I speak Marlin!

[Michigan Slim]

My daughter and I have both put deer in the freezer this year. We have all the venison we can eat so we came out this morning to pop a coyote. I didn't know I spoke Marlin but I very distinctly heard STAY! and GOOD DOG! a couple minutes ago. . Had a .44 accent to it.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

I like the 44 accent, as well as the slightly gruffer 45-70 accent.  Love my Marlins.  

[Michigan Slim]

45 minutes ago, LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L said:

I like the 44 accent, as well as the slightly gruffer 45-70 accent.  Love my Marlins.  

I had my 1895CB. Was hoping to be fully bilingual but, alas, it was not to be.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Marlin's are great.

 

..........Widder

 

[largo casey #19191]

I got mine in 44/40

                                          Largo

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Just now, largo casey #19191 said:

I got mine in 44/40

                                          Largo

Got one of those too!  It's got a southern twang to it  

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

Ya all ever hear da Bark of death, 94 Marlin in .38-40.

In rifle form 24 inch barrel .

1895 20 inch barrel in .45 - 70 with Speer RNFP 400 gr.  jacketed bullets at 2,200 FPS ...

 

Jabez Cowboy

 

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Hey JABEZ,

I never heard 'da Bark of Death' but I like it.

 

But, I have felt the 'Thunder of Recoil' shooting some hot loaded 45-70 rounds from the 1895, short barrel, mag-na-ported.

It'll also rattle all the windows in the house when you blast it off the back porch..... 

 

..........Widder

 

[Michigan Slim]

.45-70 will upset the neighbors a bit here. 

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Ya gotta be careful which way you shoot my 45-70 reloads.  They could slow the rotation of the earth...might make for a late spring.

[Pat Riot]

I think I will take my Marlin to the range this week and see how well we can communicate. 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

I've got a 44-40, 44 mag and 45-70 Cowboy. A buddy of mine has some cheap homemade gongs hanging from chains on his property at about 100 yards. They punch holes in them with their ar's and ak's. The 45-70 with 405gr lead bullets at around 1400fps really gets those chains swinging. I've never shot any of the 2000fps loads out of it.

[Pat Riot]

57 minutes ago, Smokin Gator SASS #29736 said:

I've got a 44-40, 44 mag and 45-70 Cowboy. A buddy of mine has some cheap homemade gongs hanging from chains on his property at about 100 yards. They punch holes in them with their ar's and ak's. The 45-70 with 405gr lead bullets at around 1400fps really gets those chains swinging. I've never shot any of the 2000fps loads out of it.

My friend had a Marlin 1895 45-70. The first time he let me shoot we fired some of his smokeless 405 grain hand loads made to emulate the original BP load. 405 grain bullet at around 1300 fps, I believe. 
Then one day he hands it to me and says “Here, give these a try.”

Without questioning home I aimed his rifle at a steel target we had out about 125 yard, A painted chunk of railroad rail that was half a yard long which made it about 57 pounds in weight. 
I pulled the trigger and rang that rail and it rolled a couple of feet. I felt like Mike Tyson punched me in the shoulder. 
I don’t recall the maker of that cartridge but I do recall my buddy say it was a 325 grain bullet traveling a bit over 2000 FPS. 
I fired 4 more of them that day. He shot 5 as well. The next time we went shooting together he asked me if I wanted to shoot his 1895 again. I asked what ammo. He said the other 10 rounds in that box. I declined. 

 

 

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Have one in .30-30; one in .38-55; and one in .22. 

All are "JM" Marlins. 

 

Anxiously awaiting Ruger's version, to see how they measure up. 

 

 

[bgavin]

I had a conversation with one of the aftermarket parts makers...
The gist was the 1895 was a hogged-out 336 action to accommodate the big 45-70 cartridge.
He also mentioned the Henry was a Marlin knock-off, with the same hogged-out (thinned) receiver.
His opinion was the Marlin 450 was a stronger, more beefy action.

I'm curious if anybody here knows about the strength of various actions, i.e. the 1895, the Winchester 1886, etc.

As noted above, full house 45-70 packs quite a wallop... so my question is academic only.
 

[Pat Riot]

I also have a Marlin 336 30-30. It’s a JM. It has the micro groove barrel and is an excellent shooter that’s very accurate out past 125 yards. It’s the rifle I plan to take deer hunting next Fall after I reenter the United States. 

