Win 38-40 ammo and old Marlin

otteray · Post by **otteray** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:05 pm

Is the Winchester 180gr 38-40 factory ammo too hot for my 1889 Marlin?
It does not say "Smokeless Powder" on the barrel.

otteray · Post by **otteray** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:01 am

I know they make it to be safe with old firearms, but I just wanted to get some feedback from those that have tried it in their 100 year old + leverguns.

Leverdude · Post by **Leverdude** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:11 am

Are the bullets jacketed? If so I'd probably not use it. There were no smokeles 1889's & the 1894's were never marked as such either. Just the 1893 & maybe the 1895.

If you dont reload now's a great time to start.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:56 am

I currently have a 1889 Marlin in 38-40 that has logged 4750 rounds. 95% of those loads have been 8 gr. of Unique with a 180 cast bullet. The factory ammo is loaded to about those specs, maybe a little less. A limited amount of jacketed bullets will not harm your gun. By limited, I mean a thousand or two and at the cost of factory 38-40 ammo, I'm sure you will not get anywhere near that amount.
The 1889 is a strong action and will easily digest ammo loaded to factory specs. Go ahead and shoot that baby. -------------Sixgun

otteray · Post by **otteray** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:47 pm

Thanks for the replies!
I was given a box and yes, they are jacketed; that was a concern as well.
So maybe I'll let somebody else shoot them (for a small fee

) and then give me back the brass for my 180 gr and 200 gr loads.
Then I can have some more brass available.
Thanks for the Unique info. I think I saw that in an old reload manual, too.
I'll double check.

John Y Cannuck · Post by **John Y Cannuck** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:50 pm

Those factory loads are very mild. I'd have no concerns at all. I wouldn't even worry about the jacketed part at those velocities.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:47 pm

I shot many hundreds of cheap factory .38 WCF ammo through my 1884 vintage '73 carbine back in the '60s and '70s. Not to worry, they are plenty easy on those old guns and weaker than my popper handloads of 9 grs Unique. Those loads never hurt the old Winchester, either. To this day it's still going strong, but not at my house. It got traded off for a .44 Colt SAA in a weak moment.

GEOFF · Post by **GEOFF** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 11:58 pm

Otterray,

One additional point to the good info above is that the WW factory .38-40 has crimped primers for some reason. I bought a Marlin baby carbine from Mike Venturino and discussed this crimped primer deal with him. He says he has never run into anyone who knows why they crimp the primers on WW factory loads. So it remains a mystery.

Another of Mike Venturino's suggestions was to just use the RCBS deburring tool to remove the crimp. This works well and I just loaded 50 rounds in this manner.

All the best!

Geoff

Bluehawk · Post by **Bluehawk** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:08 am

I have shot many hundreds of factory Winchester rounds from My Marlin 1889. I have pulled the bullets fomr them to reload them a little stouter than factory to hunt with .
My staeady diet for that gun is 175/180 Cast bullets with 8 grains of Unique . I do sitllshoot the factory form time to time if I can get it cheap enough and then I have more brass