 1894?
I have a 336T (straight stock :)) in .44Mag which I'll never part with; it has been completely reliable and is unusually accurate.

[tja6435]

Sorry, it was a 1894 action. It's new on the rack at the local gun shop

[Wally]

I had one years ago.. had poor luck w/ accuracy w/ cast bullets, as the groove diameter was so large. As I understand it you need .432"+ bullets to obtain decent accuracy with it. It's not easy to find a mold that casts them that large and you need to get a custom sizer die as Lyman & RCBS don't make one that large (you could hone one out). I have a USRA 94 and it shoots better but still not as good as I think that it should. Both use a 1 in 38" twist... a 1 in 20" would be far better. However they do shoot well with Jacketed bullets...which I refuse to use.

[tja6435]

Thanks for the large groove info. Most of my .44 molds cast at .433-.435. I had Buckshot make me a couple Lyman style dies for my old 45 that'll do .432 and .433. My Redhawk has .4325" throats so I have been casting/sizing .433" for it recently. Sounds like they'll be perfect for the Marlin's barrel

[ReloaderFred]

If it's new, then it's one of the Remington made rifles. A friend has one of the Remington made .44's and says it's the most accurate .44 Magnum rifle he's ever owned, and he owns several. I don't know the diameter of the Remington barrels, but they have a reputation for making accurate barrels.

I looked at a new one at The Sportsman's Warehouse in Salem, OR, this past Saturday. The fit and finish were pretty good, better than my older Marlin .44 Magnum rifle. The stock was a plain oil finish, and the bluing was very good. If I had been in need of a new .44 Magnum leveraction, I would have bought it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Keyston44]

The groove diameter on the 44 mag rifles is a SAAMI thing, not a Marlin thing. .431 for rifles and .429 for handguns. I don't know why it is that way, but it is. It makes for a lot of work if you want to shoot the same cast bullet out of your rifle and handgun.
I tried 300gr bullets out of my Marlin but couldn't get acceptable accuracy. I chose the Ranch Dog 265gr mold for all my 44 mag needs. I size them to .433 and they work well out of both my Marlin and Ruger Super Blackhawk.

I see you are in Denver, There are a couple used JM Marlins on the local Armslist for about $600.

Key

[wv109323]

The Micro-groove barrels are large. I have some commercial cast boolits that are accurate in my Micro-groove barrel.
New gun should have a regular barrel.
I like the size and weight of the rifle. With my old eyes I need a scope which the Marlin makes it easy to mount. Some Levers are difficult to add a scope.

[emorris]

I have an older JM stamped 1894 marlin. I havent had the time to try cast boolits in it yet, but the 240 grain berrys plated with 10 grains of unique is a soft shooting load. I have been looking at Henry's big boy steel frame to fill my imagined need for a 357 lever gun.

[Duckiller]

Have a 1894 Marlin that I got in the 70's. Shoots anything up to and including 265 gr Hornady bullets just fine. Throws 270 gr Gold Dots to the right. Have tried anything heavier. Also it limits the length of cast bullets the will work through the magazine. Most of my SWC cast projectiles are more than 1.7" in overall length. The standard max COL is 1.610" Gun will that longer than that but not 1.7" . You may have trouble feeding 320 gr bullets.

[nicodiesel]

i got a model 94s and that rifle never let me down. it shoot 310gr. Lee under 2" at 100 yards. mine feed bullet of 1.710" lon g with no problem. i shot multiple whitetail and mules with it up to 150 yds.

[FergusonTO35]

$650.00 seems high, my local shop has them for $569.95. Be sure to look it over before you buy it. Remlin has improved alot but they still have some nagging defects such as barrels canted to the left.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mine seems to like Lyman 429244's with GC's sized .431. which is what the bore is. My 1894 CB 24" is circa 2005. I have a new Mihec mould for that boolit that drops at .434 so future boolits will be sized to .432, and they are 265 gr SWC's.

In order to feed smoothly you need to chamfer the rear edge of your chamber or the boolits will dig into the edges. This is a Thompson SWC and the nose is nicely tapered so they do feed well. There isn't as much of a step as a Keith boolit has.

Using 22.0 gr of H110. This is a nice manageable load I am shooting Short Range Silhouette with.

Nice recoil pad comes in handy for a 40 round string.

Randy

[44 flattop]

I'm strongly considering a Marlin chambered in 44 Mag. I know of the 1:38 twist rate but doubt it'll be a problem. My heaviest 44 mag mold drops a 320gr flat point boolit, which should stabilize if velocity is high enough.

My local shop has one for $650. Good price? Guy behind the counter said he rarely gets them in chambered in 44 mag.

Thanks for any info

All of my Marlins, both Deluxe and Cowboy models, all stabilize up to 300grs without a problem. I also cast everything for all half dozen rifles at .430, but then I cast very soft, 8 parts WW's to 2 parts pure lead. I'm sure they upset nicely since my leading, up to 1750fps is nonexistent. I've taken so much game with .44's, both rifle and pistol over the past almost 40 years, it's mind boggling.

