Author Topic: Marlin 1894C accuracy (Read 3161 times)

Star1pup · « **on:** April 01, 2006, 07:30:48 AM »

I've heard everything from very good to very bad about the accuracy of the 1894C in .357. Anyone want to share their experience? What type of groups can I get at 50 yards? 75 yards? 100 yards?

I'm working up loads for my rifle today, but would be interested in what others have experienced.

ihmsa70 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 01, 2006, 03:23:55 PM »

I have an 1894 with micro-groove bbl. It's tight for about two inches in front of the chamber, so will not shoot any hard bullet accurately.
Rem. SJHP in 125 and 140 shoot around 1" at l00. The lead in them is dead soft and apparently the jacket is thin enough to expand after they get past the tight place. 18 and 16 gr. of Lilgun.
Clyde

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #2 on:** April 01, 2006, 04:21:17 PM »

Mine will give me MOA or slightly better with several loads. With it's prefered loads, as long as I'm on a better shooting day, it'll bust pop cans at 150-200 yards easily. I'm not shooting as much as I normally do right now, so those days are few for the time being. I've busted quite a few groundhogs past 200 yards, with several pushing 250 yards, so I'm pretty certain you'll be very well pleased with the 1894C as lever actions go.

This one is newer, and Ballard rifled. My last one was older, and had Micro-Groove. Both of them gave me similar accuracy.

ccoker · « **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:12:56 AM »

Jerry,
I have seen your posts in the handgun forum
I am seriously considering buying one of these..
have you tried the american eagle 158g SPs in yours?

reason I ask is they are cheap and readily available

Ranger J · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:20:23 AM »

Most people seem to have good results with the .357. Mine, correction now make that my wife’s gun is real accurate with my 158G SP hand loads.

I do get to load those.

It has very little recoil and all in all is an excellent choice. More of a problem lately seems to being able to find one in some places.
RJ

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2007, 11:08:08 PM »

mine wasnt moa but would shoot 1.5 at 75 yards and 2 inch at 100.

old geezer · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2007, 04:52:31 AM »

Mine has a Williams peep, with fiber optic front, and it hasn't missed a critter yet. Six shots, 6 critters. I'm very happy with mine.

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2007, 01:30:47 PM »

Quote from: ccoker on January 30, 2007, 09:12:56 AM

Jerry,
I have seen your posts in the handgun forum
I am seriously considering buying one of these..
have you tried the american eagle 158g SPs in yours?

reason I ask is they are cheap and readily available

I've shot maybe 100 rounds of that ammo through my rifle, and Blackhawk combined. All in all, it seems to be pretty decent ammo. It shot decently through my Blackhawk, and was plenty accurate enough in my rifle for hitting a deers vitals at any range. I never actually grouped it on paper, but it would easily bust apples at 75+ yards offhand. It was fairly dirty though in both my guns.

I shoot "very" little factory ammo, but this ammo is as accurate as most any other factory I've shot. Federal ammo in general has been better quality, and more consistantly accurate for me no matter what the caliber is.

Around here (SW Virginia), Mag-tech ammo generally is priced cheaper than the big names, and it's very impressive factory stuff from my experience. It's "definately" a good deer load if that's what you're looking for.

Smilin' Jack · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2007, 06:20:20 PM »

I have had my Marlin 1894C for about 3 years- and it has shown excellent accuracy since the day I took it out of the box. It has functioned and fired flawlessly shooting all sorts of factory ammunition: .357 mag's, and 38 Special's, and +P's.

I have not shot targets (paper) to determine grouping- but I have shot small game, and various 'objects' with the open sights- at all ranges (out to 170 yards) with consistent accuracy. I find myself shooting this little rifle more accurately than I do shooting shooting scoped hunting rifles. I do know that I need more practice shooting my scoped hunting rifle to become more proficient- but it just seems that I can't 'miss' with that Marlin lever-gun.

ccoker · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2007, 12:59:14 PM »

are you using the factory open sights?

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #10 on:** February 06, 2007, 02:16:24 PM »

Quote from: ccoker on February 06, 2007, 12:59:14 PM

are you using the factory open sights?

