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Well I will be able to shoot the cartridges that I shoot in the revolver in the rifle. However, if I want accuracy I will have to shoot a bullet that will not fit through the revolver
I slugged the rifle and it came out .4323! Largest bullet to fit through the cylinder of the Redhawk is .431.
Anyone else slug their Marlin 44 and what did you get for a measurement ??
John
Gettin old ain't for sissies!
There just has to be dogs in heaven !
I developed a disdain for Marlins in general because of my 1894 44 mag ----- i didnt go as in depth as you did to find out why --- just when i had one at the bench that grouped 6" at 100 with 240 gr loads, -- then i had a 45/70 that would hurl them in like a bolt rifle regardless of bullet weight, -- i became suspect of the '94 --- between the hinky loading and MArlin Jam tendencies -coupled with the accuracy of an AK-47, i was glad to see it go down the trail
Last edited by Streetstar on Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
I owned a Marlin 1894 in 44MAG for over 20 years. It featured shallow micro-groove rifling and slo-o-o-ow twist. It shot 7 inch groups with 240 grain ammo which is unacceptable for deer hunting. But I found that 200 grain Hornady .430 hollow tip bullets shot much better. Three inch groups at 100 yards did the job for me. I killed many deer with this load; none got away. I traded the Marlin for a Ruger 96 when they first came out. My Ruger has faster twist and deeper rifling. This carbine shoots all bullet weights quite well.
The Marlin had a feeding problem which was fixed by replaced the cartridge lifting device.
TR
Last edited by t.r. on Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Fire Up the Grill - Hunting is NOT Catch & Release!
They tend to be rather generous in bore size. Mine measured .431", and .431" cast bullets shoot pretty good, but a lot of Marlin 44 shooters will go to .432 or even .433", as you found out.
I have had 2 1894's and have found that I have to drive the 240 gr bullets hard to get them to shoot accurately. I had the best results with the Speer gold dot soft points (1.5 inches) which I can't find any longer locally. But the Speer 240 sp and the Hornady 240 XTP seem to stay under 2.5 inches at 100 yards which no deer has got by.
I have just started powder coating some cast which brings the bullets up to .433 and shows promise for a cheaper plinking round. I also tried some 200 grain cast that was .429 that I had 400 or so around and shot about 2 inches at fifty with no leading after Powder coating. (way better than in the past)
My SS carbine had an overly large bore too. IIRC it was over .431". I sent that rifle back to Marlin,that was before Remington took over. They re barreled it with a more proper .4295 barrel
and it is a super shooter with jacketed or cast now.
Before you spend money on an oversized mold for yours,I would try some softer GC bullets in it.
I think you will find you can push them well into magnum velocity's without leading in the rifle and the same loads should work out in the revolver. Worth a try.
I developed a disdain for Marlins in general because of my 1894 44 mag ----- i didnt go as in depth as you did to find out why --- just when i had one at the bench that grouped 6" at 100 with 240 gr loads, -- then i had a 45/70 that would hurl them in like a bolt rifle regardless of bullet weight, -- i became suspect of the '94 --- between the hinky loading and MArlin Jam tendencies -coupled with the accuracy of an AK-47, i was glad to see it go down the trail
Whew! Good thing I didn't do that!
I had an 1894 in .44 that did about 12" at 100 yards. About 3" at 25. Sold it but didn't give up. Now I have another four of them that with open sights do 2" at 75 yards, another two that will stay under 1.5" at 100 yards!
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." - Thomas Jefferson
EdinCT wrote:I have had 2 1894's and have found that I have to drive the 240 gr bullets hard to get them to shoot accurately. I had the best results with the Speer gold dot soft points (1.5 inches) which I can't find any longer locally. But the Speer 240 sp and the Hornady 240 XTP seem to stay under 2.5 inches at 100 yards which no deer has got by.
I have just started powder coating some cast which brings the bullets up to .433 and shows promise for a cheaper plinking round. I also tried some 200 grain cast that was .429 that I had 400 or so around and shot about 2 inches at fifty with no leading after Powder coating. (way better than in the past)
I have great results with the WW- USA (white box) 240 gr JSP. They do 1-1/2" to 2" at 100 yards, which is plenty good enough for my needs.
AJMD429 wrote:Yep. Same here. That's the load I try to 'duplicate' with my reloads (using 2400).
Have you tried W296? I'm not sure you can duplicate that load with 2400. Perhaps, but I'm not certain.
For all my heavier .44 loads, I use W296, have for 30 years and no complaints. Haven't used 2400 since!
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." - Thomas Jefferson
Merle wrote:I have great results with the WW- USA (white box) 240 gr JSP. They do 1-1/2" to 2" at 100 yards, which is plenty good enough for my needs.
Yep. Same here. That's the load I try to 'duplicate' with my reloads (using 2400).
I have read in several different blogs that many people consider it almost a magic load. I bought a box to use in sighting in a scope, and it did so well I stuck with it. Plenty good enough for deer - plus the JSP out of a carbine should offer plenty enough to anchor my venison. I have even shot it in several postal matches - it's great out to 100 yds, but I have never tried further - 100 yds is about max in my woods.
