Limited Marlin Lever Carbine

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That is one sweet looking combo. I would have trouble deciding on which caliber. I solved that in the blued version by buying them all. ;)

My leaning would be to buy the 357 first. It would be a nice lightweight and compact package. My blued 18" 1894C is a handy carbine, the wife enjoys shooting it and it's inexpensive to feed.

However, my FAVORITE 1894 is in 44 magnum. IMHO it is THE perfect deer hunting rifle. The performace of the 44 magnum really shines without the punshiment of an equally performing load in a pistol. Even at with the 20" barrel it's easy and handy to carry. So that 16" barrel in stainless... VERY attractive.

Now one in 45 colt would be nice as it would make a good pairing with my Ruger Blackhawk. I'm not as crazy about the 45 colt in a rifle as most of the loads that are comparable to 44 Rem Mag in velocity/performance are listed for Ruger/Contender only. I'm sure the extra few hundred feet/second the longer barrel adds to the 45 colt round would be plenty to zip through a deer, even north to southways.

Dang. Now I want three!
 
If I had seen one in 44mag I would have taken it. Just so happened the .45Colt popped up though, which worked for me since I have 3 other guns in the caliber. .44Mag would be sweet too though, the ammo is so available and good selection too. I am starting to reload for .45 Colt though so thats to my advantage too.
 
You made a good choice. You'd kick yourself if you'd passed on it. I know I would have. I look forward to a range report on it and if you decide you need to sell it... Look me up. ;)
 
I'm not as crazy about the 45 colt in a rifle as most of the loads that are comparable to 44 Rem Mag in velocity/performance are listed for Ruger/Contender only.
Click to expand...
Not true - Buffalo Bore, Double Tap, PMC, and CorBon all produce very hot .45 ammo that runs just fine through my .45 Trapper. That DoubleTap 335 grain ammo gets going 1650 fps, and that is plenty of ooomph for most anything in the lower 48. I am not aware that any of those companies ammo is limited to Ruger or Contender.

I might add that one thing I like about .45 Colt is its versatility - with cowboy amo you can plink, and with the powerful stuff you can hit hard. And since you are not facing the .44 Special/Magnum difference in case length, feeding is not an issue.
 
Good to know Roscoe. Thank you. I checked it out and you are correct. The Buffalo site lists under their 45 colt +P ammo:

" These Heavy .45 Colt +P loads are safe in all LARGE FRAME Ruger revolvers.
(includes Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, all pre-2005 Vaquero, Bisley, Redhawk)

These Heavy .45 Colt +P loads are NOT intended for the New Model Vaquero (small frame).

These loads are also safe in all modern Model 1892 leverguns
as well as all Winchester & Marlin 1894's "

Now I just need to find some load data to make some of my home brewed versions.
 
JustsayMo: yeah right sell it! I wouldn't be waiting by the phone if I were you ;)


Roscoe: Do you have any velocity numbers out of your Trapper?
 
I don't have a chrono - all I have to go by is an email I received from Mike McNett, president of Double Tap, who says that the 335 grain will get 1650 fps from a 16" barrel. I had emailed asking about velocities.

One nice thing about Double Tap is that you get a lot more for your money than from Buffalo Bore or CorBon. They sell in boxes of 50 instead of 20 like the other boutique ammo companies, for about the same price.

However, I have yet to finish a single box of that heavy ammo. It really kicks from that little rifle, so you probably don't really need that many. I just wanted to make sure it was accurate and grouped well from the Trapper, then went on to using lighter ammo for fun shooting.
 
I agree, Double Tap does give you more for your money. PMC is also in 50 round boxes for around $32, but harder to find. Buffalo Bore is pretty rediculous on their prices, but I still bought one box and did kill a deer with their 260 grain load. I shot some PMC 300 grain through mine the other day (box says it does 1250fps from a pistol barrel) and it kicked moderately, but nothing compared to when shooting it out of a pistol. I also have a 24" bbl Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited and when shooting the PMC out of it, it feels more like a .22, very soft shooting. That extra weight of the barrel really helps tame the recoil. The same loads sting my hand a bit from my Vaquero and Super Blackhawk.
I'll be buying some DoubleTap soon along with some Ultramax for plinking (they seem to be the cheapest cowboy load).
 
I have been looking for that PMC 300 grain ammo - is it anywhere online?
 
Actually I just looked for some and no, I can't find any PMC 300 gr. online. Midway says its been discontinued. I had read previously that they only made this seldomly in batches, so it may be we are out for awhile. I bought one box about a year ago at a little hole-in-the-wall gun store and I picked another box up last week at another store/range, but it was their only box.
 
I would go with the .357 to go with my two revolvers. I already have a .44 caliber Marlin in stainless. It's not the limited edition but it is still a nice rifle.
 
I called Marlin firearms this morning and spoke to one of their sales representatives. She told me that they made 250 each of these carbines in .38/.357, .41, .44, and 45LC late last year, and they were distributed exclusively by Davidson's. I then asked her if she knew of any plans to produce any more in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, she told me there is no current plan to produce any more. I then asked her to please pass it along that there was a potential market/demand for this carbine as either another limited edition, or even better as a regular part of their firearms line. She was very friendly and said she'd pass it along. In the meantime I'm still searching GB, AA, and GA on a daily basis for one in .38/.357.

If anyone else is interested in one of these neat carbine leverguns, it couldn't hurt to give Marlin a call or email and let them know....;)


nero
 
If anyone is looking for one of these in 45LC...

FYI... The place where I bought my 44 mag and 357 ltd ed's has one left in 45 LC(no I do not work for them)...

Patty
 
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