Ruger Marlin 44 Magnum Model 1894

[TD1886]

Ruger just announce they are coming out with the 44 mag in the 94. Yes to answer your question they finally changed the rifling twist to 1 in 20!!!!

[missionary5155]

Just maybe they will respond also with a 44 WCF.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Just maybe they will respond also with a 44 WCF.

It would be a top seller in either 44WCF or even 38WCF!

[dverna]

Thankfully, Ruger/Marlin will ignore silly stuff like cartridges that are difficult to purchase and focus on market success.

I want them to succeed.

[beechbum444]

i dont get it, The 1894s in 44 mag are sought after but not as much as the 357/38 model 1894s. How did they miss that in releasing the 44 mag model first??

[beagle]

While I aplaud their quest to do away with the 1:38 twist, I would do a little further research.
First, I'd say more than half the .44 Mag shooters will want to use a 429421 bullet in it to match the M29 or SBH they have.
I paid for my education by rebarrelig a M1894 .44 with a 1:20 some years ago. It shot 300 grain bullets really nice but not the lighter 421s.
Felix and I worked on this project one whole winter by e-mail back and forth and finally figured this was not the solution if you wanted an all around .44 Magnum carbine.
Felix had a Ruger with a 1:26 twist and it did fine. My Marlin didn't despite the fact that it wore a Douglas 1:20 twist. I junked that project and sulked. Then Winchester brought out the Legacy with a 1:26 and it would shoot both the 250 and 300 grain with a 1:26 twist in the one I had. Then the lawyers interceeded and put their hokey safety linkage in and it would missfire a lot so it left the stable.
Our calculations indicated that a 1:25 3/4 twist was perfect.
So, were I those boys, I'd look close at that. The .444 shoots well with a 1:20 but we're talking heavy bullets here. Mine didn't shoot lighter bullets worth beans.
I'm betting that a bunch of shooters will want to shoot 250s and surge to 300 grainers occasionally for special hunts.
Now, I'm just an ignorant red neck and what do I know? Far be it for me to tell the experts what's right and wrong./beagle

[TD1886]

While I aplaud their quest to do away with the 1:38 twist, I would do a little further research.
First, I'd say more than half the .44 Mag shooters will want to use a 429421 bullet in it to match the M29 or SBH they have.
I paid for my education by rebarrelig a M1894 .44 with a 1:20 some years ago. It shot 300 grain bullets really nice but not the lighter 421s.
Felix and I worked on this project one whole winter by e-mail back and forth and finally figured this was not the solution if you wanted an all around .44 Magnum carbine.
Felix had a Ruger with a 1:26 twist and it did fine. My Marlin didn't despite the fact that it wore a Douglas 1:20 twist. I junked that project and sulked. Then Winchester brought out the Legacy with a 1:26 and it would shoot both the 250 and 300 grain with a 1:26 twist in the one I had. Then the lawyers interceeded and put their hokey safety linkage in and it would missfire a lot so it left the stable.
Our calculations indicated that a 1:25 3/4 twist was perfect.
So, were I those boys, I'd look close at that. The .444 shoots well with a 1:20 but we're talking heavy bullets here. Mine didn't shoot lighter bullets worth beans.
I'm betting that a bunch of shooters will want to shoot 250s and surge to 300 grainers occasionally for special hunts.
Now, I'm just an ignorant red neck and what do I know? Far be it for me to tell the experts what's right and wrong./beagle

It's just your particular barrel that didn't do good with the 1 in 20 twist. This whole twist business is overrated. My 3 screw Ruger Blackhawk shoots 200 grain SWC's like a match 1911, but it doesn't with the 255 grain bullets. I have an early Marlin Cowboy in 45 Colt. Very very accurate to 100 yards then it falls on it's face. My 16 inch barreled Winchester 94 with the faster twist blows the doors off the Marlin. Listen to this at 200 to 300 yards with 255 grain SWC's the Marlin would barely be able to hit a man, but yet the Winchester Trapper puts them right in it. When Ruger gets going good on the Marlin I might very well get rid of that 1 and 38 twist barrel on the Marlin and have them put the new faster twist barrel on it. Am I the only member on this forum that didn't get brainwashed by someone about faster twists?

