1979 Marlin 1894 (44 mag)

[357smallbore]

Hell of a weapon. This rifle is my go to walk in the forest rifle. The little Marlin thumps. I took a bull elk in area 7 in Arizona last fall with it. 80 yards and two shots brought down a solid 5x5 800lbs beast.
Shooting 240grn jacketed soft points. I loaded them up to fire semi hot. Wouldn't feel under gunned in the lower 48 carrying this gun. Anyone have one and feel the same?

 

[OilyPablo]

I have a Browning M92. Full load .44Mag out of a rifle is not a light weight round. Friends are pretty surprised by the recoil.

I would not necessarily chose it for elk. But you did.

 

[GBExpat]

357smallbore, I found one, used, at the ~1988 Medina, OH GunShow. I added sling and Williams rear aperture sight and it was G2G.

I was always a little surprised at how accurate it is with generic (much of it American Eagle brand) 240gr jacketed SP.

For about a decade it was the rifle hanging on my shoulder when I went out for a walk around the ancestral farm. I used it on a number of occasions to lower the groundhog population in the pastures & fields.

And, yes, it does thump you ... definitely not a rifle for the recoil-averse.

EDIT:

Last year I replaced the 25-year-old bootlace wrapping on the bottom of the leverloop with paracord. Big improvement.

 

[BCRider]

Someone a while back was asking about fun but reduced power plinking loads for .44Mag. I replied that I'd recently loaded up some reduced power cast rounds that shot 240gn LRNFP bullets at around 1100 fps (still need to check them on my chrono). I think it was rcmodel that replied something along the line of "Hey BC, you realize that your "plinking loads" will still pass end to end through a horse, right?".

So I can't say I'm surprised at your hunting success. Or that I'd feel under protected if carrying a lever gun with semi hot cast bullet .44Mag loads. The only thing it gives up is the ability to reach "waaaaaay over there" due to the typical lousy BC of handgun bullets.

 

[Dr.Rob]

1894 in 44 mag is one of my favorite rifles. You get a lot of power in a lightweight package.

 

[eastbank]

i have a 1973 marlin 94 sporting rifle that i load 265 hornady sp bullets at 1700fps and i would shoot a elk in a heart beat. eastbank.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Don't have a pistol round lever action yet. My 30-30 is my walkabout rifle. I think I would feel just as comfortable with a 44 mag. They have some really stout loads you can get. Garret comes to mind.

 

[Diamondback]

Yes....respectable power in a very "friendly" carry package. I'm fond of mine as well. While not a long range proposition, still a very versatile rifle.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

I don't have a Marlin, but do have a Winchester 94AE .44 magnum. I think this version was called a Wrangler. Saddle ring, Large loop lever, and 16" barrel.

Williams receiver sight with twilight aperture and Lyman gold bead front sight.

I've shot nothing but paper with it. It deserves better.

 

[200Apples]

Oily

Full load .44Mag out of a rifle is not a light weight round.

I too have the fantastic Miroku-made Browning 92 in .44 Mag. Loaded with American Eagle 240 gr. jackted soft points, it's still somewhat easy on my shoulder yet will annihilate steels at my local range. The round knocked two plates of their chains (in retrospect, was I shooting a little high? They were freshly-painted and most shots were well on the plates). Must be travelling in the neighborhood of 1500+ fps... (a very uneducated guess; pardon me). And I thought off-the-shelf .357 in my Marlin 1894 was fun... MAN!

Sheepdog

...44 mag. They have some really stout loads you can get. Garret comes to mind.

At this point I'm going to refer to those as .45-70 Shorts. Hahaha...

smallbore

The little Marlin thumps.

Curious; what's the barrel length on your Marlin '94?

 

[Greg528iT]

WHERE'S the Picture?????? I opened this thread hoping to see a nice lever gun.. nuttin

 

[DM~]

Hell of a weapon. This rifle is my go to walk in the forest rifle. The little Marlin thumps. Wouldn't feel under gunned in the lower 48 carrying this gun. Anyone have one and feel the same?

I DO have one, but I don't "feel the same"...

DM

 

[Chainsaw76]

I had one back in the 80's, and shot two deer with it using factory pistol ammo. Core/jacket separation caused me to do some serious trailing to find my venison. I went back to using rifle calibers. It is a fun gun to shoot and play around with, but the lowly 30-30 has a lot more stopping power. I'd hate to get shot with a .44 carbine, but I'd keep my killing to neck shots on medium and higher game animals.

Two ranchers I know had the same experience. None of us was using JSP ammo loaded for a carbine though.

Jim

 

[loose noose]

I had one back in 1979, the one I had, I wasn't too impressed with the accuracy of the rifle. I loaded up several different varieties of .44Mag cartridges, everything from 180-260grn in hand cast, as well as jacketed, and just couldn't get it to group as well as my 8 3/8" Model 29, or my Ruger SBH. Ended up selling it for what I paid for it, less than a year later.

 

[RainDodger]

If you really need a picture, here's my little Browning 92 in .44 Magnum. I was a bit surprised at the recoil as well, but it's too be expected with a rifle as light as these little levers. Have fun with yours!

 

[yzguy87]

Congrats! Pics of the gun and elk?!!!!