My First Lever Action :D

[oic0]

Just picked up my first lever action. A Marlin 1894C SS. I like the idea of being able to plink and shoot small game with cheap .38 special rounds and then when I feel like deer hunting I can shoot high priced high powered .357 mags. I also love the idea of stainless since I live in the ever humid Louisiana, land of mosquitoes, mud, standing water, and random weather. I keep a 15lb bag of silica gel in my gun cabinet and I still have to watch out for rust. With a stainless gun though I won't have to worry about it and will have confidence that my children and grand children can hang on to the gun, assuming it isn't illegalized.

Couple questions though from people with these 1894 rifles. Anyone tried them out with Double Tap ammo? I bought some for my colt python as a home defense round and to make up for the short 2 inch barrel. I am pretty sure with the 125g JHP they would exceed 2000fps since they are rated for 1600 out of a 4 inch or 1750 from a 6 inch. Should put down a deer at ~100 yards. I just don't want to put them in my expensive new baby until I know its 100% safe though!

Another question is, what should I do to break in the SS barrel? Lastly, I head shooting .38s from the rifle a lot will form a ring that makes .357s hard to cycle. Is that a pain to clean up after?

[stew71]

Welcome to the nuthouse!! Lever guns are like tatter chips. No one can own just one.

Your Marlin will easily handle any commercial round out there designed for a revolver. As far as barrel break-in goes, I've never heard that a SS barrel requires anything special.

Load 'er up and enjoy.

Oh and one other thing.....you must post a pic of your new Marlin. Them's the rules.

[O.S.O.K.]

Welcome to the fire!

As said - any comercial ammo is good in your Marlin. The general rule is that you will get about 120% of the velocity that the ammo gives in a 4" revolver, so I'd expect that double tap load to be around 1900 fps - plenty fast enough. Though for deer hunting most will advise a good quality 158 grain or even 180 grain bullet.

The ring that you refer to from shooting 38 Specials is indeed a fact. But it is not a problem really - you just clean the chamber thoroughly before shooting .357 Mags in it. The ring is just fouling.

[76/444]

Howdy, as said, your Marlin willl handle all factory ammo made,.... with ease.

the only thing I do to clean and maintain my barrels is a bore snake oiled up and three passes from the breech,.... period.

As to shooting 38's,... my policy is the same as with shooting 44spl's in my 44mag,... never do. I have even stopped shooting them in my mag revolvers. I can't give you a scientific reason, I just don't feel good about.


Best of luck with your new piece!

[C. Cash]

Congratulations on a fine rifle, and welcome!

[pdawg.shooter]

BTW....stainless will rust. And when it does it pits really bad. Dont ask how I know!

[AJMD429]

You will love it. I lucked onto one this summer, and posted a 'range report'

Here's the link - http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=20029

I was sort of 'critical' of mine, but I didn't really want a blemish-free wall-hanger or 'safe queen' but rather a shooter - and that it is. I swapped the prettier new stock to my old blued model and it looks great, and I'll re-finish the beat-up stock from my older gun someday, maybe.

There are many other comments on here and on the Marlinowners website; search here (button on upper right of screen) for "Marlin 1894 css" and several pop up.

I don't "break in" any barrels unless it is for an ultra-accurate 'bench' type gun, which I don't shoot much anyway. I suppose I would use jacketed bullets for the first hundred or so rounds, to 'smooth things up' some. Dunno if it really matters.

Here's some 'tune-up' info on what parts to reshape and polish for buttery-smooth and reliable action. It is an easy job with just some files and sandpaper to do most of what is needed.

Here's the link - http://marauder.homestead.com/files/tuning_m_1894.htm

There is also a general 'article' archive some folks don't know is on the forum: http://leverguns.com/articles/Default.htm

ANY shorter-than-chamber cartridge may foul the front of the chamber, but a good rotatory-cleaning with a brush (some say use a stainless brush instead of a brass one on a stainless barrel, but I don't know if that is true) should remove it with some solvent.

Please post update(s) and a range report to let us know how you like it!

(We at "LA" - Levergunners Anonymous - really eat up those range reports, especially if you post pictures...! )

[Griff]

oic0, and welcome to THE Forum. Nice selection as a 1st levergun. As others have said, factory ammo is no problem. Feeding from the magazine may be an issue between ammo of different overal lengths. Or at least it has for other examples.

And, as mentioned... this group is very, very visually oriented:


If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I won't be able to answer them... but there's others that a very knowledgeable about these little Marlins.

[oic0]

Will get some pictures when it arrives. Its a scarce gun so unless I wanted to check the local stores for months only to pay $800 for it, I had to order it. $650 shipped buyout on gunbroker and going to be a $10 transfer fee from a local gun smith / restorer / dealer. Should have it in my hands in a week or so.

You know how it goes, while you are waiting you can't help but occupy yourself by digging up every little scrap of info.

