'95 Marlin minimum COL

[KWK]

So, I made the mistake of going by Turnbull's site and saw what he's doing with the current generation of '95 CB.

I seldom get the itch to fire the "big" cartridges and got to wondering what one might do for gallery, or plinking, loads in the .45-70. Looking around the web, round balls and collar buttons seem to be the preferred solution for the Trapdoor shooters, but these will have a shorter COL than standard. Anyone tried to cycle such in their '95 Marlins?

I once owned a used .444 and didn't have much luck making .44-40 level loads, but in looking around the web the last few days I did read of a few tricks I hadn't tried. Any comments on .45-70 gallery loads are welcome, too.

Lastly, I'm amazed what Marlin has done with the current '95 CB. GunBlast confirms the 7 lb weight of these rifles with their 26" tapered octagons. That's lighter than any '66 or '73 I've been fondling at the local gun stores of late. I want...

[DocRock]

The answer is black powder. 50 grs 1.5 Fg, a fibre wad column, lube cookie and overlube card wad, under a 300ish grain plain base bullet will give you great joy and no pain. BP recoil is much more of a hard push than a sharp kick and a load like this will have very little recoil indeed.

[AJMD429]

Sounds like a fun topic. Keep us posted.

The Marlin 1895 I have is startlingly light for the size gun it is - my 1889 Marlin in 32-20 is HEAVY compared to the 1895, but think about how much more steel is removed to make that huge hole versus the 32 caliber one...

I am more interested in light-loading the 45-70 in that gun than in hot-loading it. If I want to push the foot-pounds envelope I'll stick with the 444 Marlin, as there is a bit more steel surrounding the cartridge head, and if I really want to go well beyond the 'envelope', I will use my 500 S&W BHA 89.

[yooper2]

Both of my 1895s will cycle the Lyman collar button fine. Tom at Accurate has some interesting lightweight bullets that may suit you as well. My favorite smokeless load for the collar button is 8 grs of Unique. Also like black with a .5" wad and .125" of compression on whatever the charge of black is, not sure since my dad made a dipper for it years ago.


Eric

[KWK]

My favorite smokeless load for the collar button is 8 grs of Unique.

Thanks Eric. No card or wad on top of the Unique I take it. What sort of fps spread do you get?

On looking further, I see that wee charges of smokeless in the .45-70 has been known to cause ringing of the chamber. The phenomenon isn't understood, but it's real. Apparently the use of a wad tamped down on the charge is the best way to bring it on, but it's not every time. Weird.

Maybe I should just get the '94 CB instead, but that '95 CB I think one of the most handsome lever actions out there.

[yooper2]

Nope, no wad or fillers. I do tip the muzzle up before each shot though. The numbers aren't great, 40-50 fps spread as I recall, was one of the first loads I chronographed about 10 years ago but I had a fire a couple years back in which I lost most of my notes. That said it is good for about 2" at 100 yards and is as good as I have gotten the stubby little bullets to shoot. Fine for offhand can blasting.

The 1895 CB is one of the better things to come out of Marlin since WW2 in my opinion. Good looking and wonderful handling characteristics. Pretty much an ideal big bore offhand blaster. Mine wears an MVA tang sight.

Eric