Marlin 1894 45 Colt

[Slinger]

Do these leverguns in the 45 Colt have fairly tight chambers so that you don't get alot of blow by? I'm going to a gunshow tomorrow and hopefully I'll run into one I can get a decent deal on. In my part of the country there's not a big call for these. I just want one for plinking.

[felix]

Late issue Winnies do for sure. They will handle 458 boolits, I do think. Never had a mold in that diameter, but 454 boolits are a joke. Keep in mind the typical 45 caliber boolits size down with ease and the lube grooves are fat enough to hold enough lube for a 451 barrel, like on the Winnie I have. However, accuracy cannot be better with ALL boolits used. Late issue Winnies have a 26 twist which is PERFECT for all boolits that will possibly feed. ... felix

[Slinger]

I was talking strictly Marlin 1894 45 Colt. I don't need another headache with mismatched bore & bullets, etc. I like to try to keep it simple.

[1Papalote]

I have noticed that with light loads, I will get soot on the case. I have not witnessed extreme loss of containment or gas in my eyes.

1Papalote

[NHlever]

I'm afraid that the Marlin chambers are known to be a bit on the generous side too. The one I had worked OK, but did soot up the brass with standart "Colt" loads.

[Slinger]

I'm afraid that the Marlin chambers are known to be a bit on the generous side too. The one I had worked OK, but did soot up the brass with standart "Colt" loads.

Hmm......I wasn't planning on using anything hotter than 1000 fps handgun load. I use 7.0 of WW-231 with a 255 cast & also Unique but I don't remember the charge right off hand. Both loads are 1000fps or under in my 5-1/2" Blackhawk.I don't really care about the fouling that much as long as the gun is accurate and I don't have to "Hot Load" it to get it to shoot accurately.

[StarMetal]

I'm baaaaaackkkkkkkk !!!! Thanks Ken and thank you for welcome Wiljen.

Now on to my first post since my exile.

I have both the Marlin Cowboy and Winchester Trapper in 45 Colt. The Marlin is among the first Cowboys in that caliber. Felix is right, the Winchesters have a very fat chamber, but that's not the concern here. My Marlin has a much tighter chamber then the Winchester. In fact I would say it's a pretty normal chamber. I shoot 9.0 grains of Unique topped with a RCBS 244 SWC. A little on the velocities. That same load out of my Smith 25 with 8 3/8 inch barrel gives me 950 fps. If you're getting a 1000 fps or more out of a 5 1/2 barrel Ruger single action I'd say you are using more Unique then me. I also have a 4 5/8 inch Ruger Blackhawk and with the same load it's slower then the Smith. The Marlin is oneof the most accurate lever actions I've ever owned. The Winchester I have is right there with it. Little on what Felix said about the Winchester. Although they have a fat chamber, as does mine, my groove diameter is dead on .452. Bottom line is if you can grab a Marlin Cowboy in 45 Colt at a very fair price....grab it.

Joe

[kooz]

Well here's my 2 cents for what its worth. I have two Winchester 94AE trappers in .45 Colt and the chambers don't seem any bigger than the chamber s on the 5 Marlin .45 Cowboys that I have previously owned. I was never happy with the Marlins and had issues with the one I bought. Marlin ended up sending me 5 different guns before it was all over, and I finally refused shipment of the 6th one and got a refund. Take a bore light with you and look the bore over real good, all the ones they sent me looked like the rifling was cut with a bastard file. Maybe this was just my luck, I don't know. If it were me I'd be looking for a Winchester. Good luck.

[felix]

Thanks, Ken, for bringing Joe back. I think I dreamt that Joe said he will shoot no more one hole groups unless he is shooting only a hole in one. ... felix

[carpetman]

Welcome back Joe. You were "locked up" a long time---would that be a felony and are you now allowed to own guns? LOL And yes Ken a big thank you.

[Slinger]

You guys lost me on Joe's return. I'm new here. Anyway, I forgot that the velocities I quoted were from the book, not my 5-1/2". I've yet to chrono them. Seems to me I'm shooting around 9 gr. of Unique with the 255 gr.
Anyway, thanks for all the info! I'll see what, if anything is floating around at the gun show.....

[StarMetal]

Well here's my 2 cents for what its worth. I have two Winchester 94AE trappers in .45 Colt and the chambers don't seem any bigger than the chamber s on the 5 Marlin .45 Cowboys that I have previously owned. I was never happy with the Marlins and had issues with the one I bought. Marlin ended up sending me 5 different guns before it was all over, and I finally refused shipment of the 6th one and got a refund. Take a bore light with you and look the bore over real good, all the ones they sent me looked like the rifling was cut with a bastard file. Maybe this was just my luck, I don't know. If it were me I'd be looking for a Winchester. Good luck.

