Marlin .44 special and .38 specials ????

[SamlautRanger]

How do the Marlin lever actions work in terms of reliability (feeding, firing, extracting) with the shorter casing .38 specials and .44 specials in their 1894 rifles?? Does any gunsmithing need to be done to ensure proper function? Thanks.

 

[chris in va]

I don't personally own one, but thinking about it as well. I've read countless threads about the Marlin 1894 and most everyone gives it glowing reviews. Seems the Winchester was mainly meant for longer cartridges and has some trouble with the pistol rounds but the Marlin shines with the .357 version.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

I've never had any trouble with either of my Marlin 1894C carbines.

The only .38 special cartridges that don't work are wadcutters, since the overall cartridge length is too short for the action to work reliably.

Years ago, I had a Rossi 92, and it wouldn't feed .38 specials at all--which is why I don't own it any more.

 

[biere]

Used to have a marlin in 44 mag, sold it because I want one without the ports.

I used to sometimes run blazer 44 special ammo in it because blazer had a round with a nice big hollow point that was awesome on varmints around my property.

The marlin ate mags and specials with no problems and I bought it new and it never needed any work done to it.

I mostly ran 44 mag ammo in the gun so the chamber stayed clean since I never shot enough 44 special in it to build up any deposits that would then make 44 mag ammo hard to chamber. This is the only problem I heard of about marlins, and I consider this owner induced.

I ran all sorts of different brands of ammo in the gun as well, I was not reloading at the time and I enjoyed shooting it so it had several brands of mags and specials run through it and all without a hiccup.