24" Barrel in 44 Mag Lever Action?

top rifle is a 1973 marlin 95 in 45-70, bottom rifle is a 1973 marlin 94 sporter in 44 magnum. both have 22" barrels and they do shoot pretty good. the 44 magnum is pretty rare today as not many were made, when i bought it years ago i just wanted a lever action in 44 magnum and didn,t know about how many were made.
 

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One last follow up question, I use 23.5 grains of H110 in my 44 magnum pistol loads and that nets 1200 fps in my 6” model 29. A Rossi R92 should be able to handle the same loads right?
 
Barmcd said:
That’s what I was thinking. The R92 has a pretty strong looking locking system, but I wanted to verify before placing an order for one.
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It's literally stronger than nearly any other traditional levergun action. Stronger than the Winchester and Marlin 94's, Marlin 336, 1895, everything but the 1886 and 1895. Stronger than Blackhawks, equal to the Redhawk.
 
Barmcd said:
One last follow up question, I use 23.5 grains of H110 in my 44 magnum pistol loads and that nets 1200 fps in my 6” model 29. A Rossi R92 should be able to handle the same loads right?
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As Craig said absolutely, they'll be a scooting too.
 
I have a 20" 44-40 and 24" 44mag, both Marlins. 20" is a great length but I like the 24" too. Haven't done much chrono work with them. I also have a Cowboy 45-70 26". Fun gun.
 
I don't think the 24" is too long. Just personal preference though, I like the shorter carbine lengths no matter the format or cartridge. The factory Winchester 240 grain JSP I chronographed in my 16" Marlin one time averaged 1750 FPS. I don't have a 20" or 24" barrel .44 to try.

Guy let me shoot his 20" full stock, .375 H&H SAKO one time. Even liked that one..
 
Barmcd said:
Is a 24" barrel too long for a lever action 44 magnum? I've never owned nor shot a 24" lever gun except a 45-70.
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I would prefer one in the 18" ish range, I think handiness out ways sight radius here. As for velocity 18"ish is about optimum. Just my 2 cents.
 
I went with the 20” barrel as the extra 4” seemed unwieldy. After using my 45 Colt, which has aftermarket springs, the safety delete and stainless magazine spring and follower, the new 44 mag action seems harsh and crude.

I need to order those parts and get this one running like the 45!

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I just got my Stainless .44 Magnum Rossi R92 with 16 inches barrel. Love the little rifle. Workmanship is fine, very nice. I flipped and flopped between 16 inches and 20 inches and between .44M and .45C. I finally just told myself whatever I got my hands on first would be it. I have a 4 5/8 barrel Blackhawk in both calibers. So, I guess, when Marlin releases a stainless 1894 in .45 Colt I will need one of those and perhaps it will be a 20 inches barrel, or not ;). I like this R92 enough to buy another in the .45 Colt. I wonder now how I can sneak that by she who watches over my foolishness. :what:



Now I need to get a plinking load and a hunting load or just find some boxes of Hammer Down for the hunting purpose. I have really developed a severe reaction to lead cast bullets as in I am sick of scrubbing lead out of barrels.
 
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3Crows said:
I just got my Stainless .44 Magnum Rossi R92 with 16 inches barrel. Love the little rifle. Workmanship is fine, very nice. I flipped and flopped between 16 inches and 20 inches and between .44M and .45C. I finally just told myself whatever I got my hands on first would be it. I have a 4 5/8 barrel Blackhawk in both calibers. So, I guess, when Marlin releases a stainless 1894 in .45 Colt I will need one of those and perhaps it will be a 20 inches barrel, or not ;). I like this R92 enough to buy another in the .45 Colt. I wonder now how I can sneak that by she who watches over my foolishness. :what:

Now I need to get a plinking load and a hunting load or just find some boxes of Hammer Down for the hunting purpose. I have really developed a severe reaction to lead cast bullets as in I am sick of scrubbing lead out of barrels.
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I have one in 45 Colt already!:D Occasionally, I shoot pistol rounds through it, but mostly I shoot 17 grains of 2400 behind a 250 gr Hornady XTP bullet. I haven't decided what to shoot through the 44 Mag. My pistol rounds are 23.5 grains of H110 and a 240 gr XTP, but I think I'm going to explore heavy loads of 2400 and Unique.

A Rossi takes a little bit of work to smooth out the action and get it to stop scratching brass. This one scratches brass just like the 45 Colt did before I took 800 grit sandpaper to the bottom of the chamber.