Is $650 a good price? Not sure, since the last CB I bought was only $425. That was about 10 years ago or so. If you want it bad enough and are willing to pay that price, it's a good price.

[edler7]

I saw a JM stamped 1894 in 44 mag at Cabelas about a month ago. Looked to be new. It was on close out for $699.

[salvadore]

I looked at two new 94s in 44mag. One at Sportsman's and one at Cabelas. They both had acceptable fit, and the actions felt ok. My problem with them was the fat fore end with its squared off 2x4 front.

[osteodoc08]

This was a timely thread. Been looking at them myself.

[Djei5]

152013

Marlin 1894 .44 mag 100 yards with a 225 grain Hornady FTX
I pulled the second shot and was out of ammo after the third or I would have put two more in there.
1-38 twist and extremely accurate.

[tja6435]

Thanks all. Finally have funds available but still considering a Marlin 44 against a Ruger 77/44. I have a 77/357 and find it fantastic to shoot (after the target hammer and sear upgrade and bolt shimming)

[lightload]

Although I've recently been posting about my new Henry .44, I have had excellent service from three Marlin 94's over the years. I regret trading these fine .44 rifles. I continue to enjoy the Big Boy but will not tell you to buy it instead. You can't beat a Marlin 94 if it's put together right. I've pestered a few gun clerks about allowing me to inspect several recent rifles, which I liked. I was unable to detect flaws. Of course this sample was small.

[JesterGrin_1]

Before really jumping into this I will have to ask as to why you wish to have a Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum?

For myself personally I had a JM Marlin 1894SS in .44 Magnum. It was a BEAUTIFUL Rifle since it was stainless and I think it is a good close range carry rifle but again for myself personally the accuracy was simply not there. The best I could do on average at 100 yards with a 3x9-40 scope was right at 2 3/4" to 3". And believe it or not the boolit used was the Lee 310'Gr RNFP/GC pushed hard with W-296 in a remington case and a standard CCI LPP not a Magnum primer. You do not need a Magnum primer unless you plan to shoot in extreme cold.

But I can not recommend highly enough the JM Marlin 1895 GS in 45-70 Government as if you reload of which the 45-70 Government cartridge is one that really one should reload for can give you unbelievable accuracy and you can load it from Pop can loads to Grizzly Bear loads. Again as for accuracy it is not uncommon to attain under 1" groups at 100 yards with one of these fine rifles. So really the 45-70 Government can do everything a .44 Magnum can and far more. :)

[Rodfac]

Can't comment on the price, but our two .44 magnums (a '64 vintage M336, and a ten yr old M1894) feed the following .44 cast boolits: Lyman's 429215 gc, 429244 gc, and Lyman's round nose PB that weighs approx. 256 gr...can't remember the mold number. I have not tried Keith's 429421 nor the Mihec equivalent.

With either of the GC'd designs above, either rifle will routinely group 3 shots into less than 2" at 100 yds with a 2.5x scope mounted. I use 231 for the slow loads and Accurate #9 for the fast stuff. Velocities up to 1600 fps give me no leading in the micro-groove rifling with super accuracy and plenty of smack for deer out to 100 yds. I use ww alloy almost exclusively, with no water quenching either.

Sizing is important...both rifles have .432"+ groove diameters so I size my cast boolits to at least that dia. I use them in a variety of .44 Ruger and S&W handguns as well, at the same size, but do not push them for velocity due to their size. My .44 short guns' cylinder throats all measure .431" or less.

I've not worked with heavy for caliber boolits in .44 Spl or Magnum, preferring instead to conserve my lead and avoid the add'l recoil.

Hope this helps. Rod

[EDK]

I've had a bunch of 1894s in 44 magnum over the past 40+ years. They get loaned to a newbie deer hunter; he gets a deer and I get a check instead of my rifle back. I've got a 24 inch Cowboy Rifle and just traded off a 20 inch round barrel gun from 1976 that I bought for $425 last fall.

I currently prefer round nose flat point boolits, LYMAN 429667, RANCH DOG/NOE 432-265 flat point, and MIHEC'S 434640 plain base (and LYMAN original gas check,) Conventional wisdom is hard alloy, gas check, sized to .432+, and high end loads.

It ain't a bench rest rifle. BUT it is short, handy, powerful; low end recoil, relatively inexpensive ammo, and not too noisy. PLUS it takes the same cartridges as my VAQUEROS. What's not to love.

[Win94ae]

My Actual Marlin 1894 S 44 mag, micro-groove barrel, 1:38 twist shoots great! I shoot Lee C429-240-SWC bullets in it, sized to .430".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnj6qIiwJe0

My first Ohio deer rifle; I like it.

[slohunter]

Bought my 1894 36 yrs ago. Shoots great with Lyman 429421 hard cast boolits and those copper ones too.