Looking to buy a 44mag lever. Open to different models including the Marlin 1894 and the Winchester 1892. Let me know what you have.

Cheers,

Will

I've had several 44 Mag lever guns. I sold them when they wouldn't feed my cast bullet loads with Keith style bullets. If you shoot cast Keith style bullets, be aware.

Post it in the classifieds...
I have a Marlin 1894SS and love it. I shot cast out of it and didn't have a problem but I only shot 240 grain
Still prefer 200 XTP jhp.
I shot a deer this year with it. It was great for in the treestand

What type of 240 grain cast? The one problem I had was with a Marlin. I understand that a guy can modify the lifter and add about a .1" to help it feed Keith style bullets.

Consider twist.The Marlin's 44 mag before Ruger have a 1/36 twist. WInchester has a 1/20 twist. If you want to shoot bullets heavier than 265 gr the faster twist is needed for accuracy. My Win 94 ( New Haven, USA made ) handles & feeds any cast bullet I've tried in it. My favorite is the Lee 310gr with gas check. Excellent accuracy. Also feeds without a hitch my 280gr SWC GC bullet. Don't know the twist of the new Ruger/Marlin 44. I've shot every weight from 225gr thru the 310. No problem of any kind in my rifle.

That's theory. Reality says something else sometimes. (Guess which wins?) I had a Win 94 trapper .44 mag that had a 1-38" twist, said so on the box, measured to confirm, and despite internet "wisdom", it shot very well with 300 grain XTPs and 300 grain Speer soft points .. and pretty much everything else I ever sent down the barrel.

Tom

I have a mold that casts 320 grain. It doesn’t have a GC. I bought that mold for handgun silhouette. With the known distances of the chickens, pigs, turkeys, & rams, the trajectory wasn’t an issue. It shoots well in my Super Black Hawk. I have not tried it in my 629. It didn’t shoot well in the rifles I’ve tried so far. I’m down to one 44 Mag rifle, a 788. Maybe I’ll try that bullet in it. But I find that 240 grain bullets is all the heavier I need - complete pass through on what I’ve been shooting.

I see lots of guys recommended flat nose cast for hunting.
I am one that prefers a jacketed bullet for hunting. I like the expansion to impart more energy transfer to the animal.

The Winchester is a pain to take apart. The Marlins are really simple. Just don't lose the ejector when you slide the bolt out.

My JM marlin 1894 45 LC does not handle the P factory loads I own.

The henery seems to be construed like a 336 marlin action, perhaps it would be a stronger action.

The Winchester if I were to consider one would have to able to scope. I dunno if that’s true.

Just get a Rossi 92 and call it a day.

It would take a pile of money to get my Browning B92 away from me.

I recently bought a Remington Marlin, which is a fine-looking rifle. I just now tried running different ammo through the action. It fed the jacketed fine of course. Then I tried feeding a 320-grain cast load 1.72" LOA. It almost fed, it might of fed a 1.7" OK, it was that close. Then I tried a Keith style cast bullet 1.623" LOA, and it fed fine. I may want to set the bullet back into the case if I use that heavy bullet in the Remlin. Then I tried the bullets in the 788. The 320 grain bullet is a might long. If I shoot the heavy bullets in it, I'll set them a little further into the case too. We have snow up to where the good lord split us. and wind up to and more than 30 MPH. The blizzard will end in a couple of hours, but lots of wind until dark they say. t will be a while before I take either 44 rifle out for shooting paper.

Now, I'm not sure what rifle's I had before that wouldn't feed cast bullets well.

I have a Marlin 336 Texan without the saddle ring in 44 mag. It shucks rounds great and shoots just about everything I have put through it into nice groups Fun gun Keep an eye out and you may find one if you are looking for something with a little history.

I bought a Henry big bore in .44 a few years ago. It has a 16 inch barrel with the tube fed magazine that I really like. The rifle is nice and handy. Good shooter too

A 1 in 38” twist will handle bullets weighing 300gr or slightly more. Bear in mind that SWC were designed for revolvers and more than likely won’t feed well in leverguns - the Win 94 might be an exception as it has a gentler feed angle, being designed for a longer shell. The most trouble free bullet nose options for rifles are RNFP and TC designs.

The big issue with 44’s is that there are different SAAMI specs for rifle and pistol. Rifles usually have larger barrel diameters, a slower twist and a long throat. Add to that some rifles have shallow rifling (microgroove Marlins and Brownings) you can understand why people complain about cast not working well.

Most moulds from the big names are undersized for rifle use is another problem area. However, if you have the correct diameter cast bullets they work fine in rifles.