I recently purchased a 1974 vintage Marlin 1894 in excellent condition and I want to start loading for it. I was looking at Nosler 240 grain sporting soft point jacketed bullets. Does any one have any experience with these bullets in a 1894? Or for that matter, can anyone reccommend bullets that work well with these guns? I've read where the 1894 can be finicky about feeding different shape bullets.
44 mag Marlin 1894
- Thread starter bobsmith
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ReloaderFred
Member
I've never used the Noslers in my .44 Magnum 1894, but I've had good luck with the Hornady 240 grain XTP bullets. They're pretty accurate and feed nicely.
Hope this helps.
Fred
Hope this helps.
Fred
I have an 1980's vintage M1894 that I had Marlin rebarrel the rifle with a Ballard barrel. As you will find, that micro groove barrel shoots Lead bullets all over the place. The bullets strip out.
Anyway I did some load development with W296 and H110 with Nosler bullets. If you look at my data you will also come to the conclusion that W296 and H110 are the same powder.
Nosler bullets shot well, but do not expect MOA out of a levergun.
Also, if your rifle has the black hard buttplate, better glue your tooth fillings in. That sucker is going to stomp you.
I put a rubber recoil pad on mine.
M1894 Marlin Ballard Barrel
240 Nosler JHP 24.0 grs W296 WLP Fed cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1725
Std Dev = 7
ES 21
Low 1715
High 1736
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.5 grs W296 WLP Fed cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1752
Std Dev = 12
ES 28
Low 1735
High 1763
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.0 grs H110 WLP Midway cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1710
Std Dev = 3
ES 9
Low 1705
High 1714
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.5 grs H110 WLP Midway cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1745
Std Dev = 12
ES 45
Low 1723
High 1768
N = 10
Anyway I did some load development with W296 and H110 with Nosler bullets. If you look at my data you will also come to the conclusion that W296 and H110 are the same powder.
Nosler bullets shot well, but do not expect MOA out of a levergun.
Also, if your rifle has the black hard buttplate, better glue your tooth fillings in. That sucker is going to stomp you.
I put a rubber recoil pad on mine.
M1894 Marlin Ballard Barrel
240 Nosler JHP 24.0 grs W296 WLP Fed cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1725
Std Dev = 7
ES 21
Low 1715
High 1736
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.5 grs W296 WLP Fed cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1752
Std Dev = 12
ES 28
Low 1735
High 1763
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.0 grs H110 WLP Midway cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1710
Std Dev = 3
ES 9
Low 1705
High 1714
N = 5
240 Nosler JHP 24.5 grs H110 WLP Midway cases
23-Mar-05 T = 65° F
Ave Vel = 1745
Std Dev = 12
ES 45
Low 1723
High 1768
N = 10
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I don't have a Marlin in .44 Magnum but I do have an older 1894C in .357 Magnum. I found Jacketed Soft Point bullets are accurate and feed perfectly from the tube.
RidgwayCO
Member
Hornady HP/XTP, Speer JSP and Gold Dot, and Nosler JSP have all worked well for me.
As an aside, I recently had my 1894's barrel shortened to 16 1/2 inches, and added a new ghost ring sight. What a difference this made in handling... feels like a totally different rifle! And velocities haven't dropped very much at all...
As an aside, I recently had my 1894's barrel shortened to 16 1/2 inches, and added a new ghost ring sight. What a difference this made in handling... feels like a totally different rifle! And velocities haven't dropped very much at all...
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It was quite reasonable, in the $200.00 range. I called them up, asked them what they could do, almost went the octagon barrel, but that would have about doubled the price. I always wanted a octagon M1894. Some day….
And what was great, I got to talk to the lead gunsmith. I told him my shooting experience, and I wanted a good barrel. Found out that barrels today are just about perfect compared to my 80’s barrel. I wanted a barrel that was tighter than the SAAMI .431” for rifle barrels. All my bullets are .429”. Said he air gaged a bunch, and all were within .0005” or some tiny figure, and I was not going to get a “tight” barrel. But I did get a nice and smooth barrel.
One day I will make some pictures of the forend modifications I did with my Marlin. I soft soldered the forend hanger into the dovetail. So it no longer rattles around. I also used Acura Glass gel and made the back of the foreend tight in the receiver socket, and put a couple of epoxy pads in the foreend just at the upper ferrule. The fore end does not rattle now, and is tight.
Because the forend is tight, I observed a phenomena that I could not before. That is when that forend creeps out of the socket, due to recoil, the point of impact changes. Mostly vertical changes.
I was very pleased with Marlin Customer Service. Rebarreling prices are fair, turnaround quick. Just wish the barrel had deeper grooves, were .429" and had a tighter twist. Do not know why they have that 1:38" twist. It does not like my 290's.
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