Good News/Bad News

[absolute0]

The good news - I just found and excellent condition old Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum which I immediately bought for the princely sum of $199 at the local gun emporium. It was too good a deal to pass up even though.....

The bad news - I just purchased the exact same rifle on an auction site last week for about 50 bucks more. In fact, I haven't even taken posession yet! Anyone else ever have this happen to them?

So now I'll have two of them, what's a guy to do?

I guess I'll just have to trade one of 'em....anyone have an 1894 in .357 they wanna upgrade to .44 Mag?

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

It can be good to have a spare...

 

[rbernie]

Where's the bad news in this?

 

[beerslurpy]

Retain the best one and sell the other. At the very worst you break even on one gun and get the other at a bargain price.

 

[Gewehr98]

Wouldn't be hard...

To list the extra one for sale here on the Buy, Sell and Trade: Rifles and Shotguns threads.

(If those Marlin leverguns would reliably feed and shoot .44 Special rounds, I'd be interested myself!)

 

[waterhouse]

I can't say I've ever had that happen to me, but for guns that I really like I actually usually try to have a back up of the same model, just in case one ends up breaking or something.

 

[absolute0]

All kidding aside.....

Anyone got a nice condition 1894 in .357 mag they wanna swap for a .44 Mag?

I think thats what I'll end up doing. I took her out to the range for an extended session this afternoon and LOVED it....but I didn't love shooting up $60+ bucks worth of ammo. This might work out OK after all if I can find someone who might want to swing a trade for one of 'em..

I think a battery of 2 might be just the ticket - one in .44 for hunting and more serious blasting and one in .357 for less expensive plinking and general fun and games.

 

[jeff-10]

I didn't know that they wouldn't reliably feed 44 Specials. Is it something inherent to Marlins or do Winchesters not feed them reliably either?

 

[Legionnaire]

Be careful of overgeneralizing. I've not run a lot of .44 specials through mine but I haven't had any problems doing so. Might be the individual gun, might be the bullet configuration. But based on my experience, I wouldn't conclude that all Marlins have difficulty with the .44 specials.

 

[Red Tornado]

That's perfect, now you have one for each hand. You just need a cross-draw rig and practice shooting them one-handed.
RT

 

[absolute0]

I'd make Yosemite Sam look like a sissy.....

 

[Gewehr98]

I'd heard that some .44 Special loads, like 240gr Keith SWC's, didn't feed well.

Hence my asking.

Absolute0, if you don't get the trade you're looking for, would you sell the spare Marlin outright?

 

[rbernie]

Some folks also feel that the Marlin's twist rate pretty much limits you to 240gr and under bullets, but that's something with which I have no direct experience.