Marlin 1895 Cowboy 45/70

[Swagman]

G'day All,

I have been shooting a Marlin 1895 Cowboy in 45/70 for some time now (Black Powder Loads only) and have found it to be a pleasant & accurate rifle to use. Recently a mate of mine told me that he had also purchased a 1895 Cowboy and he bought it along to our monthly club shoot, when he turned up I was surprised to see that it was actually a carbine length barrel. Does anyone know when these were first produced by Marlin?

[TraderVic]

I'll dust off my "thinker" a bit. If I remember somewhat correctly, Davidson's (Gallery of Guns) marketed Marlin 45/70 Cowboy rifles (octagon barrels), starting in the late 90's. These were exclusives made for Davidson's and were in batches of 500, maybe 1,000 made - per offering. I do remember the first Marlin 45/70 Cowboy they sold had a 24" octagon barrel. I wanted one so bad, but couldn't make it work (family, etc). Davidsons continued their exclusive runs of Marlin 45/70 Cowboy rifles in different configurations, such as : 20" barrels, pistol grips, half octagon/ half round barrels, and so on. I believe they offered these, and other exclusive Marlins (such as the 336D, 35 Rem) until Marlin was purchased by Remington in 2008. Sometime in there, Marlin introduced their 45/70 (26" barrel) as a production offering.
Hope this helps...
Regards, Vic

[Swagman]

Thanks very much TraderVic! Looks like a Davidson's Cowboy with the 20" barrel ended up down here in New South Wales and I found a Marlin with the Octagonal 26" barrel.

Cheers

[yooper2]

There were also a bunch of LTD models that predated the cowboy (4 or 5?). I believe one was with a short octagonal barrel but I could well be mistaken

Eric

[Paladin]

Thanks for the info. I have three Old Marlins in 45-70 very handy and accurate for large game that roam Alaska.

Buf Rifle_LI.jpg

[Bullard4075]

A 400 Speer at 1900 is definitely Moose medicine. Side to side penetration. Twice.

[2ndovc]

There were also a bunch of LTD models that predated the cowboy (4 or 5?). I believe one was with a short octagonal barrel but I could well be mistaken

Eric

The LTD III was the short barreled carbine. It's my all time favorite .45-70! I've taken a couple of deer, and a large boar with it.
jb

[oldebear1950]

I was am retired after 20 years, from the US COAST GUARD, and was stationed in Kodiak, from 1975-1978, and again from 1983-1986. Both times I had a Marlin 1895 for use against brown bears.
That was before the guide guns and the internet. Was also about the only repeater available.
Now there is a bunch of them. Ruger single shots, Ruger/Marlins, Rossi R 95s, and the different 1886s both the Japanese and Italian copies, and other single shots.

[Swagman]

Thanks for all your replies. My mate is just getting into Lever guns ( we both mainly shoot muzzle-Loaders), anyway he came over on Sunday and I showed him how to reload his brass with black powder. The load that I have found goes well in the Cowboy is 65 grains of FFG blackpowder, a thin card over the powder and a 350 grain .459 hard lead bullet, we loaded up 50 cases and are looking forward to a session at our range.