Marlin 1894 (in .44 magnum)

Louky

Louky

Joined
Apr 21, 2003
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511
A friend of mine sells a Marlin 1894 lever-action rifle chambered for the .44 Remington Magnum ammunitions. He was buying it just for collection. I also like its design : it is a very beautiful firearms and I think I will buy it.

Could you give me your opinions concerning the Marlin production ? I also wonder for what purposes is this kind of rifle designed : why a revolver cartridge ? What it is reasonable to expect in term of efficiency ?

Thank in advance ! ;)
 
I personally think Marlin firearms are excellent! And this model is one of their better creations. You'll have no problems with it.

As for .44 mag in a rifle: it's a great round that's just fun to shoot for one answer. Also, in the old West cowboys liked to have a rifle and hand gun that the ammo could be used in either gun.
The .44 mag pistol has been used for many years to take deer and even much larger animals. The rifle will give higher velocities and a better aim.
Have fun.
 
The Marlin leverguns will not let you down. The 1894 is a very solid and well made firearm.

The .44 magnum in a rifle is very good for taking game up to large deer as long as you only take shots out to about 150 meters. It is not considered a long range cartridge. Many deer hunters prefer a heavy large bullet for "brush busting", or shooting through brush.

If you handload you can load the .44 magnum for the rifle hotter than you would want in a handgun.

Ammo compatability between handgun and rifle in the old west was often driven more by economics than tactics. True you can shift ammo from one to the other but the bottom line is that you only have to buy one box of ammo to load both.

Enjoy your Marlin, you won't regret owning one. Mac
 
Lever actions in general and Marlins in particular carry well, shoot well and look good, even when they are not a fancy grade. .44 magnum is good deer sized game gun for 100 yards and of course makes a great defensive arm.
 
Marlins are fine rifles.
I have always wanted a small lever action, but can't decide on caliber. I like to take full advantage of a rifle and use a rifle cartridge. 44mag is an "almost". It is devistating to game at close range coming out of a rifle barrel, but I'm not confident with it at ranges over 200 meters. It will not have the range of a .308 or 30-30.

I suppose it all depends on your intended use.
 
I have one. I suppose it is a good brush gun but I am really not impressed with it. A Marlin 30-30 is a better choice IMHO.
 
Thank you very much for your answers.

I’m not a “rifle person” because I’m not a hunter and my sport shooting activity is the 25 meters (27 yards) handgun category (in .22lr and 9mm OTAN). It is just an opportunity for me to buy this particular rifle to one of my friend. Maybe it is a first step… :p

I didn’t know this practical reason, but I totally understand the advantage to own a rifle and a revolver which use the same cartridge (even if the .44 magnum recoil is a little bit violent in a handgun :( ).

Marsupial : Yes, we are allowed to own firearms in France. We just have to be hunter so we have a hunting licence or to be a sport shooter in this case, we have a French Shooting Federation licence. These two documents allow you to buy rifles or shotguns (the day you will no longer have the licence you can of course keep your firearms). For the handgun, we have to ask a specific permit. You can own one handgun with 50 ammunitions for defence (but this permit is rarely given) or eleven handguns for sport shooting. Handguns are forbidden for hunting.

Have a nice day ! ;)
 
The use of rifles and handguns chambered for the same cartridge goes back the the early Winchester 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40 cartridges and was efficient when using black powder. When smokeless powder was introduced there wasn't much advantage. The concept has continued today with the 357mag and 44mag.
 
Louky,
You just mentioned one of my favorite rifles.

Is the one you're looking at a carbine? (20 inch or shorter barrel)

Or, is it the rifle version? (24 inch barrel.)

The Carbine is very fast for brush or woodland hunting. Short barrel swings faster and doesn't get caught in the brush.

The Rifle balances a little better and you'll find it slightly more accurate, because of the longer sight radius. This only applies if you're using iron sights.

You can handload the .44 magnum down to very low velocity and have a very handy tool for small game or inexpensive informal target shooting.

You can handload or purchase higher powered cartridges for heavy game. This is if you can own components and handload in your country, otherwise your limited to purchasing medium to high power loaded cartridges. Or for lower power, purchasing .44 special cartridges, which will work just fine in your magnum.

If a .44 Magnum with the standerd 240 grain factory bullet is sighted in about 3 inches high at 100 yards, it will only drop about 5 inches low at 200 yards. Totally adequate for hunting medium sized game at those ranges. Not very flat shooting on paper but minor difference compared to something like a 30-30, unless you are hunting in very open country.

If you are hunting at ranges over 200 yards, then a scope sighted rifle in the 6.5x55 Swedish chambering would be an excellent choice, also for potential formal Target competition. you probably know about that.

My comments are colored by my living in a state that varies from open woodland, to very, very heavy brush, to very large open fields.

I own and regularly use both of the versions of the .44 that I mentioned above.

