Malin 44 mag lever

[Pirate69]

I would like to load a round that will be used in both my Marlin 44 mag lever action and my Ruger Red and Blackhawks. I am looking at a Lee Mould TL430-240 SWC. Has anyone had any experience in the feeding of this boolit in a lever action? I assume that it will feed OK but who knows. Any and all advice will be appreciated.

[longbow]

I have loaded up 0.440" balls and shot them in my Marlin. Fed fine.

They are a little on the large size and shave lead when seated into the case but they actually shoot quite well. And I guess more amazing is that they chamber! Must be a sloppy chamber.

I have taken to sizing them to about 0.434" now. Gives a bit of a "belt" around them.

In any case, 0.430" should do okay but a few thou larger than groove might be better. By the way if you haven't slugged your barrel, you should. Mine is 0.4315" groove so rather fat. There is not much meat around the equator of a ball so a little oversize is good.

Also, I tumble lube the balls. Haven't shot lots in one go but no leading from what I have shot.

FWIW

Longbow

[Tony65x55]

I would like to load a round that will be used in both my Marlin 44 mag lever action and my Ruger Red and Blackhawks. I am looking at a Lee Mould TL430-240 SWC. Has anyone had any experience in the feeding of this boolit in a lever action? I assume that it will feed OK but who knows. Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Pirate, Marlin .44 barrels are usually a bit oversized. Usually, the best bullet size is .432" but sometimes .433". Also, for maximum velocities in the .44 Mag you really need a gascheck. The Lee C429-240-SWC might be a better choice. If it needs to be a bit bigger, lapping the mold is pretty easy.

You should take a soft lead slug, cover it with light oil and tap it down the barrel and measure it to see what your bore diameter really is.

[EDK]

lasc.us; read Glenn Fryxell's article on 1894 marlins.
americanhandgunner.com; John Taffin did a recent article in reloading on rifle and pistol loads for 44s. Also additional load data on the web blast section there.

If you haven't bought a mould, consider a round nose/flat point for the first one. My guns feed some semi wadcutters very well and others not quite so good. I was lazy and didn't slug my barrels....just read up and got a .432 sizer....better accuracy with the change from .430 I'd used for years.

Conventional wisdom for Marlins is oversize for caliber, hard alloy, gas checks and push them to higher velocities. Use magnum rather than special brass...less problems with dirty chambers, etc. This has worked for me in both 357 and 44 in multiple rifles.

:cbpour::redneck::Fire:

[Pirate69]

Man, this is good info. Thanks all. I am on hold until I can do it right.

[6pt-sika]

I've shot the Ranch Dog 432-265GC in both a Marlin 336-44 and a Ruger 1957 vintage Flattop !

Did very nicely in both and I shot the same load of H110 in both !

[longbow]

Oops! Sorry about that, I misread and thought you meant round ball... duh! Got to learn to read!

Let me try again.

My Marlin is very picky and does not like Keith style SWC's at least the Lyman 429421 or H&G 503, both of which have long noses so result in longer OAL than many Marlins will digest easily. Some are not a problem. I have modified my cartridge stop to allow longer OAL and modified the carrier some so now it feeds SWC's not too bad. Not 100% but not too bad.

Haven't tried the Lee.

So far any TC or RNFP I have tried feeds fine it was only SWC's that were a problem.

Just a warning as many revolver shooters really like SWC's so check 'em out before buying a mould.

Also, as mentioned Marlin barrels tend to be large so 0.432" or larger should be your target diameter.

You might think about the RanchDog design 265 gr. RNFP surplus on the Lee site. RanchDog designed that boolit especially for the Marlin and it is nominal 0.432". Not sure how it shoots from revolver but I bet pretty good. I have a mould on the way now myself.

If you are thinking heavy (maybe down the road) my 1:38" twist does not like any boolits I have tried that are more than about 265 gr. Some heavy designs seem to work for some people but so far my gun does not like boolits any heavier than 265 gr. in any loads I have tried including Hornady 300 gr. "J" bullets.

There now, that is probably more useful than my round ball ramblings. Sorry about that.

Longbow

[6pt-sika]

your target diameter.

If you are thinking heavy (maybe down the road) my 1:38" twist does not like any boolits I have tried that are more than about 265 gr. Some heavy designs seem to work for some people but so far my gun does not like boolits any heavier than 265 gr. in any loads I have tried including Hornady 300 gr. "J" bullets.

