Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers 22 inch 1895 Marlin 45-70 Accuracy problems

Asking for my nephews gun. Is it common for these guns to need firelapping for jacketed bullets?

What is common accuracy levels at 100 yards? How bad do they typically foul. IE how often should one clean them?

He and his father have shot 2 factory loads and 2 sets of reloads and all hover around 5 inches at 100 yards with a scope off sandbags.

Thanks for any info!!

Jeff

I think that it is common to have to run a few boxes of ammo through any newly manufactured firearm before the bore starts to smooth out. If they've been shooting cast bullets and leaded up the barrel that will definitely mess with jacketed bullet accuracy.

It is possible that the particular rifle might have a "bump" in it -
basically a bore diameter anomaly in the vicinity of the keyway
for the rear sight, but I think this is a pretty rare event.

My 1.5 year old Marlin 1895 w/ 22" barrel will shoot between
1 - 2" groups at 100 yards from sandbags and a low (3x) power
scope. Someone with better eyes or higher powered scope can do better.

some factory ammo is much more consistent in MV than other
factory ammo. Please provide more info on factory or reloads
and maybe we can provide more useful advice.

When they shoot at the targets, do they wait between shots for
the barrel to cool ? Do the groups tend to form a "string"
(usually running vertically) ? If so, then there maybe some
force/torque exerted on the barrel from the magazine tube
support or forearm.

Groups are scattered not in any direction. Factory ammo is Rem and I don't know the other type. Reloads are with Barnes X bullets. Everything groups about the same with a 3x9 scope on the rifle.

They are shooters so they basically know what to do and cool the gun etc....

Never fired lead so thats not an issue. Been there done that with my 45s too many times. Usually a few jacketed rounds blows the lead out but its not the best way. I suspect that lead accuracy could be even worse if the bore is rough.

Gun was bought used and has evidence of some rounds being fired. But I doubt more than a few boxes.

Any input is welcome.

Jeff

I got fantastic accuracy from a Marlin 95 with 49 grs of 3031 and 350 gr Hornady bullets. 5in groups don't sound to great, might be a good scouring of the bore is in order, those Barnes bullets could of left quite a bit of copper fouling, or possible the previous owner shot it with poor fitting lead bullets and there's some fouling from that left over.

Nephew is stuck on Barnes X since they perform so good. Time for a strong copper solvent and try again.

The bad thing is that everything they've shot so far is 5 inches.

Will look for firelapping bullets today.

Jeff

Mine shoots in to the 1-2" group as well with a 1.5 - 5 Leupols scope. This is with the Buffalo Bore 430 grain Hard Cast.s. That's the only thing I have shot in it.

If you don't already know about it, I'd also visit this website
that I've found extremely helpful - these guys have a huge
amount of experience to draw from:
www.marlinowners.com

Of all the regular factory stuff I've tried, the most accurate so
far as been the Federal 300s. The Remington stuff wasn't too bad, but it has a very rainbow-like trajectory. The Silverline
PMC +P loads are supposed quite good, but I haven't tried them yet.
The best accuracy I've had with my rifle has been with
handloads. Using Hornady 300 HP (#4500), starline brass,
CCI200 primers and some H322 I can group under 1 inch at 50 yards, and about 1.5" at 100 yards with a 3x scope.
These rifles CAN shoot very well, but there may indeed by something wacky with that particular one. I'd try the
copper solvent thing, and maybe bring it to a gun smith
with a good borescope, and also slug the bbl to see how it is
dimensionally.
If the rifle has to go back, Marlin is usually pretty good about speedy customer service. I'd also ask the fellas at the
Marlinowners website for more advice too.

Jeff a couple of thoughts that may help? When that bore gets scoured out, it might be a good idea to slug it and see what it actually measures, and try and get a good look at the chamber, the previous owner may have rung the chamber.

Chamber rung-- would that not be visible on fired brass??

We'll clean her out and see what gives. Will also check the other website.

Thanks tons for the help. I always felt the Marlins were solid guns, if not a rough bore at times.

Jeff

A couple years ago I owned a 22" 1895 that shot 1"groups with H-4198 and Hornady 350gr bullets. I sold the gun and bought a Marlin 1895 GS Guide Gun. It too shoots 1"groups at 100 yards with a LEUPOLD scope installed and the above powder/ bullet combo. That is if I do my part! I have a 18.5" 444 that is a nail driver at 100 yards.
Sounds like your nephews gun might need a good cleaning and look for any obvious damage in the barrel.
Hope this helps

Try some Varget powder and Hornady 350 grs. It works well in mine and gets good velocity.

Thanks for all the input. We may need to figure out how to firelap this one. Have been the Varget route too. No good.

May just be a bad one, and might end up sending back to factory to check it out. Too many others seem to shoot 2 inches or less at 100, to have to live with 4-5 inches.

Jeff

Try shooting a group with the iron sights, if things tighten up, then the scope or mounting is at fault/loose. Then you can try a different scope if you have one available.

Before you do anything check to see that your scope mounting is tight. If it is moving even a little, you won't be able to hit anything

Way past the normal things. Scope is a proven test scope on only for load work. Mounts and rings are tight and have been mated threads. Threads cleaned with acetone as have the tapped holes. Did NOT bed the base to the rifle though.

Iron sight groups were almost identical which lead to scoping the gun, figuring that it was my nephew with the issue, not the rifle.

Jeff