OAL for .38sp rounds in Marlin 1894 rifle

[Krazy Kajun]

Pards, I need a little advice from the fine folks here on the Wire that shoot a Marlin 1894 rifle in .357. I have a Marlin 1894 and shoot .38sp 158 RNFP bullets. Occasionally when trying to either chamber the first round or cycle through rounds in stages my rifle seems to hang trying to chamber rounds. It ejects fine, just has a little hanging when trying to chamber a new round. I have to "jiggle the handle" a little to get the round to chamber.

 

I have had an action job done on the rifle so that necessary parts have been polished so now I turn my attention to the round. Since the rifle is made for .357 and I am shooting .38 there is a difference in OAL in design versus what I am shooting. According to my Lee's reloading book the max OAL for .357 is 1.59 and thr OAL for .38 is 1.55.

 

For those who shoot the Marlin what OAL do you load your .38s to so that the round does not hang. Or is there something else I need to do to address this issue (and no I don't have the funds to buy a different rifle).

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

For the wife's Marlin Cowboy Comp. I load the 158's at 1.470" OAL.

 

Cheers,

LG

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Only .040" diff. in OAL from .357 to .38 Special as per your post isn't right

LG

[Marauder SASS #13056]

When I shot a Marlin 94 in 38, I crimped at the top of the lube groove and it worked great. Just enough longer to cycle more smoothly.

[Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804]

There seems to be some difference in marlin rifles from one to another soyou may have to do some trial and error to find what works best in yours. J-R

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

I load the same bullet in a .38 case. I try to get an OAL of 1.52 because that length runs perfectly in my Marlin Cowboys and my 1873s. My Dillon 650 puts them out betweeen 1.52 and 1.54. Because it's a progressive press, I can't keep them all at 1.52. To get this length with the 158 gr. bullet you have to crimp below the crimp groove. I like to use a Lee Factory Crimp Die to make sure I get a good crimp into the side of the bullet. Before I used the Lee Factory Crimp Die, I would occassionaly have a bullet get shoved back into the case. This has never happened again after I changed to the Lee die.

[Rio Brazos Kid]

For now, I just use 357 Brass in the Rifle and 38 Spl. brass in the Pistols. This works just fine as far as feeding the Marlin goes. It's a small amount of trouble keeping the brass sorted, but beyond that It's not a problem.

 

Ideally, you need a bullet that can be set out to 1.55 or a tad more for best performance, but those are hard to come by unless you want to crimp into the side of the bullet, and not in a groove. I very much dislike doing this.

 

You can find bullets that will set out to 1.52 or so, but even then, sometimes they don't feed with 100% reliability. Anywhere between 1.550 and 1.590 will get you absolute reliability in a Marlin.

 

As we speak, I am doing a search among several bullet casters, trying to find proper bullets for this, and when I do, I post it here.

 

RBK

[Marshal Stone, SASS #53366]

For the wife's Marlin Cowboy Comp. I load the 158's at 1.470" OAL.

 

Cheers,

LG

 

I load 125's to that length, however the Cowboy Comp is chambered for .38 only

and not .357. At least that's the way mine is.

 

Some who us .38's in the Marlin .357 use longer bullets and or load them long

so that they will cycle.

 

Marshal Stone

[D.A. Stranger]

I tried the 147 gr. TC and loaded from 1.48 OAL to 1.53, but it never did feed well. I went to the 125 gr. RNFP and loaded to 1.53 OAL and it feeds perfect. I have the 38/357 1984 Cowboy.

 

DS

[Gold Canyon Kid #43974]

We use 1.45 to 1.50 inches. The 158 g round nose flat point is probably the worst shape you can try. All our Marlins like the truncated cone shapes or ojive shape flat nose a whole lot better in 105,125,130,147,or 160 g.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

Try a few of .358" diam bullets expecially designed for 38 Special cases in 357 mag rifles. Hunter Bullets, Moulton Lead and Mastercraft (Stormy Reinz) all sell these. These allow you to crimp in the crimp groove and still get reliable feeding. This worked in one of my Marlins. You can buy a box of 100 from Hunters for experimentation.

[Rio Brazos Kid]

+ 1 on what Gold Canyon Kid said. Truncated cone bullets definitely work best in the Marlins, when using a shorter OAL than the standard 357 OAL. If seated out to max 357 length, then the RNFP bullets work just fine.

 

Edward R S Canby,

I have tried the Master Craft 160 long nose bullets, and while they work fairly well, they still will get stubborn from one time to the next, and you never know when it's coming. I truthfully cannot say that these bullets are a cure for all Marlins. They may do OK in some, but definitely not all.

 

RBK

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

+ 1 on what Gold Canyon Kid said. Truncated cone bullets definitely work best in the Marlins, when using a shorter OAL than the standard 357 OAL. If seated out to max 357 length, then the RNFP bullets work just fine.

 

Edward R S Canby,

I have tried the Master Craft 160 long nose bullets, and while they work fairly well, they still will get stubborn from one time to the next, and you never know when it's coming. I truthfully cannot say that these bullets are a cure for all Marlins. They may do OK in some, but definitely not all.

 

RBK

I agree with your assessment of the Mastercraft, long-nosed bullets. They work perfectly in a Big-5 Marlin I own but are unreliable in a new, stainless steel Marlin I picked up recently. They are not a cure all for all Marlins but might solve the man's problem.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

For now, I just use 357 Brass in the Rifle and 38 Spl. brass in the Pistols. This works just fine as far as feeding the Marlin goes. It's a small amount of trouble keeping the brass sorted, but beyond that It's not a problem.

