marlins & black powder

[bigted]

ive got a cowboy marlin of new vintage and would love to try black powder in the 45-70 cases but the cleanup worries me. also i am not so much worried about the cleanup after i get done shooting rather i am concerned about the accuracy while im shooting.

will i need to remove the bolt and lever during a shooting session so as to swab the fouling out to retain accuracy?

also can i shoot j-word boolits with black powder as they will not be carrying any boolit lube?

i have two marlins...one cowboy...one 1895 gs stainless. id like to try this in both and i gather it cant be such a burden as the early guns...levers...shot black all the time and the winchesters were and are kinda difficult to dissasemble for proper cleaning so it cant be rocket science huh?

thanks for the info//replys

[hickstick_10]

Turn one screw and clean when you get home. Youl have a little crud in the action but not lots.

Jacketed bullets carry no lube, and a nice greasy lead bullet keeps the fowling soft, j words you may have some fowling issues.

I never had a problem with a henry 44 mag (pretty darn close you your marlin action wise), never had to clean till I got home, even when I was ignorant and use alox as a lube:holysheep.

Clean up with a blockpowder solvent and your gun will be just fine.


Loading some 357 mags for the marlin 1894 with BP so il get back to you.

[excess650]

Loading blackpowder in cartridges is almost a science unto itself. You'll get more and better responses with the blackpowder cartridge guys. Can you do it? Sure, but its messy, and time consuming. You'll also have to wash your cases.

Jacketed bullets? The 303 British was originally loaded with blackpowder, but changed to cordite within a few years. I don't think it a good idea at all.

If you want to maintain accuracy and keep fouling soft, and THAT is the key, you'll need bullets that carry plenty of the right kind of lube, and may have to resort to a grease cookie. Modern blackpowder isn't as good as the best 19th century stuff.

Instead, I would suggest AA5744 or Blackhorn 209 powders. AA5744 is intended to be loaded in large cases with low load density. Blackhorn 209 is for modern MLers with 209 primer ignition, but also for cartridges. It is "smokeless for black" that is cleaned up with nitro solvent, but does make a bit of smoke when fired.

I DO have some 45-70s loaded with BP and 340gr HPs for hunting. They were loaded for my Sharps and shot at 60 yards for group, 3 shot groups, with no wiping or blow tubing between shots. More than likely they would work in my Marlin, but I'll save 'em for the Sharps.

[Dan Cash]

I use BP exclusively in my Marlin CB95. For long strings of more than 10 rounds, I blow tube the barrel or if afield with no blow tube, just blow down the muzzle. For cleanup, one screw, pull the bolt and clean with soap and water. Works fine. Have fun.

[Maven]

bigted, See my reply in the BP Cartridge section.

[bigted]

thanks all. im really anxious to try this and i nearly have all the stuff together. im waiting for another mould and some lead to get started with. i didnt think it was all that exagerated but sometimes my fevered and semi-disabled brain starts to complicate things that are ussually pretty simple.

do the lyman moulds usually have enough greese grooves for this kinda greese or am i gonna have to look elsewheres

[Maven]

"Do the lyman moulds usually have enough grease grooves for this kinda greese or am i gonna have to look elsewheres?"

bigted, Some of the Lyman designs, e.g., #457122 (322 grs.), #457124 (366 grs., but round nose), and #457193 (420 grs.) have enough grooves for BP lube & loads.

[jh45gun]

To each their own I use black with my muzzle loaders but prefer to use smokeless for every thing else.

[cajun shooter]

Used a Marlin for BP shoots on 3 week ends a month and shot 50 to 75 each time. The clean up is very easy. The Marlin is the easiest of all levers to clean up. Your cases may be put in water with Dawn W/ OXY and lemon juice concentrate for about a hour. Rinse very well with clean water then tumble. The fun factor is 100 times that of shooting the phony old smokeless stuff.

[bigted]

very cool. im just a shake away from the first black powder cartridges. waiting on lube and lead. got my lyman 125 500 gr mould finally. also im flirting with the rcbs 500 for some smokless hunters as the volume will be taken with boolit inside the case.

but i can hardly wait for the smoke to roll outta my c/b and the other 45/70's i have. ive ordered an 1885 hiwall so maybe when it gets here ill break in with black powder. the 2 levers will deffinetly smell the black when i get everything together. kinda slow getting here in the frozen north.