Marlin 1894's were always the slower twist and folks complained about it to them for years, decades even. Some folks reported good accuracy with 300 grain bullets but in the two .44 Mag 1894's I owned, a stubby Lyman 429215 215 gr. semi-wadcutter always shot the best groups by far of any bullet tried.
I'm actually liking not hating this new S&W, even though polymer stocks and M-loks and all that stuff on a lever action leaves me cold. But if it shoots accurately, if it works smoothly from the factory (which reviewers are saying it does), if it feeds reliably and if the loading port isn't knife sharp I can see myself seriously kinda maybe thinking about buying one.
When it comes out in .357 Magnum, that is.
