Limited Marlin Lever Carbine

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Nightcrawler

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Anybody see the stainless steel, 16" lever carbines that Davidsons is distributing? Available in .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. I love the way it looks. I wish Marlin would return 16" lever carbines to standard production.

A lot of peple don't, but I think stainless steel looks good on a lever action rifle. The big question would be to get one in .357 or to get one in .44? I've owned lever carbines in both chamberings and it'd be a tough choice.

1894SS-41LTD.jpg


One thing I don't understand? The capacity is listed as 7+1 with the 16.25" tube. My Winchester Trappers in both .357 and .44, with 16" barrels, had capacities of 9+1. Maybe Marlin needs to use a more efficient follower design?
 
Rats! I didn't know about these, but would have bought one in a HEARTBEAT. Davidson's is out of them.

I would get the .44 mag without a second thought.

That's a super platform and barrel length for a handy .44 mag carbine. I've asked the product VP at Marlin to bring out a 16" .44 mag carbine again, but he said they didn't think there was a demand for it. He said they didn't sell as well as they hoped. I explained that it wasn't the barrel length that didn't sell, it was that the previous version had barrel ports and most folks did NOT want that.
 
Check the gun shows. I still see them at shows and always almost buy one. If we didn't already have an 1894c, this would be the version I would go with.
 
Nightcrawler,

I only checked on the .44 - I didn't check on the .357, so I don't know if they have those or not.
 
I have the .44 and .357, and I love them. There were only about 350 made in each caliber and they're numbered "Number # of #." The barrels are just long enough to wring everything possible out of the pistol calibers, while keeping the thing short and handy. On the auctions, they're running about $600 now. I paid about $450 for each of mine. If you find one, get it, and you'll like it.
 
I bought one in .41 mag last year. Really a neat little gun. The only problem that I have had is that it won't feed some of the keith style bullets due to the OAL.
 
No 357's at all

I checked Davidson's and they don't have any of the 1894C's in stock, regular or stainless ltd edition.
 
Nightcrawler, you and I are in full agreement -- I also think stainless looks great on lever action rifles, and I'm just gonna have to buy each model Marlin makes in SS ... wish I'd seen the ad earlier -- I too would've ordered one in a heartbeat ... I've seen nary a one at the gunshows up here.
 
I just "won" one in .45LC on Gunbroker! :D And I was the ONLY bidder on a 3 day auction. I'll post pics when I get it in.
Oh yeah, Nightcrawler, thanks alot for pointing this gun out to me, I need to go buy my wife some jewelry now.:p
 
Got mine in today!

Here is my 1894ss45-LTD (along with my Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter .45LC).
Talk about a short handy gun, its like a long pistol. Holds 8+1 too. Can't wait to shoot it.
 

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dang that thing is really cool. i would want one with the curved/shotgun stock and lever. now those are awsome. still, a great looking gun.
 
I'd love one in 44

but Buffalo Bore's web site says the 1:38 rifling won't stabilize the heavy (>270gr) slugs.
Anyone know about this?
 
svtruth said:
but Buffalo Bore's web site says the 1:38 rifling won't stabilize the heavy (>270gr) slugs.
Anyone know about this?
Click to expand...

Now, that's interesting. That would be a big dissappointment to me. I would like to be able to use some heavy 300 gr bullets.

I would still jump all over one, if I find it, but I would still pine for one that could shoot the 300 gr bullets.

TexAg - that looks great. Maybe GB would be my best bet at finding one.

I still can't believe Marlin won't produce these as a regular item... Maybe if enough of us called them. I tried to call a couple of weeks ago, but only got voice mail.
 
Now .44Mag and .45 Colt are two different animals, but I did shoot mine today with 300 grain PMC loads (which do 1250fps out of a pistol barrel) and at 25 yards it was grouping them well. Shoots them pretty darn softly too.
Thanks for the compliments btw. This makes my 4th gun in .45 Colt, I couldn't pass it up, it just matches that Ruger too well. That and I had been drooling over .44 and .30-30 stainless Marlins for awhile.
 
svtruth:
but Buffalo Bore's web site says the 1:38 rifling won't stabilize the heavy (>270gr) slugs.
Anyone know about this?
Click to expand...

I've an 1894P in 44 Mag and it shoots about 1.5 inches (or a little better) at 100 meters with factory 44 240 gr loads. That's good enough for me so far. One of these days I'll experiment with some heavier bullets, but I other things going on and don't have the spare time to handload right now.

However, I tend to believe Buffalo Bore's comments about heavier bullets. I don't know what a new faster twist barrel would cost.
 
And before spending the money on a faster-twist barrel, you'd want to research what the faster twist would do to the far-more-common 240 grain (and lighter) .44 Mag loads out there. Unless you handload a lot, you'll probably shoot way more 240s than anything else.
 
Marlin LTD edition...

I too have one each of these rifles in 357 and 44 magnums. I walkes into a local pervayor of arms just looking about and spied the 44 first. After handling it I was a goner... About a month later I went back again just looking and checked out the 357. Went back and traded a anib Marlin 1894 44 rifle for it. Recently ordered 500 357 mag 125 gr federal rounds from ammaman.com for breaking it in and for some reloading fodder...

If you like marlins and trapper style lever guns you will love these.

Patty
 
Nightcrawler:
And before spending the money on a faster-twist barrel, you'd want to research what the faster twist would do to the far-more-common 240 grain (and lighter) .44 Mag loads out there. Unless you handload a lot, you'll probably shoot way more 240s than anything else.
Click to expand...

I really hate going backward. IOW, fixing something that shoots really good could prove to be a mistake. I usually remember not to fix things that aren't broken.:)
 
Something a bit odd...

The tube on this gun holds 8. All the literature and even the letter from Marlin that says this is a limited .45 Colt gun says it holds 7+1. Its not a tight fit either, 8 go in easy, then when you try a 9th, about a 3rd of the cartridge will go in before it stops. A big misprint on Marlin's behalf?
 
I've got to have one in .38/.357. Looks like I'll be searching GunBroker, Auction Arms, and Guns America daily until I find one....

Man, I hate limited editions!:banghead:



nero
 
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