I've used the .44 Magnum to harvest Whitetail Deer over 240 pounds, two Black Bear, the largest over 300 pounds. And all my medium to large game hunting is with the factory 240 grain soft point bullet. I have used low powered "Cowboy" loads in .44 special, to take Squirrel, Rabbit, and similar small game, and equivalent handloads for informal target practice.

Most of my hunting is at less than 100 yards, due to the nature of the terrain I like to hunt in..

I've found the .44 to be a quicker and more humane killer than the 30-30 that is really the common standard here. Actual performance on game is slightly better in my opinion than my .35 Remington Marlins. And they perform very very well!

Were I to hunt Moose or Elk, I would probably use one of the higher powered commercial loadings.

The Marlins can be easily (1 screw) disassembled for cleaning from the breech, thereby preserving barrel accuracy. It's closest competitor, the Winchester is much more difficult to properly clean.

By the way, the Winchester 1894 gets all the credit for everything in the movies, but even in the American old western days, the Marlin was considered a superior rifle and commanded higher prices.

One more thing, should you purchase this rifle. All lever action firearms are designed to have the lever worked "smartly", not at blinding speed, just smartly.

There's been quite a rash of people bringing their "jammed" Winchesters and Marlins to a gunsmith friend of mine for repair. He clears the jam and asks them to demonstrate their use with inert dummy cartridges. He tells my that almost all will proceed to jam the rifle again. Caused by working the lever far too slowly.

He blames it on people learning how to use them by watching movies, instead of growing up with them like some of us old guys did.
I think he's right!

This is far longer than I intended, and a bit jumbled, but I hope it's of help to you.

Best Regards,

Gary
 
Thank you Gary for all these explanations. The model I will buy is the 20” barrelled one (51 cm).

I never noticed how appreciate are this calibre and this kind of rifles. Saturday, I was asking some of my shooting society members their opinion. It seems the .44 magnum ammunition is relevant for hunting in my region. The most hunted animal is the wild-boar and the forest configuration don’t allow long-range shoot (it is a hill landscape covered by forest before a mountain range). Generally, the people here prefer heavy bullets even if the speed is lower than small high velocity projectiles. I shoot with a .44 magnum enthusiast who was telling me the different loads he is able to do for me (and to learn me to do :p ). For hunting, defence and fun shooting : I’m very impressed by the .44 magnum versatility when it is shooting form a rifle.

Thank again for your comments and advices.
Have a nice day ! :D
 
Louky.

You are most welcome! I'm happy that the others and I have been of some assistance to you!

Wishing tou many happy hours afield with your new .44!

Best Wishes,
Gary
 
I reload 44 and love the versatility of the cartridge also. The marlin ( I have the shorter version) is a great rifle.

cowboy loads can be quite accurate at handgun ranges, soft shooting, and fun. high power loads can take most large game in the lower 48 at about 100 yards. With a 10 round capacity and some 300 grain bullets it would make a terrific gun for wild boar.
 
Does anyone have experience with the 357 model? I like the shorter barrell :). The reason I ask is because I can't find 44mag with the 18.5" barrell. Thanks,

Matt
 
LongRifle said:
Does anyone have experience with the 357 model? I like the shorter barrell :). The reason I ask is because I can't find 44mag with the 18.5" barrell. Thanks,

Matt
Click to expand...

Yes, Bought one for my wife before I went to .44.

One of the most "fun" guns in the world.

Fantastic plinker, with lower powered .38 spec, outstanding for small game, again with the lower powered .38 special loads. (Cowboy loadings again if you do not handload.) Still cheap to shoot. Great for larger varmints, coyote, etc with .357 loads.

Problem is use on Deer, suggest small to medium deer and close range, 50 to maybe 75 yards maximum. Many many places this is not a handicap!

Yes, of course you can kill a deer at 100 yards or more with one, how good are your tracking or trailing skills? I'm afraid you'll get lots of practice if you make it a practice to shoot medium or larger deer at 100 yards or farther, they just do not go down fast when hit at that range.

The .357's can be very hard to find.

Another option is to get a .44 and have a good smith trim the barrel, re-crown, reset the front sight, cut and re build the magazine tube. Shouldn't cost over $100 to do the job, more like $60 to $80.

I've been looking for a decent used one to do just that with, change the magazine to half or 3/4, cut the barrel to 16 1/4 and have a kind of un-ported mini-guide gun.

I wouldn't do that to a new gun, but a used one at the right price could be very, very handy.

In the old days, 44-40 got used on everything, I usually think of the .44 as a 44-40 after years of heavy steriod use.

good Luck!
Gary
 
Longrifle

I've had a Marlin in .357" for 6 years. When handguns were banned here in the UK :mad: many pistol shooters looked to lever action rifles. I went with the .357" because I had reloading components and equipment for that calibre.
It's an excellent rifle - had a lot of rounds through mine with no trouble. The Marlin is more popular than the Winchester for the type of shooting I tend to do - mostly fairly rapid or reactive target type stuff. The action on the Marlin is a bit slicker and plenty strong enough for pistol calibre cartridges. Get one - you'll love it!

Phil
 
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