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Now that the latest batches of Marlin 1894s are back up to pre-Remington quality (and perhaps better according to some reports), I'm going to buy another lever-action so that I have one for "classic" Gallery Rifle (iron sites) and one for "standard" (scoped). The Marlin 1894CB is looking particularly attractive.

Currently have a Winchester 94AE in .45 Colt and therefore thinking of another .45 Colt so I can use the same dies, bullet moulds, etc... however, I see those at the top of their game primarily using .44 Mag. I cannot see how one calibre could be more intrinsically accurate than another, especially ones so similar.

Someone talk me in to the dark side of a .44 Mag

ATB,
Kev.

People just like saying 'Magnum'. It's a penis-envy thing.

Triffid

If you are getting one for classics have a look at a Uberti.
I had a yellowboy in 45colt and it was very well made and very accurate - probably more so than the marlins I have owned.
It was comparable to my marlin for speed of loading.

Triffid wrote:People just like saying 'Magnum'. It's a penis-envy thing.

Triffid

mag41uk wrote:If you are getting one for classics have a look at a Uberti.
I had a yellowboy in 45colt and it was very well made and very accurate - probably more so than the marlins I have owned.
It was comparable to my marlin for speed of loading.

I was going to keep the Winchester for classic and scope the Marlin.

ATB,
Kev.

mag41uk wrote:If you are getting one for classics have a look at a Uberti.
I had a yellowboy in 45colt and it was very well made and very accurate - probably more so than the marlins I have owned.
It was comparable to my marlin for speed of loading.

The Winchester just looks all wrong with a scope on it:


ATB,
Kev.

45 colt is a lovely slab of a thing. Makes a slightly bigger hole for scoring too.

Rounds used in a magazine rifle must be crimped, to prevent the bullet being pushed back into the case on feeding. Both 44 mag and 45 Colt have rather thick brass and this is worked and fatigued by the reloading process: hence, low case life unless you anneal regularly.
Why not go traditional and get a 44-40? Much thinner brass and longer case life, and it is what the rifles were originally designed to shoot.
Fred

FredB wrote:Rounds used in a magazine rifle must be crimped, to prevent the bullet being pushed back into the case on feeding. Both 44 mag and 45 Colt have rather thick brass and this is worked and fatigued by the reloading process: hence, low case life unless you anneal regularly.
Why not go traditional and get a 44-40? Much thinner brass and longer case life, and it is what the rifles were originally designed to shoot.
Fred

Hi Fred,

I really like the 44-40. Unfortunately Marlin doesn't make one at the moment and I'm set on a 1894 with some go-faster parts to slick it all up and to add a scope on top for the "standard" gallery rifle competitions.

Completely agree with you on .45 Colt annealing - needs to be done every few reloads or split brass gets expensive!

ATB,
Kev.

All the bottle necked cartridges are superior to the straight walled cases as they are far cleaner shooting with black powder, not fouling blow back into the action, and perform equally well with smokeless, it is not by chance that all my underlever rifles are chambered in 44/40, 38/40 and 32/20

Beer Hunter wrote:Now that the latest batches of Marlin 1894s are back up to pre-Remington quality (and perhaps better according to some reports), I'm going to buy another lever-action so that I have one for "classic" Gallery Rifle (iron sites) and one for "standard" (scoped). The Marlin 1894CB is looking particularly attractive.

Currently have a Winchester 94AE in .45 Colt and therefore thinking of another .45 Colt so I can use the same dies, bullet moulds, etc... however, I see those at the top of their game primarily using .44 Mag. I cannot see how one calibre could be more intrinsically accurate than another, especially ones so similar.

Someone talk me in to the dark side of a .44 Mag

ATB,
Kev.

The 1894CB is very nice, but not quite as nice as the 1894CBC

Mine is also in.45LC, and is exremely accurate using Trail Boss. If i had one criticism, it it that previously mentioned, in that obturation isn’t great and the subsequent leakage does require a bit more cleaning. This of course isn’t much of a problem with the Marlin action which is very easy to strip.