Author Topic: Question about ammo for 1894C (Read 800 times)

Bowtied · « **on:** May 09, 2006, 03:51:33 PM »

I am looking to get an 1894C for a lot of reason, one of those is ammo selection and price. I see Cabela's has bulk ammo in .357 and .38. Has anyone used this? Both calibers are available in semi wadcutter and JHP versions. I would be mostly intereted in varmit and ferrel dog/cat control and worst case scenerio...urban threats. Do these rounds feed well in these guns? They're about the cheapest thing out there other than hand loading which I'm not able to get into right now.

Thanks!

pastorp · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:58:16 AM »

Bowtied, I have owned 3 1894's one in 44mag and two in 357. One of my 357's (1894c) would only feed magnums 38's would lock up the action requiring me to remove the lever and bolt to clear the jam. My current 357 (1894cp) will feed either round. The 44 mag fed 44specials or mags without problems.

If you stick with magnum amo you should be fine or send it back to marlin if you have feed problems with 38's. Regards, Byron

Rock_Steady · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2006, 05:25:12 AM »

I've recently gotten an 1894C and love it. I have had zero problems in putting about 100 rounds of each magnum and specials with chambering, firing and cycling.

That being said, I was using WWB 38 special bulk packs and had TERRIBLE accuracy issues with said rounds. Not even vertical stringing - these rounds were all over the paper. Magnum rounds were giving me a 1" group at 50 yards. YMMV. I'm gonna try loading up some of my own specials and magnums today and see how it works with them.

--Rock

Star1pup · « **Reply #3 on:** May 16, 2006, 12:43:06 PM »

My new 1894 C works fine. The only round that fed hard was a .38 special hand load with a lead SWC bullet. and that was just one round out of a box. I have been loading both 125 and 158 gr. Hornady HP-XTP bullets. My first loads were over Bullseye, but I just loaded a few samples over Blue Dot. Have not been able to try the Blue Dot loads due to the rain every day.

I also saw an article in American Hunter about Federal CastCore ammo. They are pricey, but I'll probably try a box out of curiousity.

DirtyDan · « **Reply #4 on:** May 19, 2006, 08:44:53 AM »

Mine will feed both, but I like to stay with mags because of length. One thing to keep in mind is don't baby it when chambering a round. Jack it like you mean it.

howdy doody · « **Reply #5 on:** May 19, 2006, 08:11:29 PM »

The new style carrier works pretty good with 38 spl. I have found that 38s with a trunicated cone boolit will cycle as fast I can cycle it. I latched on to one from Brownells for my older CS model and noticed a big difference.