[dverna]

You guys seem to think the market is reloaders and casters. I know about 40 people that hunt deer and bear. None cast and none reload.

[TD1886]

You guys seem to think the market is reloaders and casters. I know about 40 people that hunt deer and bear. None cast and none reload.

Don I use to be like that except I loaded my jacketed. Then I tried cast on deer and I was blown away at the excellent results. Don't know if you haven't tried it and I'm speaking to you directly.

[376Steyr]

i dont get it, The 1894s in 44 mag are sought after but not as much as the 357/38 model 1894s. How did they miss that in releasing the 44 mag model first??

I think they did it intentionally to hold down the demand and avoid upsetting all the people who want a new .357 1894, and they want it now!
Remember the howls of outrage over long waits and the scalpers' prices when the first 1895s came trickling out of the factory? Imagine what it would like if they announced the .357 model first.
Now that I think about it, they should have made the first run in .41 Magnum. :twisted:
Me, I'm going to patiently wait for the .357 stainless, threaded muzzle, Picatinny-railed version.

[buckshotshoey]

My brother has a Henry 44mag with a 1/20 twist. It shoots standard semi jacket 240's VERY well. I know this is a cast boolit forum, but rifle manufacturers can't design a firearm with reloaders in mind.

[txbirdman]

I don’t know why but the Remlins came out in the same sequence, I believe.

[Rapier]

Just hope they do not copy those SBH barrels that were .432, been there done that.

[TD1886]

Ruger has some smart people working for them. They saw the light on the "old" rifling twist Marlin had been using. Did you ever wonder why Luger had a 9 something twist? It wasn't until the American's started making 9x19mm pistols that they upped it to 16.

[FergusonTO35]

You guys seem to think the market is reloaders and casters. I know about 40 people that hunt deer and bear. None cast and none reload.

This is my experience too, however very few of these guys (at least around here) are going to buy a $1000 lever action. Nearly all will go with one of the various sub-MOA cheap bolt actions available today. Someone buying an expensive lever action is much more likely to reload and cast then the average Axis/American/Compass purchaser.

[TD1886]

This is my experience too, however very few of these guys (at least around here) are going to buy a $1000 lever action. Nearly all will go with one of the various sub-MOA cheap bolt actions available today. Someone buying an expensive lever action is much more likely to reload and cast then the average Axis/American/Compass purchaser.

Like everything else firearm prices are out of sight. I'd like to know who buys those 1911's from Ed Brown, Nighhawk, etc., that cost like three to four thousand dollars. NOT ME!

[W.R.Buchanan]

The new 1894's in .44 mag or out now ,, they're Carbines. There is a video on You Tube buy some guy who got one and reviewed it . I couldn't stand listening to him. Limited Availability. They look just like the new 336's.

I talked to a friend who's got one to write up , He said it was the best Marlin he'd ever seen, and he actually knows what he's talking about. Supposed to be @ $1300. I want to see if they did my Chamber Mod? Pretty sure they did.

Next ones will be .38/.357 then .45 LC. others may come down the road but Ruger is actually in business to make money, and they have a pretty good idea what sells I want an 1894 CB20 in .44 mag. The big distributors will order what they want and since they order 500+ at a time Ruger will make them. They have a pretty good Idea of what sells too, so that will drive production.

Randy

[murf205]

i dont get it, The 1894s in 44 mag are sought after but not as much as the 357/38 model 1894s. How did they miss that in releasing the 44 mag model first??

Straight wall case requirements in a bunch of states for deer hunting. That plus the deer season is not far away in some of those states. I would have done the same thing to get these new rifles into the hands of whitetail hunters. 357 1894's are a sure seller for sure, but a lot of states have a minimum requirement for energy I am told.

[Dom]

I own a Win 94 Legacy, 24" bbl, 1/20 twist. Bought it new right after they came out back in the late 1990's. It shoots the Lee 310 gr, 240,250, 260 Lyman, & a 280gr NOE I cast from scrap WW's. Delivers excellent accuracy with all weights. Haven't tried 220gr.

