1894 in 357

[olywa]

I've got an 1894C in 357 that I'd like to load up with some Speer 170 Gold Dots and some Remington 180 grain SJHP bullets. I've only used 125's in this rifle so far, so I'd like to hear from folks that have hand loaded some of the longer and heavier jacketed bullets for this rifle to see if there have been any feeding problems I should watch out for. Can the longer bullets be seated out to the cannelure with no problems? What kind of cartridge OAL should I stay within for this rifle in order to avoid feeding problems?

[John Traveler1]

Congratulations on purchasing a fine Marlin product!

I like the Marlin rifles so much that I have several of them in various models and calibers.

You absolutely need to watch your cartridge overall length (OAL) in loading for that 1894.  Use the maximum length figure for the .357 Magnum and you should be okay.

The problems you will have with over-length cartridges is that they may fail to feed properly (clear the cartridge lifter) and/or fail to eject (clear the ejection port) when extracting an unfired cartridge.  These are the problems I've found in loading .38-55, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, and .45-70 cartridges for the various models.

Without seeing those Speer and Remington jacketed bullets, I can only guess that the existing cannelures are for crimping to .357 mag cartridge length.  If they result in over max .357 mag length, I can only suggest you shorten your cases and use reduced loads.

Let us know how they work out!

JOHN

[old06]

I don't have a Marlin in 357 but a Winchester Trapper but do use a 180 Remington sjhp it just so happens to be one of the most accurate loads so far. My rounds are win brass, cci mag primers, hogden 110 I started with around 14 grains and I worked up some what, but follow what a current manual states. I shot it this last week at 50 yds and it went 10 rounds off hand in 2 1/4 inches and 3 rounds off the bench in 1 1/4 inches. With a 1  3/4  X  5 power scope on the gun. If this little gun had a good trigger the groups would be better for shure but by no measure a slouch.

[olywa]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses. Looks like I'll have to give it a try. Hopefully the heavier pills don't cut into the case capacity too greatly.

[RugerNo3]

The cannalure in the 180gr Rem is set for the 357Max crimp. You have to run it in deeper in a 357mag.  The Winchester may be forgiving on COL, but the Marlin isn't. The 180 Rem bullet is a true bargain for whitetails.

[Jerry Lester]

I've loaded countless rounds of 357 magnums for a bunch of revolvers, quite a few Winchester, and Marlin rifles, and even a few Handi rifles. I'm not particularly fond of the heavy bullets in the 357 magnum. They tend to shoot Ok, but the standard 158g bullets will give you the most efficient performance, and in most cases they'll also end up giving you more accuracy over a wider range of load combinations.

If you're looking for a potential hunting combo for that rifle, try the Remington 158g SPs. You can get them from Midway. I usually buy 2000 at a time, but even if you get 500 at a time, they're very cheap. These bullets are the very "best" I've found so far for deer sized game, and have been extremely accurate in nearly every gun I've loaded them in.

[olywa]

Those 158 SP from Remington are definitely ones I'm going to check out Jerry. I've seen some of your other posts about these bullets and they sound perfect for the Blacktails that we have up here in the soggy corner of the country.

[Jerry Lester]

Those 158 SP from Remington are definitely ones I'm going to check out Jerry. I've seen some of your other posts about these bullets and they sound perfect for the Blacktails that we have up here in the soggy corner of the country.

1700 fps(rifle) 30-100 yards

1300 fps(revolver) 0-50 yards

Stay in that range, and you'll be pleased...

[Thirties]

I've got an 1894C in 357 that I'd like to load up with some Speer 170 Gold Dots and some Remington 180 grain SJHP bullets. I've only used 125's in this rifle so far, so I'd like to hear from folks that have hand loaded some of the longer and heavier jacketed bullets for this rifle to see if there have been any feeding problems I should watch out for. Can the longer bullets be seated out to the cannelure with no problems? What kind of cartridge OAL should I stay within for this rifle in order to avoid feeding problems?

Page 1 of the instruction manual:

Minimum overall cartridge length — 1.400"
Maximum overall cartridge length — 1.590"

This works well for me.

.

[Tycer]

1.59" should work with most bullets. Some folks have noted they had to relieve the chamber opening with some of the larger meplat cast bullets.

With the larger bullets, you are reducing available case space. Many powders will limit you due to mass, you might not be able to get the velocity you desire. Lil'Gun and a firm crimp will help if you have not tried them.

[olywa]

Thanks to everyone for your input, much appreciated. I'm going to give the Speer 170's a try next weekend and order some of the Remington 158 SP's in the meantime to try next.

[Carwi]

"The Marlin 1894 is sometimes finicky in it's COL limitations, however, there's a relatively easy fix for the problem. The cartridge lifter that brings the cartridge up from the magazine tube to the bolt, has a cartridge stop on it. In the Marlin 1894 it is a simple matter of disassembling the action, and removing this cartridge lifter. Once out, you may take a mill flat file, and carefully mill back the front face of the cartridge lifter 0.100" of an inch, without adversly affecting the action feeding reliability. Once done, any of the bullets with up to and including a .450" nose to crimp length will work great in your Marlin 1894.
This project is rather simple, and if not rushed is easy to accomplish. You will have the benefit of using just about any bullet you could possibly desire, and perfectly reliable feeding of those bullets."

This is straight from Beartooth Bullets website.  I modified my rifle and now it will shoot any bullet with ease but be careful you don't want to shave off too much.  Here are some pics.  I shoot Beartooth's 185gr WFNGC bullet for deer.

[olywa]

Thanks for the tip. I'll be looking in to this.