Reliability and accuracy of 1894SS in .44 Mag?

[toolmaker]

Am feeling the call of a first centerfire levergun. I shoot .44 mag in handgun and love the looks of the 1894SS in that caliber. Friends say to pass on the levergun and go for a Ruger bolt 77/44, but I'm tired of castings though, and appreciate the forged and machined classic look of the Marlin. I also like big, slow slugs that take time to reach the target. How's the feeding and ejection reliability, and what sort of benchrested, scoped accuracy do folks enjoy on this particular model? Any links to reviews would also be appreciated.

[CrazyMiniMan]

I do not personally own one, however, a friend of mine does, (only its blued, not stainless) and he likes it a lot. I have fired it a lot, its a fun gun to shoot. The accuracy with a 2-6X20 Leopold scope is as good as its gonna get, groups of less than 1 inch at 50 yards, offhand. Never tried benchrest shooting though. It feeds just peachy, reliability, well, its never jammed on us.
I think its a good gun. I am looking into getting one in the .357 magnum/38special caliber.

[Old Judge Creek]

Hummm, one of my favorite subjects.

I have Marlin lever action rifles in 45 Colt, 44 Magnum, 44-40, and 45-70. I also had the 357 magnum (gave it to my youngest son since he's a 357 magnum afficianado). All are in the Marlin 1894 Cowboy configuration with the octagon barrel, Marbles sights, and ballard rifling.

These rifles are tack drivers and are reliable to a fault! The ballard rifling is ideal for these guns because they are made to stabilize lead bullets but will shoot jacketed fodder as well. The same cannot be said about the Carbines with the micro-groove rifling. If you push lead bullet velocities in the micro-groove barreled carbines, they lead up and the accuracy goes all to hell.

When I'm out prospecting in the desert or just kicking around my ranch, I often carry my Marlin 44 mag on the ATV and wear either a S&W 629 Trail Boss or Ruger Bisley Vaquero (both in 44 mag).

If I were restricted to 1 single firearm for life that had to suffice for everything from food gathering to self-defense, I'd pick the Marlin Cowboy in 44 mag - PERIOD! That rifle will do it all. And it is VERY reliable.

And since this is the lever action forum, let me add that the Marlin lever action 22 rimfire would be my first choice over ALL rimfires.

[Gowge]

This is 'bout as sweet as it gets! As long as you use HARD CAST lead bullets, you won't have to worry 'bout leading the barrels. If you worry about that, you can always polish the barrels by shooting a couple dozen fire-lapping rounds thru it.

See the What's NEW sidebar on this link: Beartooth Precision Cast Lead Bullets (http://www.beartoothbullets.com/)

GOOD LUCK!


http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/images/firearmImages/1894ss.jpg