Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk Help a New Marlin owner out........

Hey fella's........

I am new to the lever gun world. Always been a bolt guy, but now the lever fever has bit and i have been added a few. Well, I absolute love the 1894 Cowboy with 24 inch bbl in .44 mag. It shoots the Hornady Leverolution 225gr FTX very, very , very well. Consistently under 1.5 at 100 yards and thats with a 4x and heavy duplex reticle.

My question is about that bullet.... the .225 gr FTX. Has anyone killed deer or bear or hogs with this. That would be the purpose of this gun for hte most part. ANd i do plan on keeping my shots within 150 yds without much temptaiton to go any further then that. I have other guns for that work.

Has anyone done personal ballistics on this? if so, what bbl length for fps? bullet performance? Am i correct in believing this is just an XTP type bullet with the flex tip in it??

Thanks fellow Marlin folks!

257wbylover, since I feel that I may have had some hand in your conversion to the "marlinitis" that you are suffering from, I will be the first to chime in.

My experience, its just a bullet that has a gummy tip. The antelope that I shot with mine was a pass through, but it was the 308MX caliber. Bang, flop. However, from what I am hearing and reading on the Marlin forum is that it is not holding together like some would like. May just be a once in a blue moon deal, but one guy shot a little mulie at somthing like 90 yards broadside and got no exit. It blew the onside shoulder to bits, and a bang flop, but he was thinking there should have been an exit.

Great bullet if you stay with broadside or no big bone shots. It would remind me of the 100gr bullet in the 257 you don't like, but it can be loaded into a tubuar mag. Just my $0.02 worth.

Oops, forgot the coyote at 100 yards, super dead, big hole coming out the back.

Later dude and welcome to the club.

Coltfan

Thanks Coltfan...and yes, u are the guilty party for the "marlintis". Buying 4 in 3 months was a lil overboard. Glad i know folks who buy them from me!!!!!

Thx for the info. I have found a lil more info since i posted this and i agree....sounds like its accurate, but not a always hold together/penetrating bullet. I am only looking for 150 yds and heck, will prob only shoot it for fun stuff....but maybe bears. Bears being over bait, the 250 gr partition will do just fine inside 50 yds!!!!

Thx again.

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Inside 50 yards? Do you have bullet proof bears? That bullet with a good powder will tip over a bear at surprising ranges. At what range can you place your bullets in the kill zone with absolute certainty? That is your max range. If you cannot hit the desired target beyond 50 yards then that is your max. The 44 Mag with a heavy bullet is a fearsome combo. So it is you, not the 44 Mag that limits the range.

Enjoy that 44 Cowboy, they are great rifles.

"the 250 gr partition will do just fine inside 50 yds!!!!" It will do just fine outside 50 yards as well!!


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I don't know why guys are looking for some magic bullet for the 44 mag,I use a std Speer 240 gr Semi jacketed falt point and i tip over elk with it DRT.

Good point, Saddlesore.

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FTX bullet in this caliber and velocity range has negligible if any ballistic advantage. I'd stick with the Hornady 265 gr fp or another medium weight flat point. The 265 works well in my .44 Super Redhawk as well as my .444.