38 Special in Marlin

[rjathon]

If you shoot 38 Special loads in a Marlin how hard is it to clean it to get the carbon out of the chamber?

[FredBuddy]

Clean after every session.

[Trapperscott]

It’s not to bad, but needs to be done often. I shoot a lot of 38’s in my 357. Lot of fun.

[Drm50]

I had a customer that bought a 357 1894 off me when they were first out. Also a Lee Loader kit and Lee mold for a RN boolit. He shot nothing but light loads in 38sp brass. He cleaned after every session and didn’t have any problems.

[Winger Ed.]

I clean mine when I get back from shooting it.
If I'm out shooting both, I shoot the .357s first.

I use Hoppe's #9 and nylon bore brushes.
Never had a issue with .357s the next time out.

[stubshaft]

I use a boresnake and Eds Red. One and done. I try clean it ASAP so that the carbon fouling doesn't stick to the chamber walls.

[Prairie Cowboy]

If you want to shoot .38 Special handloads in your Marlin, why not just buy some .357 magnum cases (or factory rounds) and reload them to .38 Special velocities?

That's what I do. The .357 case-length loads feed better and I have no use whatsoever for .38 Special cases for a revolver.

[zarrinvz24]

If you want to shoot .38 Special handloads in your Marlin, why not just buy some .357 magnum cases (or factory rounds) and reload them to .38 Special velocities?

That's what I do. The .357 case-length loads feed better and I have no use whatsoever for .38 Special cases for a revolver.

I had a 1894SS for awhile and that was my experience as well, feeding issues resulted from using the shorter 38 special brass.

[quail4jake]

I only use .357 brass because I can seat the boolit out far enough to start into the lead. I have used .38 spl and .38 short colt to increase magazine capacity and they fed well and were no problem fouling the chamber. I got such better results with the .357 cases using the same 3.5 gr titegroup that I discontinued the shorter cases. Someday I plan to rebarrel this Marlin 1894 to 26" with a full mag and chamber it in .38 long colt with ballard rifling and a very short lead...no more chamber smut worries. How cool would that be?!

[sghart3578]

I have several 1894C's. I have never had that good of luck with accuracy from 38 spl cases. I shoot 4.0 gr of Bullseye under a Lee 158 gr RF in 357 mag cases and the accuracy is great. The same load in 38 spl cases seems to open up some. But that could be operator error.

I have not used a boresnake or bronze brush on my bores in quite a while. I shoot mostly lead with Alox lube. After a range session the bores get a wet patch or two of Ed's Red and they stay wet until it is time to shoot them again. The bores look like mirrors even on my old guns.


Steve in N CA