Kooz,

I don't doubt what you say one bit. It must be and up and down time issue. Both companies make some good ones, then make some bad ones. My brass out of the Winchester is really swollen whereas the brass from the Marlin is not. I can put a fired case from the Marlin in the Winnie chamber, but not visa versa. The Winchester does shoot superbly as does the Marlin. I like them both. I've shot plenty of groundhogs with the Winchester in fact and not all close shots. I'll have to say that 255 SWC really whacked them good. I took a deer with the Winchester too. The Winchester had more recoil then the Marlin, but the Marlin is heavier and I might add quieter with that 24 inch barrel. There are things to like about both of them.

Joe

[kooz]

Yea, I don't know what the deal was with the .45 Marlins. I have had other Marlin levers in the past that were great guns and made very well. I guess it was just a bad run of luck.

[August]

I owned, and shot a recent model Marlin in .45 Colt's cartridge. I got rid of it because I got tired of getting a face full of burning powder every time I pulled the trigger. YMMV.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I've never had a 45Colt Rifle, but have still have four revolvers in tha calibre. Every rpund I have fired out of every 45Colt has sooted up the case. If you just want to plink, you can get Adironic Jack to re-chamber it to 45 cowboy, prob solved apparently.

[cajun shooter]

Any straight walled case will have some blow back. That's the nature of the beast. I don't know how many posting's I've seen latley on this subject but it's a lot. We just finished a long one on CAS City. If you don't want blow back then buy a 44-40 or some other necked cartridge. I shoot 45 Colt in CAS in the Frontier Cartridge class. I load my cases full of 2F and put a 250 grain bullit in front and have very little blow back "BUT" I do have some and the cases clean up fine. Blow Back is from the gas and pressure of the load. Some powders produce a lot of grunge and others a little but as long as you shoot a straight walled case and that includes the 45 Cowboy you will some form of blow back. I dont care what the brand of rifle is.

[PatMarlin]

Who let the Cat back in? ...:confused: ...:mrgreen:

Welcome back Joe ...:drinks:

[StarMetal]

Who let the Cat back in? ...:confused: ...:mrgreen:

Welcome back Joe ...:drinks:

Meoooww !!! :mrgreen: Thank Pat.

Joe

[leadeye]

Other than some blowback with my 8 grain Unique RCBS 250RNFP load I have no problem with 45 lc in my Henry. It eats the same ammo as the Rugers. I have a 44 mag Marlin and prefer shooting the Henry because of the added weight. Have never shot a 45lc Marlin but I would like to someday.:D

[KCSO]

To Date I have either owned or shot about 30 rifles in 45 Colt. I owned or own now a Henry, a 73, a 92, a 92 trapper, A Lightning, a Marlin and a Spencer. Now as to blow by... You have two factors, the rifle chamber and the brass. Starline brass seems to be the hardest and gives the most blowby. Old Remington brass was the thinnest and the softest and gives a lot less blow by. As to rifles I currently shoot a Charles daly take down M92 and it had the tightes chamber I ever had on a 45 Colt rifle. I rarel get a sooty case with any load. The worst rifle was a Navy Arms and the brass came out egg shaped and bulged at the base. The oter rifles are in between. By the same token i have a 357 Rossi made in the early 70's that has never shown any blowby even with wadcutters. My cuurrent plinking and fun load for the 45 Colt is 8.0 grains of PB and a 454190 bullet. As long as I use either annealed or softer brass I have little problems in any of my rifles. I had a Marlin M94 in 45 Colt and as lon as I used soft brass cases i had only a little blowby, but in a Taurus Lighhtning I had to use stout loads or I got my face sprayed regularly.

Now the problem it seems to me is that most of the rifle makers want to have a rifle that feeds smoothly and they accomplish this most quickly by having the chambers oversize. You dont see this in 44-40 because the bottleneck cases always feed.

I don't know if it is the low pressures involved or what but no one mentioned blow by much when we were shooting 357 and 44 mag lever guns. I have done a lot of trading and if I found a 45 colt that was SMOKLESS I try to hang on to it.

[Wayne Smith]

Cajun is right. I've had blow back in my .44MAG SBH and smokeless, none in my 44-40's and black. My 44-40's are all Uberti.

Welcome back, Joe. Missed ya!

[Boomer Mikey]

It's all a matter of pressure... The 45 Colt is a low pressure cartridge compared to 357 and 44 Magnum.

