Since my Marlin 1894cs was made in 1995 it has the two tapped holes on the side of the receiver to mount a sight. So I ordered a Williams - Marlin 1894 Foolproof Fire Sight set from Brownell's this morning. I decided I wanted the micrometer adjustments so I can easily adjust for different loads and bullet weights. I also want the fiber optic front sight for my tired old eyes. Also it meets my goal of keeping the rifle looking traditional and less threatening for travel in hoplophobic areas of the country like California.
Anyway I am excited to get it even though it might take a week or two to receive it. Most of the firearms related businesses are swamped right now due to panic buyers.
Last edited by 4given; 03-26-2020 at 12:30 PM.
No, it's been several years since I was looking into it. To greatly simplify the discussion, the groove diameters are frequently/usually 0.430-.431 on the Marlin .44 Mags, so a .429 jacketed or .430 unjacketed bullet can wobble around a bit and be less than ideally accurate, and the lead bullets are subject to leading more than usual. It can likely be solved with cast bullets sized to the gun, but then you're building custom ammo just for your gun. I'd rather have a gun that's .429 in the grooves and takes standard bullets. One of the appeals of the .44 lever gun is buying ammo almost anywhere.
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Not another dime.
While these carbines are capable of firing .38sp, I have found them to be finicky about ammo, particularly OAL and bullet shape. One of the old cowboy action guys has told me that he can set one up to run .357 or to run .38 but that getting one to run both is challenging.
I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.
Legendary Lawman Chuck Haggard recommended to me not long ago to look at the new Henry Big Boy X Models. I'm wondering if those would have the same issue or not. Given their apparently better QA/QC, hopefully not.
That's good to know. Given that it's a shoulder fired gun, I'd imagine that you're not going to have that much of an issue just making sure it runs .357 Mag and just run nothing but that in it. Unless you're just doing CAS/SASS with it.
I have a stainless one, mine is very finicky with 38spl ammo. 357 magnums run great in it.