LarryM
09-09-2020, 10:47 PM
Marlin 1894, .45 Colt
Happened to see this one a week or so ago at my local gun shop. They had 4 Marlin lever guns on the rack. Three new ones, a 336 in 35 Remington, a 336 in .30-30, this 1894 in .45 Colt and a 1978 vintage 336 in .30-30. The '78 vintage 336 was the only one I was really interested in. The wood was a little dinged up but the metal was in 95%+ condition and had very, very little wear on the hammer where the bolt contacts it and the loading gate showed no signs of wear at all. I thought about it over the weekend and decided the '78 vintage 336 needed to come live at my house and went back yesterday but it had sold on Saturday. They had it listed for $500 or so. Counter guy told me a youngster had convinced his dad he needed it. Had we been there at the same time I'm pretty sure I would have let the young man buy it even if I had it in my hands first.
Anyway, the 1894 was still on the rack. It kept calling to me. It was priced at $650. I thought about it over night and went back this morning and brought it home.
Fit and finish is better than some early Remington made Marlins I had looked at several years ago and only a little less than my older JM Marlins.
I picked up a couple of boxes of Aguila Cowboy loads to go with it since .45 Colt is a new caliber for me. Of course that means I now need to get dies, bullet moulds, and brass for it, what a bummer that is. And, since it is a "pistol caliber" I of course will need a like caliber companion pistol for it, A Ruger Blackhawk will likely be my choice.
I'll admit I was a little concerned about the quality of these new Marlins. I've seen an awful lot of horror stories about "Remlins" and this is the first Marlin I've owned that was made after the cross bolt safety, none of my 3 other Marlin lever guns have that feature. I was a little surprised to see the date code on the barrel was Feb/17 (LL). I don't know if the gun shop has had it that long or if it sat at a distributor for 3+ years.
I stripped it down and gave it a good cleaning then walked down to my range.
I only ran 50 rounds of the Aguila through it but I had no problems with the rifle. Sights needed a little tweaking but it was pretty close at 50 yards. I will definitely need to upgrade the sights, I'm pushing 60 and I just can't see the factory sights. Probably end up scoping it.
I have no complaints about the rifle. It functioned perfectly with the Aguila ammo and accuracy was pretty good considering I can't see the danged sights.
I will say that the Aguila ammo is some of the dirtiest stuff I've ever shot and I'm including my BPCR ammo.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50324768892_f871e157a8_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jF2Avb)
Moulds are a little scarce online right now but I've found a couple in stock. I'm planning to keep this one "lead only".
My 1894C is a little finicky about SWCs, have the newer .45 Colt models been the same?
Happened to see this one a week or so ago at my local gun shop. They had 4 Marlin lever guns on the rack. Three new ones, a 336 in 35 Remington, a 336 in .30-30, this 1894 in .45 Colt and a 1978 vintage 336 in .30-30. The '78 vintage 336 was the only one I was really interested in. The wood was a little dinged up but the metal was in 95%+ condition and had very, very little wear on the hammer where the bolt contacts it and the loading gate showed no signs of wear at all. I thought about it over the weekend and decided the '78 vintage 336 needed to come live at my house and went back yesterday but it had sold on Saturday. They had it listed for $500 or so. Counter guy told me a youngster had convinced his dad he needed it. Had we been there at the same time I'm pretty sure I would have let the young man buy it even if I had it in my hands first.
Anyway, the 1894 was still on the rack. It kept calling to me. It was priced at $650. I thought about it over night and went back this morning and brought it home.
Fit and finish is better than some early Remington made Marlins I had looked at several years ago and only a little less than my older JM Marlins.
I picked up a couple of boxes of Aguila Cowboy loads to go with it since .45 Colt is a new caliber for me. Of course that means I now need to get dies, bullet moulds, and brass for it, what a bummer that is. And, since it is a "pistol caliber" I of course will need a like caliber companion pistol for it, A Ruger Blackhawk will likely be my choice.
I'll admit I was a little concerned about the quality of these new Marlins. I've seen an awful lot of horror stories about "Remlins" and this is the first Marlin I've owned that was made after the cross bolt safety, none of my 3 other Marlin lever guns have that feature. I was a little surprised to see the date code on the barrel was Feb/17 (LL). I don't know if the gun shop has had it that long or if it sat at a distributor for 3+ years.
I stripped it down and gave it a good cleaning then walked down to my range.
I only ran 50 rounds of the Aguila through it but I had no problems with the rifle. Sights needed a little tweaking but it was pretty close at 50 yards. I will definitely need to upgrade the sights, I'm pushing 60 and I just can't see the factory sights. Probably end up scoping it.
I have no complaints about the rifle. It functioned perfectly with the Aguila ammo and accuracy was pretty good considering I can't see the danged sights.
I will say that the Aguila ammo is some of the dirtiest stuff I've ever shot and I'm including my BPCR ammo.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50324768892_f871e157a8_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jF2Avb)
Moulds are a little scarce online right now but I've found a couple in stock. I'm planning to keep this one "lead only".
My 1894C is a little finicky about SWCs, have the newer .45 Colt models been the same?