Lever Action .44/.357 questions.

D

deadcoyote

New member
I was looking at a Marlin Model 1894 in .44magnum. After doing some web-r-nets searches I read that Marlin .44's specifically have an issue with double feeds. I have an old Marlin 30-30 which has ran fine for 20 years, allegedly this problem is specific to .44 mags and marlin, anybody have input on this???

Additionally, are the .357 Marlin's any better? Also any experience with the Puma model 92 clones in .44 would be helpful as well. Do they hold up to a lot of use??

Lastly, any advice on the Winchester leverguns n pistol calibers would be nice as well.
 
I have never had a problem with double feeds in my Marlin M1894, not that I fire it that much. Marlin seems to have had some quality control problems lately, my M1894 44 Magnum dates from 1978, not sure about my M1894C in 357 but it is a pre-cross bolt safety model. Only feeding problems I have encountered are with 38 WCs, they are a bit too short and must be single loaded.
 
I've had a .44 Mag M-1894P since it was born in Y2K, which has never double-fed, nor had any other issues.

Likewise, a .357 Rossi Model 92 - none of which, BTW (Marlin's, Rossi's or gennie Winchester 1892's), will reliably feed wadcutter boolits.

What you most likely heard of was something called "the Marlin jam" - where the next cartridge up in the mag tube is released early, feeding under the lifter/carrier, trying up he gun - exacly the same way that Winchester 94's can, pistol cartridges or not.

The reason is a worn or out-of-spec new part (bad machine tolerance stackup), allowing the cartridge rim to pass out of the mag before it's called for.
I had it occur with a brand-spanking-new .356 Winchester BigBore 94 - I simply swedge the cartridge stop finger a little higher for the fix.

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I was looking at a Marlin Model 1894 in .44magnum. After doing some web-r-nets searches I read that Marlin .44's specifically have an issue with double feeds. I have an old Marlin 30-30 which has ran fine for 20 years, allegedly this problem is specific to .44 mags and marlin, anybody have input on this???
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Have had an 1894S since 90-91, and am not even sure what you are describing as a "double feed"...
 
Likewise, a .357 Rossi Model 92 - none of which, BTW (Marlin's, Rossi's or gennie Winchester 1892's), will reliably feed wadcutter boolits.
Click to expand...
I have a Marlin 94 and it feeds wadcutters perfectly. The trick is loading them long enough (about 1.35 or 1.36") I use 148 grain cast DEWC's and 7 grains of WSF or Herco powder. It's a "light magnum" load, about 30000 psi.
 
"Have had an 1894S since 90-91, and am not even sure what you are describing as a "double feed"..."

Sorry, this guy posted what I read about:

"What you most likely heard of was something called "the Marlin jam" - where the next cartridge up in the mag tube is released early, feeding under the lifter/carrier, trying up he gun - exacly the same way that Winchester 94's can, pistol cartridges or not."


I guess my nushell question is are there major quality differences between Winchester, Puma, and Marlin? I would like to stick with marlin as I have one already, of course it's decades old so I can't speak for modern products. Also, is there a difference in reliability between the .44 and the .357 in the lever guns?
 
The Marlin Jam is easy to fix, it's even easier to prevent. When I took my 1894 out of the box, three strokes with a flat file, a few minutes with an arkansas stone, and it was prevented. LINKY HERE for the how-to.

I bought my Marlin NIB several years ago and it has run flawlessly. The big mistake people make is trying to "baby" a lever action. They are designed to be operated robustly. Push the lever down and forward till it comes to the design stop, then lever it back and up until the cartridge feeds. My 357 1894 will even feed .38 special wadcutters when operated properly. If you try to slow-stroke it, it will hang up about half the time.

I wouldn't be afraid to buy another one tomorrow, but I've got mine.

I guess my nushell question is are there major quality differences between Winchester, Puma, and Marlin? I would like to stick with marlin as I have one already, of course it's decades old so I can't speak for modern products. Also, is there a difference in reliability between the .44 and the .357 in the lever guns?
Click to expand...

I can't speak to quality differences since the quality of each of those manufacturers has varied over the years. I've heard that Marlin won't be making any for a while, as they sort out the problems associated with moving the main plant to Ilion. If you want new, you're probably going to have to get something else.

That having been said, if I were looking for a new rifle, I'd probably call Steve Jones and see what he has in stock, or what he could get his hands on to rework. I trust him and his opinions.
 
[That having been said, if I were looking for a new rifle, I'd probably call Steve Jones [stevesgunz.com] and see what he has in stock, or what he could get his hands on to rework. I trust him and his opinions.]

Steve's good people - but FWIW, his name isn't "Steve Jones", :eek:

His given name is Steve Young

His CAS handle is Nate "Kiowa" Jones.

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PetahW said:
Steve's good people - but FWIW, his name isn't "Steve Jones",

His given name is Steve Young
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You're right, and I always make that mistake. Between his given name and his CAS handle, I get it screwed up about 3/4th of the time. His given name is Steve Young, and his alias is Nate "Kiowa" Jones. I'll try to keep it straight in my head.

MY apologies to everyone concerned.
 
Many Malins made in the 1970's shared common problems. By common I mean to state that these problems were a low percentage of total production but same issues were identifed among the problem rifles.

Jam caused by double feed. This was corrected largley by local smiths who replaced the follower device.

Poor accurasy caused by micro groove rifling. This was corrected by individuals who switched to bullets that measured .430 instead of the common .429 size.

My Marlin shared both of these problems but once fixed the rifle was fine. I traded for a Ruger 96 about 15 years ago because of the faster twist. I wanted a 44 MAG carbine which would be more versatile: 1) shoot 44 Special ammo accurately out to 40 yards 2) shoot Speer heavyweight 270 grain bullets with accurasy. Marlin's slow twist combined with micro-groove rifling just "didn't do it" for me.

Marlin switched to Ballard rifling about 13 years ago and this improvement has made many hunters very happy. I've not heard anything negative about the improved Marlins. Whether or not Remington will produce Marlins of the same quality as before is unknown to me.

Hope this is helpful.

Good hunting to you.
Jack

Ruger_96.jpg
 
As a quick update I'sm still hunting around for a MArlin. I've specifically been seeing a lot of classified ads where prople are citing "pre 2008" as a selling factor so maybe rhis year is significant. I don't really plan on doing much hunting so I might buy a Cimmaron 1873 or 1866 in .45 Colt for a little more. Are these good guns?? I know the .45 colt ammo is procey but I reload so I'm not too worried.
 
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