Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Marlin 1894 .44magnum Accuracy and effective range?

I have shot several 1.75 inch groups at 100 yds this past week. I am new to teh lever gun world, but the Cowboy Limitied in .44 with the 24 inch octagon bbl is a shooter! I have a 1-4x20 luepold on it to help with such accuracy and it shoots great.

To be honest...i wanted it to shoot the winchester supereme 250 partitions, and it does ok with those... but it REALLLY likes the hornady leveroultion 225 ftx. Thats what is shoots best with! Any expereince going on out there with that bullet on animals??? I just posted a thread in the marlin talk asking too.

257wthbylover,

I have used the hornady 250 gr. "FTX" in my T/C 20 gauge slug gun with complete penetration at speeds 400FPS slower than the bullet is designed for.

Doc

Thanks Doc.....

I seem to find about 95% postive results on the bullet, but yet a lil suprised how lil true information is out there for this bullet which has been around a few yrs. Everyone says it shoots GREAT. Which is my findings as well....but the 3 negative results i found had to do with possible no expansion or serperation. I am usually a bullet snob , meaning i like Barnes X and prem stuff, but this ammo sure likes my gun and so i would like to have that confidence in this 225 gr FTX. Thanks for your info.

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Hogghead said,
"Only problem with me is I do not read ballistic charts. And internet posts. I shoot my rifle. and I can guarantee you that a 240 grain bullet cast from straight WW will completely penetrate a deer(through and through) at 200 yards with no problem. And if you are the least bit concerned about mushrooming the bullet then add 50% pure lead to the mix to improve mushrooming."

Hogghead is right on, the charts show foot pounds of energy which is meaningless in the real world, it is simply a comparison. One foot pound is the energy required to move one pound one foot. Therefore, 1000 foot pounds should move one pound 1000 feet or 1000 pounds one foot. A bullet will do neither. A bullet with 3000 foot pounds of energy will not even knock over a 200 pound deer. Just another shooing myth. The proof of any caliber/cartridge combo is in the shooting. The effective range of the 44 mag is limited by rifle accuracy and shooter, not power.

Just because several on here brag on the Barnes bullet ,does not mean you need it ,especially in a 44 mag at 1600-1800fps, and darn sure not for any deer on the Norh American continent. I have successfully killed elk with the Speer 240 gr FP ,so it will sure as heck kill deer and hogs.
Quit reading and believing all this gack,go buy some Speer or Hornady bullets ,load them up with H110 and go kill something.

I wish I had put it that eloquently. You nailed it perfetly. It is a shame that guys sit around and read charts. When they should be out practicing. Personally I have never seen a chart kill a single thing?? I can tell you how far my ground hog rifle drops at 800 yards, because I have shot it at 800 yards. Not because some charts said it should drop so much. Same as my 44 magnum and 45 Colt rifles. I have shot them at 200 yards, so I know exactly what they do. Tom.

I have always enjoyed reading your replys, its no nonsence in the woods use of what you shoot.

Doc

I would not start a fight with any of you guys armed even with a 4 MOA .429 bore! If my FA 454 revolver will go 1.5 MOA, (it does) I bet some carbines will also. Not 94s of course but Marlins especially if the locking lug beards evenly...yes this matters...and a good long bearing surface, balanced bullet (LBT) just might cut close to minute.

M94 Winchesters can be accurate, too. But, the Marlins, in my experience, are more likely to be so.

no 1894-.44 here, i have the browning 92' with a old red feild peep site, 11 shots of 270gr shells in a 4" group from a rest

Same setup here with the exception of 1894ss. 19gr of H110, win brass and WLP primer under a hornady 300 xtp and a stout crimp will do 3 shots under an inch if'n I ain't got the shakes...

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That's a fine looking setup.

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I have a tang safety Win94 trapper 357 that shoots 1.5" groups with iron sights and 3 different handloads at 50 yards. With better sights and load tweeking I think that I can obtain my goal of 2" groups or less at 100 yards. The 357 should be good on deer to around 100 yards.

But it is a 357 not a 44...

I bought it to start young kids, but I personally really like it and I would like a 44 just like it or another brand.

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I know a couple of local hunters who routinely take deer out to around 200 yards with 357 Mag rifles. But, of course, first you have to hit them.

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My older Marlin will shoot 1.5" @ 100 with 23 grn of H110 and the Beartooth 250 hard cast.
My newer SS Marlin will shoot the same load about 2" @ 100.
Still working on aload for the SS rifle.

Coach

The Marlin 44 mag. is at it's best 125 yardish and under and a peep site,IMO.

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We all have different abilities. Every shooter should know his limitations. I consider my limit to be about 150 yards.

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My hunting buddy has a late 70's 1894, last season his 8 year old granddaughter took a little buck at about 100 yards. Same carbine taught her mom and her uncle to hunt a couple of decades ago, I don't have any idea how many deer it's taken, but the best thing is it's provided us with 3 more hunters.

P.S. Little brother is waiting in the wings, chances are he'll be #4.

While I can't boast having shot thousands of rounds thru my Marlin I would feel safe in stating hundreds and yes, I can hit what I'm shooting at at 200 yards. I think the question then should be: Should you attempt it while hunting?

My load is a 240 grn. Hornady XTP with 23 grn. of H-110 and this combo drops around 2 feet between 100 and 200 yards. I hunted and been around hunters all my life and many, if not all, myself included, have a story about missing an animal due to radically misjudging its actually distance from them.

Guessing that an animal is "about 175 yards" when it is actually 215 yards is not that critical when one is using a .30-06 but is a clean miss, or worse, a wounded animal when using a .44 mag.

If you have confidence in your abilities AND are absolutely sure of your range at 200 yards, then bang away. But if you "think its around 175 or 180" you should probably pass.

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Good post, Gray Rider.

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