Slugged my Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag.

[millerwb]

I slugged my Marlin today. Came out at .430 so I just ordered a new sizing die in .431. Bit of a pain to wait for the die but if it will make the gun more accurate then it is worth the wait. Had been sizing to .429 since that was the die I had for my Blackhawk.

[45 acp]

Were you getting any leading?

[canyon-ghost]

<<<< That blackhawk in 44 special, sized to .431 too. Not that much different, very accurate.

[millerwb]

Was not getting noticeable leading yet. But an ounce of prevention if better than a pound of cure. Truth be told, I have not shot it many times yet, just happened to be slugging barrels this morning.

[longbow]

My Marlin likes fat boolits but then it is 0.4315" groove diameter. I got bad leading using a Lyman 429421 which cast right at 0.429".

Fattening up boolits to 0.432" or larger (up to 0.434") has virtually eliminated leading and improved accuracy bunches.

Something else to check as well is to push a slug all the way through the bore by hand and feel for tight spots in the barrel. I read about Marlins having tight spots under dovetails and roll stamping on the Marlin owner's forum and sure enough, mine had 3 or 4 noticeably tight spots I lapped out. That also helped.

Longbow

[WaywardSon]

I have had more trouble getting my Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum to group well with cast bullets than any other gun I have ever owned. Most commercial bullets are too small in diameter and too hard. The most effective thing I have tried so far has been to just quit sizing them Shooting "as cast" with a little LLA has improved things considerably.

What really grinds my gears is that it does pretty well with jacketed bullet loads...but that is not what I want to use. At least I am getting to shoot a fair amount!

[bones37]

My Marlin likes fat boolits but then it is 0.4315" groove diameter. I got bad leading using a Lyman 429421 which cast right at 0.429".

Fattening up boolits to 0.432" or larger (up to 0.434") has virtually eliminated leading and improved accuracy bunches.

Something else to check as well is to push a slug all the way through the bore by hand and feel for tight spots in the barrel. I read about Marlins having tight spots under dovetails and roll stamping on the Marlin owner's forum and sure enough, mine had 3 or 4 noticeably tight spots I lapped out. That also helped.

Longbow

What Longbow said....Seriously. I had to do the exact same things that Longbow mentions to my Micro-groove Marlin.

bones.

[Who's this Guy ?]

My Uncle just dug out his Marlin 1894 .44 Mag out of a 30yr old slumber because he is a self admitting hoarder and could not get to it for all that time. He went shopping for .44 Mag ammo so he could start enjoying shooting it again and said he had a hard time finding ammo and the stuff he found was so high in price he about fell over from shock at the store. I told him welcome to a whole new world of prices! Well it looks like reloading will be the way to go so we can go out to the range. From what I gather here, the micro-grooving barrel doesn't like lead to well and that is disapointing to hear. Some interesting post so far on cast lead for this rifle. Anybody have anything else to add?
I hope millerwb doesn't mind bumping this up beacause the posts so far have been in tune to what I was looking into.

[Keyston44]

Microgroove barrels love cast if they fit the barrel. With the 44mag, SAAMI dimensions are different from rifles to handguns. 429 for handguns, 431 for rifles. If you are shooting 429/430 cast bullets then you might have a leading problem. I size my 44 cast bullets to 433 for all my 44mag needs. That includes for my Ruger Blackhawk

Key

[BethelHntr]

Microgroove barrels love cast if they fit the barrel. With the 44mag, SAAMI dimensions are different from rifles to handguns. 429 for handguns, 431 for rifles. If you are shooting 429/430 cast bullets then you might have a leading problem. I size my 44 cast bullets to 433 for all my 44mag needs. That includes for my Ruger Blackhawk

Key

Keyston did you have a mold built to reach that over size .433 ? Reason I ask I picked up a JM 1894 44 recently and have been looking at molds at .430 max.

Thanks

[EDK]

Lots of info on the MARLINS available. Consensus is fat boolit, hard alloy, gas check and higher velocity. Some experimenting on boolit design for amount of bearing surface. I like the RANCH DOG 265, designed for micro-groove rifling, and the plain base clone of same from NIGHT OWL ENTERPRISES (Swede and the elves make nice boolit moulds.) Go over to marlinowners web site also. I've used a bunch of designs in my 1894 COWBOYS and keep going back to round nose flat point designs.
Measure some unsized boolits and do some testing on what diameters work. I run .432 for generic ammo, but I'm feeding 20+ different rifles and pistols...guess who does the casting and loading for the clan.

[Keyston44]

Keyston did you have a mold built to reach that over size .433 ? Reason I ask I picked up a JM 1894 44 recently and have been looking at molds at .430 max.

Thanks

I have the Ranch Dog 265gr mold. When I ordered it I had it cut with 3 cavities gas checked and 3 cavities plain based. They were made especially for Marlins. Unfortunately, Ranch Dog isn't having molds made anymore. I know NOE and others will make a mold any size you want.

For a sizer, I used a Lee Push Thru in 430 and opened it up with some 600 grit sandpaper and a dowel to 433.

Key

[wv109323]

I tried the Lee 240 gn. GC bullet and could not get it to shoot in my Marlin 1894. I shot it as cast at about .429-.430. The bullet would key hole at 15 yards.
I had some commercial cast 240 gn. plain base bullets at .429. They shot very good- about 1" at 50 yards. J-bullets did well also. I just could not get the Lee mold to shoot.

[JesterGrin_1]

I HAD a Marlin 1894SS in .44 Mag. And I put 600+ Test Rounds through that rifle and I was never happy. That is why I said HAD lol.

But really it all depends on what you wish to have for accuracy and how hard you wish to push them. As said the lighter loads may work out ok for you. But I was after Hunting Loads not powder puff loads lol.

But also as mentioned I would use as large a diameter as the rifle will chamber. Start with a .432 and you may work up from there to say .434. And a gas check helped.

I found the Lee 310Gr RNFP/GC sized at .432 pushed with a good supply of W-296 would give me 2 1/4- 2 1/2 groups at 100 yards through a scope if I did my part.

I feel they are a handy brush rifle. But for myself I was not happy with the accuracy I could get. So I sold it and purchased the Marlin 1895 GS in 45-70 and Never Looked back. That 45-70 will give me 3/4" groups and better at 100 yards and drops Hogs and Deer in there Tracks.