There now, that is probably more useful than my round ball ramblings. Sorry about that.

Longbow



In the same Marlin 336-44 I had which was circa 1967 the Ranch Dog 432-300GC did very nicely also when pushed kinda hard with H110 ! Although I never tried this one in the old Ruger !

[EMC45]

I shot some Lee 429-240 GC yesterday. They did well. They chambered well, but if I was jerky with the lever they would hit the top of the chamber and hang up at about a 90 degree angle in the receiver.

[Pirate69]

I must be living right (doubt it)!!!!! I slugged the barrel of by Marlin Model 1894 and the greating reading I can find is 0.4295". The Lee 265 grain mold should work well. Time will tell.

[longbow]

6pt-sika:

I asked RanchDog if his 300 grain boolit would stabilize in 1:38" twist at long range. He did some testing to 300 yards I think (long anyway) still getting good accuracy and nice round holes so stable.

I have also been told that the heavy WFN designs stabilize in 1:38" if pushed hard.

I decided I was happy enough with 265 gr. so have not pursued heavier boolits any further.

I suspect those boolit designs with large meplat and fat nose are what make them successful.

Longbow

[6pt-sika]

6pt-sika:

I asked RanchDog if his 300 grain boolit would stabilize in 1:38" twist at long range. He did some testing to 300 yards I think (long anyway) still getting good accuracy and nice round holes so stable.

I have also been told that the heavy WFN designs stabilize in 1:38" if pushed hard.

I decided I was happy enough with 265 gr. so have not pursued heavier boolits any further.

I suspect those boolit designs with large meplat and fat nose are what make them successful.

Longbow


No not a 44 MAG , but in my 1-36 slow twist Micro Groove 444's I've been stabalizing 375 grain bullets :bigsmyl2:

[longbow]

Aaaahhh... I bet that would develop just a bit more velocity than the .44 mag!

[6pt-sika]

Aaaahhh... I bet that would develop just a bit more velocity than the .44 mag!

I used the RD 432-300GC just fine in the old 336-44 (this is a 44 MAG) with H110 and it shoot well enough for deer out to 100 yards and that was as far as I tried it !


But the 375 grain mold I had Mountain Molds made was done strictly for the slow twist Micro barrels on my old 444's . I pushed that one very hard with H322 !

I think you may have misunderstood what I meant or I may not have stated it correctly .

[kelbro]

I could not get SWCs to feed in my Marlin 1894 44Mag. Just tried the Lee 310 and it doesn't feed very well either. Factory J-stuff feeds excellent. I am waiting on my 265gr mold and hoping that it is the ticket.

[Bulletlube]

I use a the H&G 44gc you can get this same mould from Ballisti-cast on page 5, their number is 644 it is a round flat point.

http://www.ballisti-cast.com/

[NHlever]

Strangely, some of the best groups I got from the last couple of Marlins I tried were with the Speer 270 GDSP, and the Hornady 265 sp. One would think that the 210's would work better with that round ball twist, but they didn't. I've had a Win. 94 Trails End for the past few years, and it is much more fogiving, and shoots / feeds everything better. I would like another Marlin, especially one of the slimmer ones, but I have been pretty frustrated working with them over the years. My guess is that if you get something to shoot well in the rifle, it will work just fine in your handgun.

[Rodfac]

I've had good luck with Lyman's 429215 GC, cast from WW and sized .432" in my Marlin 336, .44 Magnum. Anything smaller in dia. wouldnt group. That bullet , weighing 225 gr with a GC will shoot 1+" gps at 50 yds for me with a peep on the Marlin. I've also found that it works equally well through several S&W's and Rugers with the same dia. It is over size for the hand guns as determined by slugging the bores and throats, but is wonderfully accurate. I don't push it for velocity in deference to the over size nature of the bullet, however. 1200 fps in the Magnums and 1100 fps in the .44 Special.

I've noted that many here like the heavier bullets in .44, but I have found that this one (429215 GC) saves WW metal for me, is very accurate and fun to shoot with the lighter recoil. For deer, it is probably ok out to 50-75 yds or so, but I have yet to shoot one with it. For defense use in a short bbl'd double action .44 Spl, it would be the ticket I'd think, (lighter recoil = back on tgt faster).

It feeds 99% of the time through the Marlin, with only an occasional jiggle necessary when levering in a new round. A good brisk cycle on the lever does the trick.

Regards, Rodfac