marlin 45-70 8 groove rifling

[Box13]

Who here knows thier marlin 1895 rifles?I bought a marlin 1895 in 45-70 from a guy here and Im trying to figure out what cast boolit to shoot in it.It seems to be a pretty early gun but it doesnt look like micro groove rifling.It has 8 grooves,kind of shallow but still look like ballard.I was told that the first year they used ballard before deciding to go to micro.Serial is B001xxx.Is this true and if it is what works best in these guns.It seems to have about 1 in 20-22 twist or so.It is all stock and in very good shape.If the guy told me the truth it has only had 15 rounds through it,8 from him and 7 from me...I couldnt wait and it did come with 10 live rounds so I saved 2...in case theres a grizzly attack or something...Robin

[insanelupus]

If I remember correctly, (and I might not) the very earilest barrels were a commercial barrel when Marlin reintroduced the 1895, I believe it was Douglas. The first were 8 groove, then I think they went to a 12 groove made by Marlin and then the Microgroove. Someone on here might remember better than I.

[stubshaft]

They definitely made some of the 1895's with Ballard rifling. I own one of them. It is one of the most accurate lever rifles I have EVER owned (the other is a Guide Gun). I shoot either the RCBS 400gr or the (now defunct) RD420gr boolit.

[BABore]

If it was one of the early cut rifled bbl's, the serial # should start with a "BO". Not all of the BO numbered guns were this way. Some of them were the early version of the MG rifling. I have one of the good ones.

[Box13]

The serial is B0...what is mg rifling and haw can I tell which one is what?Was there a different twist for different types of rifling?Or differing ammounts of grooves?Ive heard of 12 groove ballard but this has 8.....Robin

[MtGun44]

Slug and go. Number of grooves is irrelevant, boolit fit is the name of the game.
Twist rate may be an issue, but was it changed from MG to conventional
rifling?

Bill

[Box13]

This gun is all stock.I know boolit fit is the most important.I just dont know about the twist rate.I used a tight fitting swab with oil on a cleaning rod and it looks like a 1 in 20-22 twist.Is that good...bad...does it restrict me to certain types of boolits or can I use most anything and just figure out whats works best?

[felix]

Good! 18 twist is best for 1000 yards, 500 grainers, shooting in hard conditions. ... felix