Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk Your 1894 Marlin 44 mag will shoot-- keep trying till u find it

have had my 1894 44 mag about 10 yrs. i tried perty hard to get it to shoot better than it would. at best it would shoot 2-3" at 50y. i tried about 5 different factory loads and few reloiads. it consistently would not do better than 2-3". i finally accepted it as is-- not very accurate. well, i finally tried something that has shot well for me in other calibers--Federal. tried a grp of Federal 240 grn jhp and damn!!! Damn!!! got me a shooter!!! yeehaw!!!! hot damn i gots me a very accurate 44 mag riflr.!!!! +++++++holes near touching at 50y. 5 shot grps. 50 yds. not expecting much. in a hurry. 2 cheap walmart bags. old wood bench with some wobble in it. this thing would one hole em at 50y on a solid bench with good rest/bag, some optimism and not in a hurry. federal 240 jhp

am gonna shoot it with good set up sooner or later and will update. try to do pics cause i cant believe this gun is shootin so good. marlin 1894. 44 mag. 10 yrs old. leupold 2x7. deer kilt---3 whitetails.all mature big does. DRT. all at my funnel of 85 yds. 240 grn winchester sp white box. all pass completely thru. 2 of these pass thru middle of spine. big hole and incredible damage on exit. other kill shot thru both lungs, high. drt. they never ever new they died it seemed like.

That story gives me hope.

shot it at good set up. WOW!!! I cant believe it so is ok if u dont!! 5/16" 3 shot grp. 1 tri-lobed hole. have pics but dont how to add here. 50 yds. i stopped reloading because federal ammo worx so well for me. so i finally tried their 240 grn jhp. i KNEW it would be $40 wasted cause this gun cant shoot. wrong. gladly. have pics, video and witnesses. just trying to encourage those that need it. tickled to have a tackdriving 44 mag.

Lesson, each firearm is an individual. don't give up until all combinations of powders, brass, primers, and bullets(weights and configuration) have been tried.

270 gr Speer Deepcurl Bullets, and 'lilgun, 5 shots @ 100 yards.
2.5 power Weaver scope..

I have an 1894 stainless 44mag with skinner peep sights. I ring an 8" plate off shooting sticks at 100 yds with white box Winchester ammo every shot. That's all the accuracy I need for hogs.

The last time I shot it on paper from a bench, I believe it was easily under 2" group at 100 yds. Thy can be impressive shooters. It's one of my, if not my number 1 favorite shooters.

How much "LilGun" are you loading?

Doc

This load is 17.5 gr.
I tried from 17.5 to 19.5 as listed in the Speer manual. I have seen loads listed as high as 22 gr. but I myself have never tried any that high.

The recoil, though noticeable, is not to bad at all.
I shot a 1.5 year old buck with this load at about 50 yards. Both shots fully penetrated, never found a fired bullet.
Nice gun, I really like it, but I hunt with my .444 more often, also loaded with the same bullet.

.444 W/270's...

Thanks BGunn...

Doc

I have been shooting 24 gr of 296 win with a 200 gr xtp at 50 yards under 2 inches haven't got to shoot a deer with it yet but still have a few more days in this season

You have more patience than me. I couldn't get mine to shoot better than 2-3" no matter what. I had a 444, 45-70 and 35 Rem and all shot at or under 1". The POS 1894 went down the road.

I can get around 1" 100 yard 3 shot groups from mine with iron sights and Magtech factory 240 grain jacked lead nose ammo.

I've yet to find a handload to match this accuracy.

Breaking my cherry here in this forum, but for what it's worth a fellow will get a lot of benefit from rollin' his own with leverguns, regardless of maker. Finding factory fodder that works is never a bad thing, but probability is that hand loads will get to the point quicker. Whole bunch of variables involved with lever guns that factory production ammo can't/won't address on a case by case basis.

Sometimes lead is your friend, sometimes not. Have 3 ratchet slammers, they all run well. One has exhibited worthy performance with factory ammo.

A Marlin 94 .25-20 Win, first day at the 50 yd line:



Those particular bullets were a fairly soft alloy of 10 BHN hardness and based on load info somewhere in the range of 1300-1400 fps. The gun uses a Lyman tang sight.

If one is inclined, a little juggling with COAL is usually doable and the relationship between bullet form and chamber dims has a lot of play when shooting cast bullets.

I took my .44 out today was bored started shooting some xtp 200 gr and it was grouping like it all ways did I has some cast swc 240 gr some with 2400 and some with uninique and for some reason it would groups at all I even got a couple key hole hits ? I went back to some jacked bullets and it shoot good .
I remember shooting the cast loads before and they shot fine any clues of why they are not grouping now

well went out again today playing with the cast bullets started back with the 2400 23 gr under the 240 gr cast about 4 to 5 in groups at 40 yards 22 grs two side by side and a flyer 6 inches to the left 21.5 grains and fricking every were and even a key hole suck bag.
So I went to the 296 powder 22.5 grains and wow 1 1/2 groups I guess it just didn't like the 2400 ?

Frank, I haven't tried any 2400 as I ran out and haven't gotten to town to get more. I have been loading h110 under 240g jhp's and 272g cast fprn's and they both will shoot around 1.25 inch at 100. don't think I will even bother with 2400.

Ya I hear you on the 2400 it is pretty dirty too I have had good luck shooting it in my 45-70 with 405 gr cast and some .357 158 gr solid core bullets besides that I will stick with the 110 or 296 Winchester powder clean and whacks em out there

Are you using the Blue Box Federals or the Federal Fusions in the 1894? Both come with a 240 grain JHP