JM Marlin 1894 357

No, barrel length does not affect accuracy, however sight radius does. A shorter barrel will also reduce velocity. I imagine you had quite the rainbow trajectory.

.38 Special drops pretty quickly after 50 yards.

Many older (and newer) Marlins have barrel twist/droop. Put a (metal) straight edge across the receiver and see if the distance to the straight edge remains constant. Look down the barrel and see if the front sight is centered. I ask these things with a belief from the post that the rifle is new to you. On the world wide wonderland, all JMs are good and all REMs are bad. Unfortunately or unfortunately, depending upon your vantage point, that simply is myth. Marlin figured out how to screw things up plenty in the olden days or semi-olden days, lol. And did so regularly.

Light vs heavy loads will most certainly have different points of impact for the same point of aim.

diceman3 said:

Thanks for all the comment. Looks like some adjustments to make. Next time to 50 yards and see how it goes. I would have preferred shooting 357 mags, but not a lot of supply around.

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Yeah, definitely start closer in, maybe even 25 yards if that's possible. If the gun is sighted in for .357 mag at 100 yards, then a slow moving .38 Special cowboy load may drop something like 10 inches in comparison.

Also, don't worry about barrel droop yet. If you have a tapered barrel, it's kinda hard to check with a straight edge on the receiver anyway.

Marlin 1894/336/1895 tube magazine rifles do not have tapered barrels.

Pat Riot said:

.38 Special drops pretty quickly after 50 yards.

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I would imagine it would be just that much worse with cowboy loads. I think 100 yards is asking way too much...


I would try things at the 25-35 yard range. I bet the gun does much better.

Imho you're getting out to the edge of usefulness with a .357 carbine with iron sights. You can drop them in there, but dont plan on lighting any matches.

3Crows said:

Marlin 1894/336/1895 tube magazine rifles do not have tapered barrels.

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I'm assuming the OP has a .357 carbine. My 1894's barrel is about 1/4" smaller in diameter at the muzzle than at the receiver.

chicharrones said:

I'm assuming the OP has a .357 carbine. My 1894's barrel is about 1/4" smaller in diameter at the muzzle than at the receiver.

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You are correct. It is from the rear barrel band to the muzzle barrel band that the taper ceases, , I could be wrong again, one of those days. I got my 336T and 336S and that appears to be the case with them as the magazine maintains a constant gap going forward from the rear barrel band. But, if you pull the forestock off, the barrel does increase in diameter to the receiver and the lower portion of the barrel is relieved for the magazine. Sorry for the confusion.

Since both the front and rear sight are mounted on the barrel I’m at a loss to understand how barrel droop would effect a gun that is correctly sighted in.

Elkins45 said:

Since both the front and rear sight are mounted on the barrel I’m at a loss to understand how barrel droop would effect a gun that is correctly sighted in.

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Because the OP did not specify what sight system he had and many people do use scopes on their lever guns or aftermarket receiver peep sights. A 72 336 I have/had has droop and the front sight is not in the same clocking position as the rear sight. I made an assumption that was probably not justified.

diceman3 said:

Hi, does the shorter barrel on this rifle effect accuracy at 100 yards. Used 38Special for plinking and did not hit target. Used 158 grain cowboy soft nose. Any comments or recommendations appreciated.

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According to The Federal Ballistics Calculator, 158 grain round nose ammunition would be zeroed at 100 yards if the rifle is sighted so that bullets strike 4 1/2" high at 50 yards.
This, assuming that the velocity from your carbine is around 1000 FPS. (770 FPS handgun)

If your carbine is zeroed for 50 yards with this ammo at this velocity then it will strike almost 9" low at 100 yards.

If the cowboy ammo velocity is slower then those figures will be even worse.

First you should sight in at 25 yards and zero your rifle about 2" high.
Then move to 50 Yards and adjust your sights to strike 4 1/2" high, and to correct windage error.
Then move to 100 yards and try it out and make sight corrections.
In all cases you should be sighting in off the bench and from a rest.

IMHO you should zero your rifle for 80 yards for .38 Special loads.
It will flatten the looping trajectory some.
At 50 yards the bullets will strike 2.8" high and at 100 yards they will strike 3.7" low.
(Assuming that the muzzle velocity is 1000 FPS)

50 yards is about max for accuracy with my Rossi 92 and .38s. I can get .357s within about 4 inches at 75 yards. At 109 I can get all my .357s on paper but it will look like a grenade went off on the target. I bet this would be greatly improved with an optic. This is a16 inch barel.

I would get dialed in at 25 yards and then at 50.

I get it on target at 25 yard range and then sight in to be dead on at 50 yards with what ever I plan on using in it . I use peep sights on iron sighted guns. Exceptions are SASS guns which I sight in at 25 yards with open sights and practice the hit hit on further targets

I saw a Youtube video of some kid around 20 shooting .3* Special out of a single shot rifle, and hitting a 6 or 8 inch little steel plate consistently at a good 100 or 150 yards... think he had a supressor on the thing too - so it sounded like an air gun, but he figured out how to hit at range pretty good, so - aside from some drop, not sure why if you start closer at 20 yards and sight in and work back - should be able to get OK accuracy at range.

diceman3 said:

Hi, does the shorter barrel on this rifle effect accuracy at 100 yards. Used 38Special for plinking and did not hit target. Used 158 grain cowboy soft nose. Any comments or recommendations appreciated.

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Just curious. What ammo is “Cowboy soft nose”? What brand and weight? If it’s factory ammo it might be easier to figure velocity and bullet drop.