My CAS loads in 357 and 44 Magnum soot the case mouths less than my 45 Colt loads do at the same velocity 850 fps - 900 fps as the magnum pressures are 20K - 21K psi and 45 Colt pressure is 14,700. Increase the pressure in the 45 Colt to the 20K level and they are the same.

I use Remington cases for my low pressure loads because they are softer and seal better. Winchester cases are my prefered cases for high pressure loads. Starline cases are good and I use lots of them but Winchester cases are still my favorite. I haven't used many Federal cases in the past but for tough service in my M1A and 45 Autos my Federal cases are doing great.

Boomer :Fire:

[cbrick]

Well here's my 2 cents for what its worth. I have two Winchester 94AE trappers in .45 Colt and the chambers don't seem any bigger than the chamber s on the 5 Marlin .45 Cowboys that I have previously owned. I was never happy with the Marlins and had issues with the one I bought. Marlin ended up sending me 5 different guns before it was all over, and I finally refused shipment of the 6th one and got a refund. Take a bore light with you and look the bore over real good, all the ones they sent me looked like the rifling was cut with a bastard file. Maybe this was just my luck, I don't know. If it were me I'd be looking for a Winchester. Good luck.


Yea, I don't know what the deal was with the .45 Marlins. I have had other Marlin levers in the past that were great guns and made very well. I guess it was just a bad run of luck.

My experience also. I bought the Marlin 20" octagon barrel Cowboy 45 Colt. The bore slug measured .450" and looked like it was hacked out with a chisel (I have a 25X bore scope). I sent it back to Marlin and it took 2 months for them to even look at it. They sent a letter, finally, that said nothing wrong with it and if I want a new barrel it would cost $177.00. Well it sure needs a new barrel so I sent them the money about three weeks ago. After that I was looking at a brand new Marlin Model 95 stainless in 45-70 in the gun store and just had to have it. I started the paper work and got to thinking . . . Hhmmm, I have one rifle at Marlin right now for a new barrel and I have the bore scope out in the trunk, I wonder what this bore looks like? Egad's, it's worse than the one I sent back. I stopped the paper work and told the guy sorry, I don't want it. They also had a new blued model 95 45-70 so I put the bore scope in that one and was just shocked, it was easily the worst bore (if you could even call it a bore) that I have ever seen.

I have no idea what's going on at Marlin but after looking at three really bad Marlin bores in a row (one of them mine) I have very little confidence in what I will get back from Marlin. Time will tell I guess.

Rick

[StarMetal]

My experience also. I bought the Marlin 20" octagon barrel Cowboy 45 Colt. The bore slug measured .450" and looked like it was hacked out with a chisel (I have a 25X bore scope). I sent it back to Marlin and it took 2 months for them to even look at it. They sent a letter, finally, that said nothing wrong with it and if I want a new barrel it would cost $177.00. Well it sure needs a new barrel so I sent them the money about three weeks ago. After that I was looking at a brand new Marlin Model 95 stainless in 45-70 in the gun store and just had to have it. I started the paper work and got to thinking . . . Hhmmm, I have one rifle at Marlin right now for a new barrel and I have the bore scope out in the trunk, I wonder what this bore looks like? Egad's, it's worse than the one I sent back. I stopped the paper work and told the guy sorry, I don't want it. They also had a new blued model 95 45-70 so I put the bore scope in that one and was just shocked, it was easily the worst bore (if you could even call it a bore) that I have ever seen.

I have no idea what's going on at Marlin but after looking at three really bad Marlin bores in a row (one of them mine) I have very little confidence in what I will get back from Marlin. Time will tell I guess.

Rick

I must have hit it lucky. I don't have a bore scope, but with the naked eye my bore looks just great and running a tight patch through it feels very smooth and even. Like I said I have probably the first series of these and with the 24 inch barrel. I've never had any leading issue what so ever with it. Shoots great and cases don't come out black on the sides. Must have been made on a Wednesday.

Joe

[.45Cole]

Slinger-don't get discouraged
I have a marlin 1894cb45 (the 24" competition one) and it does give about 3/4 inch soot spot on the case on the ejection port side with a load of 8.0-8.5 grns unique (wonder why it smokes????) but the accuracy is outstanding. Went and bought ladder sight for long range work and I can really make it sing (still trying to lower the front ramp and knock it straight (windage))
Sometimes I still see the 24" models around. Maybe this is the difference.:confused:

[45r]

you might want to try some power pistol.Shoots into a inch at 50 in my 24 inch CB and very clean.I use a 305 grain PB boollit from Mtn Molds.