cast bullets in 1894C

[Ranger J]

I received an 1895 Marlin .357 several years ago from my wife as a Christmas present.  Somehow during the last few years it has now became her gun of choice for the range and for deer season.  She can go through a hundred or so Blue Dot 158G loads with no problem with recoil and frankly she shoots it better than I do.  Of course you have to remember I rarely get to practice with it.   I have been reloading Magtech 158g SP and Remington 180G HP and it digests these without a single hiccup.  In the quest for a lighter and cheaper practice load I got a box of 500 158G SWC Laser-cast from Oregon Trail.  TheseI loaded with 5g of Red Dot.  I’ve not loaded any cast bullets for the 1894 before but have shot a lot of them in my various Handi Rifle barrels.  I usually seat the bullets until they touch the bottom of the last ring.  I loaded 5 bullets to test with the 1894 and right away I saw that most of these were seated too deep.  I let up a little with each one as I loaded looking for the right depth.  When I tried to cycle these through the gun only three would chamber at all and these didn’t load like I am used to seeing bullets load in this gun.  I checked these 5 with my 357 wheel gun and all rattled right in so I put them away to shoot in that gun later.  As the problem seemed to toward the front of the bullet I checked the brass for length (no problem there) and made sure to bevel the opening.  The next three I loaded I seated the bullet so that the top ring did not touch the end of the brass.  These would not even come close to loading and appeared too long to feed to where they could be chambered.  I had a heck of a time getting them out of the gun but found that when I dropped one into the gun it would chamber just fine.  I set one of the SWC loaded bullets next to a bullet I had previously loaded with a Magtech SP and noticed that the SWC protruded noticeably further than did the SP.  Just to check I ran several of my SP reloads and some factory HP bullets through the gun and they loaded slick as can be.  I decided to give it one last try and this time, I loaded two pieces of brass with the last ring just barely touching the top of the brass.  I checked for any lead shavings or scraped off lubrication and wiped these bullets clean.  These two bullets loaded slick as can be.  I guess I have to be real careful how deep I seat these bullets, as the gun seems to have little tolerance in how it will cycle this bullet.  Has anyone else had a similar experience with SWC in this gun??
RJ

[BCB]

Ranger J,

I shoot the Lyman 358429 Keith-style bullet in my 1894C.  If I seat the bullet to the depth that allows me to crimp into the crimping groove as the bullet was designed, it will not cycle from the magazine to the chamber.  The O.C.L. is simply too long because of the nose profile of the Keith-style bullet which is a SWC.  However, if they are seated and crimped into the crimping groove as they were intended to be, they will work in my revolvers, whether I have loaded them in 357 Magnum or 38 Special cases.  As you have found, you can singly load them into the chamber and they will shoot, but they will not cycle.  Also, if you singly load them into the chamber and do not shoot them, they may not be moved back far enough when the bolt is open to allow them to be ejected—another jam situation!!!

So, since I wanted to crimp the 358429 slug in the crimping groove and still shoot it in the Marlin, I trimmed the cases back enough to allow for crimping in the crimping groove but lessen the O.C.L.  My situation required approximately 0.040” to be trimmed from the 357 Magnum case.  This caused the O.C.L. of these rounds to be approximately 1.604”.  These will cycle in my rifle, but a few thousands less would be better.  Doing this requires that these cases always be segregated from regular 357 Magnum brass.

I set-up my RCBS neck expander and seating die to reload the 38 Special case with the 358429 slug.  If you have an RCBS set of dies, they used to have a washer that was inserted between the locking ring of the die and the press.  This would raise the die so that I could then reload 357 Magnum rounds with the dies still set to reload 38 Special as long as the same bullet was being used for each cartridge.  I just made a washer of the correct thickness so it raised the expanding and seating dies enough to reload the shorter 357 Magnum case intended for the Marlin.  It required a bit of fairly precise measuring, but now I can have my dies permanently set and reload for the 38 Special, the 357 Magnum for the Marlin, and regular 357 Magnum rounds.

Finally, if you decide to go this route, you will need to do your own calculations for your particular rifle.  My O.C.L. may not be correct for your rifle since you are using a different bullet than I am.  Also, be careful as the internal capacity of the case is lessened by shortening it and thusly the pressure will be higher for any given normal length 357 Magnum case. 

It can be a hassle, but the 358429 is the only bullet I shoot in my 38 Specials and my 357 Magnums so it works well for me.  Incidentally, the 358429 is the ONLY bullet I got to shoot M.O.A. at 100 yards from the Marlin (microgroove).  And I have tried hundreds of combinations over the past 24+ years in this rifle.  Good-luck…BCB

[Jerry Lester]

If you're wanting a dirt cheap, but very accurate lead bullet for that rifle, try the Hornady 140g Cowboy bullets. They're soft, but as long as you don't run them over about 950 fps, they shoot very well, and won't give you leading problems. I tried them about a year or so ago, and I love'em for plinking, and shooting small game.

I think Midway has them for about $18.00 for a box of 350.