I like the factory iron sights as good as any after market's I've seen, so I shoot only the factory sights on mine. I will scope it sometimes while developing loads, but that's the only time.

navylawdog · « **Reply #11 on:** February 13, 2007, 05:34:50 AM »

I love my Marlin .357! It is a great gun for roaming around in the woods with and it has exceptional accuracy for such a short tube. In fact it is so accurate that my dad wanted to buy it from me after I had left it there and he took it out shooting. That is odd because I don't think he has ever owned a lever action rifle he uses bolt action only. So that is saying something.

Navylawdog

Star1pup · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2007, 11:43:22 AM »

I still can't get accuracy with mine. What load are you guys shooting? I just tried 125 gr. Hornady HP-XTP over 12 grains Blue Dot and was lucky to keep them all withon 3" or 4" from sandbags.

Hairtrigger · « **Reply #13 on:** February 13, 2007, 11:46:04 AM »

In the 1980's I had a buddy that shot sparrows from 25 to 70 yards and rarely missed with his 357 Marlin. At that time I had one in 44 mag but it was not that accurate.

navylawdog · « **Reply #14 on:** February 13, 2007, 01:20:06 PM »

Mine likes Sierra 158 grain soft points with 14 grains of 2400, and 125 grain gold dot with 13 grains of blue dot.

Navylawdog

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #15 on:** February 13, 2007, 04:41:34 PM »

Quote from: Star1pup on February 13, 2007, 11:43:22 AM

I still can't get accuracy with mine. What load are you guys shooting? I just tried 125 gr. Hornady HP-XTP over 12 grains Blue Dot and was lucky to keep them all withon 3" or 4" from sandbags.

Try keeping your velocity a little lower with the 125g bullets. Mine shoots nearly all 125g bullets better between extremely slow, and around 1500 fps. It won't shoot 110g bullets for crap no matter what the combination is, and it'll pretty much shoot 140g+ bullets good no matter what you load up for it as long as the brass, and powder charge is consistant.

Try this load...

140g XTP-HP's
CCI 550 primers
16g of Win. 296

If this doesn't shoot pretty good, check your gun closely. Make sure the barrel band isn't cranked down too snug too.

Make certain to trim all your brass to the same length, and be carefull to get your chamfering consistent. If you're wanting the very "best" accuracy from a pistol caliber in a lever action, prepping the brass is 75% of the end result. A consistent crimp is more critical than all the other factors combined in my experience.

Star1pup · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2007, 05:42:39 AM »

Thanks for the info. I'll try it out as soon as I can dig out of my drive. Nasty weather in my part of Ohio right now.

Star1pup · « **Reply #17 on:** February 16, 2007, 07:18:13 AM »

Pawpaw: I haven't been able to find any CCI #550 or any other magnum primers around here. Will standard primers work with W296?

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #18 on:** February 16, 2007, 03:42:05 PM »

I've not had very good results with standard primers, and any of the slower powders. Actually, I've had better over all consistency with magnum primers even with lighter loads in 357 rifles.

Star1pup · « **Reply #19 on:** February 17, 2007, 07:54:07 AM »

i think I can get some Winchester magnum primers and maybe Remington, but not CCI. I( wonder how these will work.

Jerry Lester · « **Reply #20 on:** February 17, 2007, 05:30:50 PM »

Quote from: Star1pup on February 17, 2007, 07:54:07 AM

i think I can get some Winchester magnum primers and maybe Remington, but not CCI. I( wonder how these will work.

I'm not too fond of Remington primers or ammo either for that matter. The Winchester primers on the other hand have proven to be very consistent, and dependable for me. The Winchesters don't seem to be quite as hot as the CCI's, but I've had very good results with Winchester magnum primers in 100's of 357 magnum combinations over the years.

I just prefer CCI's

.

Warhawk · « **Reply #21 on:** February 18, 2007, 01:45:23 PM »

My 1894C is about a 2 MOA gun with the AE 158 JSPs.

I had previously owned an identical gun and handloaded for that one, and it was a 1.5 MOA gun. I think the current 1894c with a bigger scope and or careful handloading would shoot just as well, if not better.