Reloading 45 colt ammo for marlin lever action

J

jcolon95

New member
I am new to reloading and i am starting with a 45 colt caliber. It is for my marlin 1894 lever action rifle. The max case length is 1.285 inches. The case trim size is 1.275 and the oal is 1.60 inches. Can anyone tell me the best case lenght and oal lenght they use for your 45 lever action rifle action rifle.
 
For every cartridge I start reloading for, I stick with the bullet manufacturer's OAL recommendation. If I'm reloading cast bullets I'll find the OAL for a similar/like bullet in my Lyman 50th or Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, #3 or #4. But, I normally seat my revolver/carbine loads to the crimp groove or cannalure, and have had very few problems that way (just SWC didn't feed well in a couple of my carbines)...

If for some reason there is a need to change the OAL I can do that as necessary, but I've not had that problem yet.
 
I had a Winchester 94 Trapper rather than a Marlin. I do the same thing mikld does with the cartridge and have had no problems.
 
Concerning OAL, you should seat to the crimp groove

It's unlikely your brass being too long is causing your issue

What do you mean by "jamming?" What bullet are you shooting? Does it have a crimp groove? Are you crimping into it correctly?

My Marlin functions very well with 250gr LSWC seated and crimped correctly into the crimp groove
 
Mine feeds everything reliably, even the long 300 grain Sierra bullets. I trim all cases that are new to me, one time only. I found that the only thing critical about their length is that they are all the same and the actual numbers don't really matter. Cartridge Overall Length is really only limited according to the limitations of the firearms it must function in. I know that some of my Marlin loads would very likely hang up in some other rifles.
 
What do you mean by "jamming?" What bullet are you shooting? Does it have a crimp groove? Are you crimping into it correctly? My Marlin functions very well with 250gr LSWC seated and crimped correctly into the crimp groove
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He’s talking about the well-know “Marlin Jam”. See post #9 in the first link.

https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/1894/26636-marlin-jam-inevitable-1894-a.html

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/marlin94fix.html

https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/jams-all-kinds/24519-different-way-fix-marlin-jam.html


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One thing you need to be aware of... and I found this out with my 1894 .45 Colt... is the rifling twist. Mine had very lazy 1:38" (I think) rifling, it would not stabilize slower, heavier bullets... it was awful, and I started thinking my buddy sold me a lemon. I was shooting 255 and 270grn bullets around 900fps.

I would probably start with lighter bullets driven fairly fast, and work your way down, something like a 240grn bullet over Unique or IMR4227, something like that.

I've never trimmed a handgun case in my life, including .45 Colt. I just seat my bullets to the crimp groove or the cannelure and leave it at that. With bullets intended for the .45 Colt, it's almost a no-brainer.
 
Exactly

Whatever the issue is, it isn’t case length. It might be incorrect crimp. It might be the “marlin jam” that luckily my rifle doesn’t have.
 
Every chamber is slightly different so there is no 'best' anything. Just load to the Max OAL given in your manual.
As long as the case length is between the Max and the Trim-to given in your manual it'll be fine.
"...SWC didn't feed well..." SWC's can just be like that. Happens in .45 ACP pistols too. Too many square edges.
 
Just load to the Max OAL given in your manual.
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Don't load "to the Max OAL given in your manual". Load to the crimp groove, and check to see you don't exceed the listed max COAL. Shorter is FINE.

The listed max COAL is not something that needs to be met, its a limit you shouldn't exceed. It is an industry standard length that will function through all industry standard guns. It's not a required length.

Measure all the factory rounds you can find, in all the calibers you can find. Even the longest of them is still a few thousandths short of the listed max COAL. Its intentional, to allow for variations in tolerances of different guns, and still work.

unless the bullet maker completely screws up, any bullet with a cannelure or crimp groove will be within max COAL when loaded to the crimp groove. The actual OAL of the loaded round only matters if (with the bullet seated to the crimp groove) its too short, or too long to feed through the action, and that's a very rare thing. It can happen though, in certain calibers with certain bullets. There are bullets never designed to work through the length limits of lever guns.

A friend of mind did it. He got some old 210gr cast slugs (.38 cal) that had very long round nose profile. He loaded some, in .357 cases. He didn't bother to check the length. (Turned out later measurement showed them to be over listed COAL, slightly. He stuck 2 rounds in the tube of his 1894 Marlin, worked the lever and it jammed up tight. I wound up having to take the rifle apart to get the rounds out. (had they been loaded in .38 SPL cases, they would have been just enough shorter to work through the action and not jam. It CAN happen but its rare, and modern components almost always work out well.

Again, if you seat to the crimp groove, and its shorter than max COAL, its FINE.
 
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