I have a Henry in 22LR and would like a 38/357 to round out the set.
 
Barmcd said:
I have one in 45 Colt already!:D Occasionally, I shoot pistol rounds through it, but mostly I shoot 17 grains of 2400 behind a 250 gr Hornady XTP bullet. I haven't decided what to shoot through the 44 Mag. My pistol rounds are 23.5 grains of H110 and a 240 gr XTP, but I think I'm going to explore heavy loads of 2400 and Unique.

A Rossi takes a little bit of work to smooth out the action and get it to stop scratching brass. This one scratches brass just like the 45 Colt did before I took 800 grit sandpaper to the bottom of the chamber.

I have a Henry in 22LR and would like a 38/357 to round out the set.
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Thanks, I have a bunch of 240 XTP bullets. I rescued them from being saboted and shot in a muzzle loader :). They were on closeout in the blackpowder section at Walmart a few years back. For hardly anything. Turns out the bullet sold by Hornady for a .50 caliber ML with sabot is the same diameter as a .44 Magnum .430 and it is the very same 240 XTP bullet. I know the 240 XTP is a great hunting bullet but I would like a milder load for it. If it were still adequate for deer at 50 yards so much the better.
 
ManlyMatt said:
Of course everything depends on the load, but this site may be of interest: http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/44mag.html

If you look at their data, the loads they tested mostly reached their peak velocity before getting to the end of their longest test barrel, which was only 18". I would expect a 24" barrel would actually cost you some velocity.
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Yep, in all cases a 15" barrel was faster than an 18" barrel. I much prefer a 16" lever 44 for appearance, feel and portability.
 
BBTI's .44Mag testing is all but useless. Those are all self defense loads. In every other test I've ever seen, the .44 gains up to at least 20". Never seen it peak in 16".
 
Make mine a 16", actually had a 20" whacked to that length. Have a 20" '73 as well, and that isn't bad either. If sight radius/irons are the main consideration, a tang sight puts that radius back in.
Moon
 
CraigC said:
BBTI's .44Mag testing is all but useless. Those are all self defense loads. In every other test I've ever seen, the .44 gains up to at least 20". Never seen it peak in 16".
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Yep the hydra-shok is probably the closest to a full power load and it's at least 200 fps shy. There's no reason to use a slow and bulky powder to achieve mid range and economics says it's not smart to use 20 grains of powder when 10 grains of a different powder works fine.
 
With a pistol cartridge carbine, I'm not sure geting different barrel length will give you much improved perormance.

I have a 1960's vintage Marlin 69A (22LR) and an 1890 vintage Winchester 1873 (32-20) with a 24" barrels. Easy to shoot but the long barrel makes it a bit more difficult for quick follow up shots.

Finally I have a Marlin 1894C (357 Magnum) with an 18.5: barrel, a Winchester/Miroku (357 magnum) 1873 wity a 20:; barrel and a Henry 327 Fed mag with a 20: barrel.

Bottom line, if you have access to a chronograph,, see what your loads are doing, It might surprise you.
 
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A little update. I shot 44 Specials that chronograph at 850 FPS in my 6" Model 29 and got almost 1000 FPS out of the Rossi. Forty-four magnum rounds that chronograph at 1200 FPS out of my revolver netted over 1700 FPS out of the rifle. It's pretty easy to shoot either round -- I was surprised that the recoil isn't that bad with the magnum loads. Several of us were able to hit a 4" gong repeatedly from 40 yards. I'm very satisfied with the gun's performance.

I installed the same spring kit from Lee's Gunsmithing that I installed in my 45 Colt Rossi in this gun. I also stoned the bolt, lever and tang to remove rough machining marks. The bolt travels very smoothly in the receiver. The hammer on the 44 Mag is heavier than the one on the 45 Colt so the lever pull is also heavier. If you cock the hammer on either gun, then cycle the lever, you can't tell the difference between the two. However, if the hammer is down, the 44 Mag takes noticeably more effort to cock the hammer. Any ideas?

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Show Me said:
No it's not too long and complements the 16 inch you will own . You can't have just one. Hex barrels are cool. Must be careful in a box blind if it's a tight fit. I only use 200gr cast RNFPGC with full load of 296 and xtp240 with full load of 296.
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NO hex(6 sided) barrels out there.........All are octagonal(8 sides)
 
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