The only other lever gun I've had was a "Browning BL-22" Grade I growing up. It was so beautiful, cant believe my old man sold it for 200 bucks
*I assume that is what it was. It was a browning lever action .22 with a glassy finish on all of the wood and equally nice bluing. Had a nice smooth action and never jammed no matter what cheap bricks i bought to feed through it. I am just hoping this one comes close to that memory, although with what has been said about fit and finish I doubt it will. At least I can off some deer with it though.

[Pete44ru]

Welcome to the fire, oicO !

While I can't answer your Double Tap question, nor help with your Marlin - since my Marlin 1894's not a .357, and my .357 levergun's not a Marlin - I can tell you that you're gonna get a LOT of use & enjoyment outta it !

.

[kimwcook]

Congratulations on your new purchase. That's always exciting. And, welcome to the forum.

Oh, and as stated, stainless will rust, it just does it at a much slower rate (depending on conditions). I carried a stainless Colt Officer's ACP in an inside the belt holster for one day working a concert and it rusted the checkering on the front strap. I couldn't believe, but it was over 100 F and I was sweating pretty good. So stainless guns aren't just forget'em guns.

[2ndovc]

Excellent choice and welcome to one of the coolest places on the Net!


jb

[horsesoldier03]

IMO the old myth that .38s will cause an issue with using .357s in them at a later time is just that A MYTH. I have several .357s and a .44 mag. I frequently swap from .44 spc / .44 Mag as well as with the .38/.357 and I have never had an issue. If you plan to hunt deer, I would go with a JSP bullet and not the JHP. A plain LSWC with a gas check would be a 2nd choice for me but its all preference. I doubt a deer would know a difference.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Welcome to the fire.
As others have said, it can rust. Remember it is
stainLESS not stainPROOF. I treat mine the same as a blued gun.
The lead/carbon ring that can build up ahead of the .38 sp. case in a .357 chamber will prevent chambering the longer round after as few as 50 rounds in some guns. Just ask my buddy Gary !!!

Have fun and enjoy that shooter!

[KirkD]

Welcome! Now that you've bought your first levergun, there's no going back.

[Ysabel Kid]

Welcome! Now that you've bought your first levergun, there's no going back.

And hanging around with us won't help! This forum is responsible for several levers now in my safe. We are all enablers here!!!

Welcome to a wonderful addiction - and to this great forum!!!

[LeverBob]

oicO...welcom pard glad you finally made it back home. You have good taste in leverguns, please keep it up! Range report next

LB

[DBW]

Welcome. Got pics?

I bought my first lever just under a year ago, a Marlin thutty thutty. Since then I've added a second Marlin thutty thutty, a Marlin .44 mag, a Henry .22 and a Rossi .357. To make it more interesting I bought a Ruger .44 mag Vacquero and Uberti .357 revolvers to have rifle/revolvers combos.

[ceb]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on a fine rifle, you'll enjoy it. No problem whatsoever in shooting .38spec in that rifle, just clean it when you're done. Only problem I ever had shooting .38s in a .357 was back when I was shooting a lot of .38 lead reloads in my Ruger Security-six at PPC matches and then used the same gun for hunting groundhogs with .357 loads without cleaning first. Rounds still loaded, but I could feel the resistance as I pushed them in. My fault for not cleaning the chambers first.

[Birdman]

Welcome aboard. If you stopped right where you are and never bought another levergun I'd say you bought the right one for all around use. But, I'll bet a soda pop this ain't you last.

[reddnek]

Welcome. Got pics?

I bought my first lever just under a year ago, a Marlin thutty thutty. Since then I've added a second Marlin thutty thutty, a Marlin .44 mag, a Henry .22 and a Rossi .357. To make it more interesting I bought a Ruger .44 mag Vacquero and Uberti .357 revolvers to have rifle/revolvers combos.

What no model 39A????? Shame on you

[DBW]

Welcome. Got pics?

I bought my first lever just under a year ago, a Marlin thutty thutty. Since then I've added a second Marlin thutty thutty, a Marlin .44 mag, a Henry .22 and a Rossi .357. To make it more interesting I bought a Ruger .44 mag Vacquero and Uberti .357 revolvers to have rifle/revolvers combos.

What no model 39A????? Shame on you

I'm more than willing to take any 39A donation.

[Paladin]

Excellent choice and welcome to one of the coolest places on the Net!


jb

+1

[nemhed]

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum. I personally use the 180gr Hornady XTP for deer hunting with my 1894c, although I know for a fact a 125gr JSP will get the job done if the shooter does their job. For reasons others have stated, I don't shot 38sp in my 357mag guns. I can handload 357mag cases to whatever power level I want and not worry about build-up in the chamber. Enjoy your new purchase! I personally feel a 357mag carbine is the most versatile rifles out there!