Marlin 1894 .44 Mag Cast Loads

[44magLeo]

I have tried the Lee 200 gr boolit. It comes out of the mold way to small. About .427 to .429. My 44 Malin I bought new in 1977. I shoot mostly Lymans 421429 as cast with ww, AC or WD. both worked well.
I also found that the Lee bullet was to short. If seated to the crimp groove it won't feed from the tube up to chamber. Seated out to the lower lube groove it feeds fine.
It just won't shoot.
I think if I had a 200 gr bullet that came out of the mold at .433 it would shoot much better.
Leo

[Shuz]

I have tried the Lee 200 gr boolit. It comes out of the mold way to small. About .427 to .429. My 44 Malin I bought new in 1977. I shoot mostly Lymans 421429 as cast with ww, AC or WD. both worked well.
I also found that the Lee bullet was to short. If seated to the crimp groove it won't feed from the tube up to chamber. Seated out to the lower lube groove it feeds fine.
It just won't shoot.
I think if I had a 200 gr bullet that came out of the mold at .433 it would shoot much better.
Leo

"Beagle" your Lee 44 200g mould and it will feed fine in your Marlin. I've done it on one of my 2 Lee 200g moulds., and it shoots well in the Winnie Trapper, but not in the Marlin.....but the Marlin doesn't shoot anything well!

[cf_coder]

Just chiming in here as I have both the 1894C .357 (ballard) and the 1894 .44 Mag (microgroove)... I've found that the .44 really likes the heavier bullets. Lowest I'd go is a 240 grain Keith style LSWC. I also have the RD 265 and it's definitely a sledge hammer. I got mine cut 50/50 gas checks to plain based. I have plinkers with the plain base boolit using around 8 - 8.5 grains of unique. Full house loads with the gas checked version using 23 grains of LilGun. On the .357 side, you have a ton of options. I happen to like the Lyman 358156 with a gas check. I'll push those with up to ~18 grains of LilGun and they just keep on goin... great bullet and you'll definitly know you're shooting a magnum load! I also have the RD175 GC and it's a great bullet as well... Lots of options out there. I'd say if you can swing it, get both!

edit: make sure you size them big for your Marlins... I size my .357 at .359 and my .44 at .432... I might even ream out my sizer to get the .44 to .433 as my barrel will handle that just fine. Bullet fit is king with these guys.

Cheers,