[WILCO]

You guys seem to think the market is reloaders and casters. I know about 40 people that hunt deer and bear. None cast and none reload.

That's a fair statement.

[Bigslug]

Just maybe they will respond also with a 44 WCF.

I for one hope they do NOT step on the land mine of chambering these things for every conceivable "dash" caliber of the 1870-1890 period. The cost of tooling up for different bolt heads and bore dimensions will merely get transferred to the end user across the entire product line, and will make every model less available and more expensive in the process. This may well have had a hand in killing the "old" Marlin - I'd rather not see the error repeated.

The .38/.357 can be tuned to replicate the .32-20 or the old Ballard .38's; the .44 Special/Mag can offer the same performance of the the 38 and 44WCF's, and it's close enough to anything that can be done with the .45 Colt to put that round in "why bother?" territory.

Similarly, what needs doing in the .30-30 class of lever rounds that REALLY requires other than the .30-30? The .444 Marlin vs. .45-70 argument is also bound to crop up, but really, if you want to split hairs about trajectory, just hang up the tubular magazines and blunt bullets, and get yourself a nice spitzer-launching bolt action.

I've said it elsewhere - all the cartridge experimentation done back in the day yielded hundreds of rounds that practically fall into maybe only half a dozen performance bands. If you want a nostalgia piece, buy the appropriate antique and petition Starline for brass, but for the new stuff, I think it's high time we accept that Darwin has had his say and reduce the logistical nightmares by paring the chamber offerings down to fit those performance bands.

I'm all for different barrel, stock, and sight configurations, as well as the stainless option to increase appeal to both the Cowboy Action and semi-auto restricted "retro-tactical" crowds, but as far as cartridge choices, we can easily learn to live with less and probably be a lot happier for it.

[RyanJames170]

The top 3 calibers they are beat suited to make is 357 magnum, 44 magnum and 45 colt, reason for this is the same reason Henry repeating arms makes those 3, customers demand for those 3 is high enough,
The drive fir 45 colt I think is it hits a few boxes, cowboy action shooters, ammo availablity, and something different. I know from my personal experience 44 magnum where I live is not only as expensive as 45 colt but also much harder to get.. I find it easier to get 45 colt and this is why I chose it for my 92 rossi,

[Gray Fox]

I both cast and reload for .357, .44 Mag and .45 Colt and have a Marlin 94 in each caliber as well as Rossi 92s in each of them. That being said, however, if I were going to hunt with any of them for southern deer, hog or bear-which I'm going to do this fall-, and I didn't cast or reload, I'd choose .44 Magnum for off the shelf fodder. I have three boxes of 50 Winchester 240 grain soft point .44 mag which I got at Walmart before they banned handgun calibers. At the velocity produced by a 20" barrel I don't think I would want or need a hollow point. I have a 2x20 Burris pistol scope in a scout mount on the Rossi and a 2.5x Leupold 7/8" tube copy of the Lyman Alaskan in Redfield mounts on the Marlin 94. Once those two rifles are sighted in with the Win ammo, how many rounds do I need for several years' worth of hunting? This I think, is where the average hunter who chooses one of these lever guns resides. It's also probably what the marketing folks at Ruger think, too. What off the shelf .357 mag or .45 Colt ammo is the average person going to find that will do what this plain old Win .44 Mag ammo can do? Not everyone lives just down the road from a Bass Pro/Cabelas and they're not that well stocked to begin with. Just my $.02. Gray Fox

[ChristopherO]

Some years back when asked if they should purchase their Henry Big Boy in .357 or .44 I promptly recommend .44. It is an all around better caliber for a carbine, IMHO. If they ever decide to tote the rifle afield for deer the the round will prove even better.

[vonfilm]

I think there’s a market for a Marlin Model 94 in .327 Federal Magnum. I have really enjoyed my Henry in this caliber. It also cycles .32 S&W Long very well.

This will take care of this power category much better than 32-20, with much better availability of cartridges and brass.