[James Gates]

Here again, testing ammo for the meat tests in South Florida and on the River, we find another outstanding bullet in the Marlin 1894P. Although, I was not impressed with this bullet in my Ruger SBH, when we moved to the rifle it really shined! We tried 2 loads with this bullet-22 grs WW296 and 18.5 grs AA9. The WW296 shot very well, but when we went to the AA9, things really happened! This bullet turned in some of the tightest groups we have gotten out of the little Marlin.Unlike the lead wash and dirty barrel and cases in the SBH,there was absolutely no leading and the barrel was whistle clean. About all...It feeds slick in the my Marlin, more than I can say on the wider meplat bullets. This is an important factor in selecting your bullets for the Marlin. So far, the long noses BTB bullets have feed exceptional well, with other only maginal. Unless the lifter in my Marlin is modified (I've contacted Marlin), I will use this bullet this hunting season.
On second thought, I was using WLP's in this load. Maybe going to a magnum primer, I can correct the mentioned problems in the SBH.
For you Marlin shooters, I highly recommend your teying this bullet!
Best Regards, James

 

[James Gates]

Some additional information to tie on the above post...the other BTB bullet that fed so well in the Marlin 1894P is the BTB .432" 250 gr LFN GC with the .300" meplat.
Also...both the new Federal and Remington hard cast lead game bullet feeds perfect in this 194P.
Marshall told me that at one time the lifters in the Marlin .44 magnums fed all the LBT bullets, so there was some kind of modification down the line. I will post what Marlin's reply to my letter concerning the present lifters. The present problem is that the rear of the lifter is not picking up the rear of the loaded round enough to clear the wide meplat of these new bullets and causing the meplat to hit the upper rear chamber face. With a slightly higher part on the rear of the lifter, the rounds would line up perfect.
No fault of the BTB bullets, it is the lifter design!
Best Regards, James

 

[Bill M]

Hi James,
Yes sir, that 300 gr LMNGC bullet is a hummer in the 1894p.  It is my favorite in fact, for the rifle.  My H-110 load is close to yours (a bit more) and gives me a very accurate and consistant 1600 fps.  The effect of recoil and the ports balance themselves out perfectly.  I am going to try your AA-9 load and see what happens.  

My 1894p also fed this bullet very well (not quite pefect) without mods.  Since I wanted to shoot many of Marshall's bullets out of it, I opened up the lifter by .100 per Marshall's suggestion.  The odd thing about my rifle is it now feeds the big bullets perfecty but the 250 gr bullets do not feed quite so well... they get slightly hung up at times.  Not to worry.  That 300gr bullet with the .320 melplat @ 1600 fps is up to most anything I could ask of the rifle with minimal recoil and is SLICK.  

Please let us know how it takes game.

God bless.................  Bill M

 

[Stranger]

Have you guys tried the 300g WFNGC in that Marlin? Backed by 21.7g of H110 and a CCI350 I get 1640 fps plus outstanding accuracy out of my 16" 1894. Feeding is a non-issue, buttery smooth plus plenty of thump.

 

[James Gates]

Hello to Both of You....I'm not one that feels the need to have both my .44 SBH and Marlin 1894p shooting/using to same bullet/load. That was nice in remote areas in the past, however when I am using one the other is at camp. For control, etc. I still load for my SBH with 240/265 gr at 1200/1400 fps. I did find that the 280 gr WFN GC turned in some impreeive accuracy in the SBH. When it comes to long guns (even if only 16.5" barrels) the siuation changes. Here I like the heavies! Bill, I didn't have trouble with the OAL with the 300 gr in this particular 1894P. The feed problem with the wide meplat bullets seems to come from bullet alignment on the lifter as the bolt starts to move forward. If your will examine the lifter you wll see the cartridge rim falls in a notch at the rear of the lifter. As the bolt begins to feed forward, the rim riss up on a hump on the lifter. At this point the cartridge should be aligned (but it isn't). In my 1894P the WFN hits the top back chamber face. I played around with some Marine Tex on the lifter and got 100% feeding with all WFN's, however the stuff soon was worn of the lifter. If Marlin can't have a lifter with a high hump in it, I'll pull this one and have Little Hank do some welding (then me doing some file fitting). I tried 22 grs of WW296 and it is a great load. This particuler Marlin just seemed to like the AA9 load better. It's strange though, the AA9 load gave smokey cases in the SBH. I was using Win WLP's and maybe they were not quite hot enough.
I will say that this 300 gr bullet puts the little 1894P into a real class act. I don't want to face anything that that load is too wimpy for!
Best Regards to Both of You, James