Best bullet weight and load for Marline 1894 in .44 mag

[Schwing]

I have been eyeballing the newer Marlin 1894s for a long time now but have held off for a couple of years because of all of the quality complaints. I had a decent deal come up so I rolled the dice on it and will be getting it on March 13th. It is the 20" barrel .44 magnum with ballard type rifling.

I shoot a lot of 240 grain SWC powder coated lead bullets out of my 7.5 inch super blackhawk with excellent accuracy. I was considering getting a 300 grain TC mold but I have read that the 1:38 twist rate on the Marlins don't do well with the heavier bullets. I am looking for advice from those of you who actually have one. What lead cast bullets and loads do you get the best accuracy with?

I appreciate any input. Aside from many pistol caliber carbines, I don't shoot a lot of rifles. Twist rate and bullet weight just have not been great considerations for me up until now. Thanks!

 

[rcmodel]

I have a 1894P Guide gun.
It does way better with 240 then anything heavier.

I tried some 300 grain Noslers once, and they were rough on stove wood logs at 25 yards or so.

But long range accuracy, not so good.

Plus, I'm actually not convinced the .44 Mag has enough case capacity to gain much of anything with heavy bullets when the bullet is taking up half the powder capacity.

rc

 

[greyling22]

Don't use a SWC. or anything that has a lip that can catch the chamber mouth.
I also had issues with using too fast a powder with too high a pressure causing stripping and leading and keyholing in mine at first. Of course that could also have been to the soft bullets I was using for my cowboy loads at the time.

ahh the mistakes we make when we are learning.....

 

[blarby]

Quick question.

Best bullet for what purpose ?

Punching paper exclusively ? Hunting ? Civil defense ? Some combo ?

 

[Valkman]

I got a 1894 in 44mag last year and started shooting my S&W 629 loads which is a 240gr bullet and all performed well. I have since started loading 44spl with the same bullets and 4.7gr W231 and that's a great lighter load.

 

[g.willikers]

One caution with the Marlins is keeping the screw for the loading gate tight.
If it loosens and the gate sags inward, it can cause interference with rounds coming out of the mag.

 

[Schwing]

Quick question.

Best bullet for what purpose ?

Punching paper exclusively ? Hunting ? Civil defense ? Some combo ?

As trivial as this may sound, I will be primarily using it to shoot steel targets. I just want the biggest clang possible.

As a side note, I don't hunt much but would use it for deer or elk if I ever go again.

 

[VThillman]

The 240s probably make more clang, but for accuracy I like 200gr hard cast or 180gr jacketed; they don't need as much spin.

 

[ssyoumans]

Mine likes the 240gr MBC Smashers and Unique. I've loaded them anywhere from 8.5gr up to 10gr.
Otherwise I use Hornady 240gr XTP hollowpoints. I tried some 240gr Powerbonds plated bullets with Unique and Blue Dot, could never get any kind of decent groups with them. Mine just didn't like those plated bullets.

 

[sappyg]

You know... I may have run a few 240 gr bullets through mine but I think it really shines with a 200 gr lead bullet. FP lead bullets were the way to go steaming along from a ridiculous light charge of clays in a mag case.

No idea just how accurate they are but good enough for banging plates out to 25 yards from your hind legs.

 

[cheep]

Mine likes a 240 Keith boolet with either Unique or AA#5

 

[Schwing]

I finally got the gun and took it to the range on Saturday. On the plus side, the fit and finish is excellent. The action isn't glass smooth but it is much better than I expected it to be based on what I have read about Marlin's recent offerings.

For the bad... Boy do I have some work to do on accuracy! I was pretty disappointed with my current load that I use on my super blackhawk. I was also not happy that they don't seem to want to cycle well in it. They are not horrible but not smooth either. I was hoping to avoid having to use RN bullets but may end up doing so. I am going to put a few more of the SWC rounds through it though before I jump to any conclusions there.

My current load is a Powder coated 240 grain SWC sized to .430 with 15 grains of blue dot. Out of my 7.5 inch blackhawk, they nearly go through the same hole every time. In the rifle, I was unable to hit the paper until I brought it into the 12 yard line. Even then I was getting about 6" groups!

I don't think they are undersized since they are not tumbling (at least they are making perfectly round holes in the paper). Out of the blackhawk, they chrono at about 1400FPS. I am guessing that the rifle is adding 200-300fps to that. My guess is that I am just driving them too hard. This weekend, I am going to slug the barrel to make sure it isn't larger than .429 and I will start my load workup again. I am kind of bummed that I will need a different load for it but...