 

Ideally, you need a bullet that can be set out to 1.55 or a tad more for best performance, but those are hard to come by unless you want to crimp into the side of the bullet, and not in a groove. I very much dislike doing this.

 

You can find bullets that will set out to 1.52 or so, but even then, sometimes they don't feed with 100% reliability. Anywhere between 1.550 and 1.590 will get you absolute reliability in a Marlin.

 

As we speak, I am doing a search among several bullet casters, trying to find proper bullets for this, and when I do, I post it here.

 

RBK

 

Bear Creek Bullets has a smooth sided moly coated .38 cal bullet that lets you crimp it were you want. I use the Lee Factory Crimp die for this.

Cheers,

LG

[Krazy Kajun]

Thanks for the prompt replies.

 

Lumpy Grits, I think your are right...I need to clean my specs off and look at that reloading book again.

 

I am fairly new at this Cowboy Action shooting as you can tell by my SASS number so I am still finding my way here.

 

I have had more than one person to tell me that 158gr RNFP bullets cycle best in the Marlin rifle. I shoot 125gr TCFP bullets for my Ruger pistols at an OAL of 1.47 and have been loading my rifle bullets to the same OAL, just using RNFP instead of the TCFP. I thought it was the OAL causing the occasional hangup in the action. So if I just use my 125 TC bullets in the rifle at the same OAL that would be better? I'm not sure if the action will cycle the truncated cone form better than the round nose.

 

Also while I have the floor, for the Marlin is it better to use the 158 grain or the 125 grain. I've seen 105, 125, 140 and 158 grain TCFP bullets but am not sure if you need the heavier bullet in the rifle as opposed to the pistol.

[Gold Canyon Kid #43974]

Thanks for the prompt replies.

 

Lumpy Grits, I think your are right...I need to clean my specs off and look at that reloading book again.

 

I am fairly new at this Cowboy Action shooting as you can tell by my SASS number so I am still finding my way here.

 

I have had more than one person to tell me that 158gr RNFP bullets cycle best in the Marlin rifle. I shoot 125gr TCFP bullets for my Ruger pistols at an OAL of 1.47 and have been loading my rifle bullets to the same OAL, just using RNFP instead of the TCFP. I thought it was the OAL causing the occasional hangup in the action. So if I just use my 125 TC bullets in the rifle at the same OAL that would be better? I'm not sure if the action will cycle the truncated cone form better than the round nose.

 

Also while I have the floor, for the Marlin is it better to use the 158 grain or the 125 grain. I've seen 105, 125, 140 and 158 grain TCFP bullets but am not sure if you need the heavier bullet in the rifle as opposed to the pistol.

We use the 105 g bullet for everything,

[Dirt Merchant # 61422]

I have 3 Spur Marlin Cowboy's in .38 Everyone of them shoots with a 1.41oal regardless of the bullet

[Lazarus Longshot, SASS #44254 Life]

We have three Marlins: a Competition Cowboy (.38 only), and two Cowboy Limiteds (.38/.357). They all get a diet of MasterCraft's 160 gr. RNFP bullets crimped in the crimp groove to a length of 1.51" on a .38 special case. They feed great in all three.

 

That round also works fine in my '92, and my '73.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Krazy Kajun:

 

Marlins can be finicky about the bullet weight/style AND OAL, unless special mods have been set up in them.

 

But I must also say that there are quite a few Marlin out there that can run just about anything and haven't had much work done on them. Go figure.

 

Anyhow, your cheapest 1st step is to try those 125 truncated bullets with OAL of somewhere between 1.47 thru 1.52.

 

My guess is that you will be a happy Marlin owner when you discover that those truncated bullets work well in the Marlin, assuming your present 158's are the gremlin you have.

 

Like some others, I basically run the 105/110 truncated in my Marlin with perfect results.

 

You've gotten some good advice and info on the post above.

 

Best wishes in finding the right bullet/OAL combination.

 

 

..........Widder

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

I load the Bear Creek 158's because that is what my wife told me to do

Really, I may have her try the 125's some day but we have 10K+ of the 158 bullets on hand.

Cheers,

LG

[Jackson Rose, SASS #45478]

My Marlin CBC in 38 special used to be length sensitive until I did a Widdermatic conversion. Now it will feed almost anything from rn to tc. This is the second gun I have done this to with the result that they are smoother and more reliable, not to mention faster to cycle. Go to Marauders homestead for info.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Jackson Rose:

 

I was glad to see your post and happy the Widder mod is working well for you.

 

I haven't had any issues with mine in over a year and a half when I first started experimenting with this mod. Then after about 4-6 months of experimenting, I posted all the details on the Wire during the Holidays of 2009.

 

Marauder has done us all a great service with his website, no matter what style rifle you shoot.

 

Just wanted to say 'Thanks' for the kind words on the Widder mod and ifn you ever have any questions, always feel free to give me a shout. Thats why I put my number on Marauders website.

 

Best regards,

 

..........Widder

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

Sir

I load 38s to 1.510 for everything , Marlin , 66 , and 92s

I use the same loads in rifle and pistol

The 158 rnfp seem nore prone to stubbing to me than other shapes , I think it has to do with the larger frontal area ?

This works for me but may not for others , JMO

 

See ya down the trail

Chickasaw