Apples & oranges but I have a 25+ year old 1894 Marlin in 44 mag but it will feed any 44 Spl I've tried but as mentioned above OAL seems to be the maker or breaker.
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Apples & oranges but I have a 25+ year old 1894 Marlin in 44 mag but it will feed any 44 Spl I've tried but as mentioned above OAL seems to be the maker or breaker.
He had a problem where the cartridges were coming out of the mag tube under the lifter when the action was cycled. That was the reason for the welding of the cartridge stop. It's a common problem on .357 94 AE's.Quote:
Also can't figure welding and modifying parts on an otherwise functional gun just to get there??
fecmech,
I have no problem understanding the modification so the 38SPL will cycle. The only problem I have understanding is the necessity to use 38SPL in a gun designed to cycle 357.
357 brass is neither scarce nor expensive- last I checked it was about 50 cents more expensive than 38SPL per 100. 357 can be down loaded to modest 38SPL ballistics. 38SPL in 357 chamber will lead to a carbon ring build-up that will have to be dealt with sooner or later.
But hey- already a done deal and not my deal
Why do I shoot .38 Special in my .357 Mag. Marlin? Because I have a pile of factory .38 Special +P and I already have more reloading to do than I have time. So I shoot the factory .38s in the .357 Marlin and reload for the others.
Oh, and my Marlin needed no modification, feeds the .38 JHP just fine.
Ed
I tried 38s for the same reason, I have lots more 38 brass than I 357. In the order of 3000 vs 500. You do the math.
I need to try the 359640 in a special case to see how that works out.
I wish I had a Win 94 in 357. I'd be trying to convert it to 357 Max.
I load 38's for the same reasons already posted. I have a lifetime supply of 38 special brass, and accuracy is no issue with this rifle. I followed fecmech's advise and reapaired the under-carrier jam accordingly with an evenings worth of effort. SWC ammo in .357 cases doesn't feed any better than in a 38, so I have called upon the knowledge of those who have already sorted this issue out for themselves. I still need to sniff out some 158 gr. round nose boolits to try out, but factory RN's shoot like a dream, so I think my problem will be solved there once seated to a good length. Thanks again to everyone for the sound advice!
Another possible reason (though not seeming to be the case in the OP's situation) is if you have a boolit with an out-of-case length that is excessive and won't feed when loaded to the crimp groove in the longer brass. It's a common work-around to use shorter brass, if you want to keep loading with a crimp in the crimp groove (which most people do in lever-guns, because of the less-reliable-for-setback crimp over the front drive band that would otherwise been required).
So I'm working up a load for the 158 gr. RN in 38 spl. I'm using CCI 500 primers and bullseye. I'm starting with 3 gr. and working my way up. What do you guys like to use?
My Marlin 1894 .357mag HATES aluminum cased factory loads in .38sp in every way. It was all I had as I had at the time and I felt like shooting the rifle so I grabbed a box. WRONG!
As for reloading, my son is bugging me to reload only for the 1894 44 mag so he can shoot what he thinks is his lever action rifle. I tell him to just keep thinking that - the little twerp.:mrgreen:
4.2/BE/H&G 158 rn gives excellent accuracy in my 94. Runs right at 1070 fps and is very accurate. In my gun with the Lee 158 TLSWC + 5 grs of Unique is about the same speed and a little more accurate(less than 3 moa @100 yds). Both are max std. presure .38 spl loads which are no problem at all in your rifle.
I see no issue with using Special-length brass in Magnum-length chambers, other than the carbon ring mentioned by 405. The boolit-length issue may indeed be resolved by resorting to the shorter brass length in some cases.
I decided early-on to do the right thing with the new WinOku Model 92 x 44 Magnum. In my view, that was to order a 250 grain flatnose/round ogive boolit design with gas check from Accurate Molds. Put up in Magnum brass, #429244 fed all right, as did SAECO #446. #429421? Fuggetaboutit, when loaded to use the crimp groove. Single-shot was all right, but the 92 is a repeater, not a Ruger #1.
The 92 won't be used for CAS, I'm not a player there. Just target range and hunting fields for me, as usual. Gotta cast some more boolits for it, come to think of it--filling all those emptied Magnum cases last week drew down the reservoir considerably. Did I mention my loathing of carbon crud-ring clean-outs?
I must be doing something wrong as I rarely get the "carbon ring"shooting .38's in my .357. When I do, I simply chamber an empty expanded .357 mag or max case and run it in and out a couple times. The flare on the case mouth takes it right out.
fecmech I might poach your Unique load and give it a try. I've been meaning to get some to dink with. I like powders that will do a lot with a little.