[Chantry]

I have 3 Marlins: .357, .44 and my favorite, an original 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun with the factory ported barrel.

 

I loaded some hard cast 550 grain flat points at roughly 1300 fps and used it to shoot some bowling pins at a match.  I hit one pin and sent the top of the pin a good 30 feet in the air.  I've been shooting bowling pins off and on since 1993 and seen pins hit with all sorts of calibers.  I have never seen a bowling pin shatter and throw chunks of pin in the air like my 45-70 load did.

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Chantry said:

I have 3 Marlins: .357, .44 and my favorite, an original 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun with the factory ported barrel.

 

I loaded some hard cast 550 grain flat points at roughly 1300 fps and used it to shoot some bowling pins at a match.  I hit one pin and sent the top of the pin a good 30 feet in the air.  I've been shooting bowling pins off and on since 1993 and seen pins hit with all sorts of calibers.  I have never seen a bowling pin shatter and throw chunks of pin in the air like my 45-70 load did.

I bought some bowling pins at a yard sale once. My buddy blew one apart with his 45-70. We didn't expect that.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

I have a Marlin 30 AW 30-30, 1894 44-40 Cowboy Limited, 1894 357 Cowboy Limited, 1894 44 magnum, 1895 Cowboy 45-70, 1895 45-70 (first year manufacture, 1972.  B0 serial number prefix), and a Golden 39a 22LR.  Love each and every one of them.  

[Michigan Slim]

I have a 39, a first year 336 in .30-30 and the 1895in .45-70. I used to have an 1894 in .44 mag until Kaya shot her first deer with it. I'm not brave enough to ask for it back!

[Chantry]

11 hours ago, bgavin said:

I had a conversation with one of the aftermarket parts makers...
The gist was the 1895 was a hogged-out 336 action to accommodate the big 45-70 cartridge.
He also mentioned the Henry was a Marlin knock-off, with the same hogged-out (thinned) receiver.
His opinion was the Marlin 450 was a stronger, more beefy action.

I'm curious if anybody here knows about the strength of various actions, i.e. the 1895, the Winchester 1886, etc.

As noted above, full house 45-70 packs quite a wallop... so my question is academic only.
 

 

Everything I've heard is that the .450 Marlin uses the same action as the 45-70, the only difference is that the .450 Marlin was a belted round created to duplicate the hot hand loads of the 45-70, but belted so the ammo could not be chambered in the Springfield Trap Door or other guns chambered in 45-70 that could only handle the low pressure 45-70 ammo.

[bgavin]

Thanks.
I'm not a 'smith, nor do I play one on TV...
Just curious, that's all.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/450Marlin.htm

[Michigan Slim]

OUCH! I'll just not load like that in my 95. Life is too short for me to be gimped up from self punishment. I've done enough already!

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

13 hours ago, bgavin said:

'm curious if anybody here knows about the strength of various actions, i.e. the 1895, the Winchester 1886, etc

I can only speak to the 1895 in 45-70. Yes, from all appearances it looks to be a 336. 
 

I made some hand loads once that were freakishly loud and potent in recoil. After five shots the lever stopped cycling so I was done for the day until getting home and disassembling the gun. The case had to be tapped out of the chamber. 
 

Fast forward a few months after I had deprimed and resized the brass from that day, which had included a number of other reloads in addition to the really hard ones.  
 

I found five cases that the fresh primer would not stay in because the primer pocket was swollen. Going back through my notes I noticed a near fatal mistake and how I had loaded those using the wrong powder.

 

There is a loving God who looks out for children, fools, and a careless reloader. A trapdoor would’ve come apart on me, but the Marlin held strong and saved the day.

[Pat Riot]

@Charlie Harley, #14153 I am glad you weren’t hurt. 
 

I was in a gun store in Oregon when two young guys came in and were all excited they found 45-70 ammo. Apparently they had Ben to a couple other stores. I really didn’t think much of it as I was perusing the reloading area looking for something I needed at the time when I heard “Yeah, it’s this really cool old timey single shot rifle…”

I decided to interject and I am glad I did. These two had gotten a Trapdoor and the 2 boxes of ammo they were buying were 300+ grain hot loaded ammo. 
The young guy at the counter also did not know about Trapdoors and what should be fired in them. 
I wasn’t mean or overbearing about the issue, but I explained what one should and shouldn’t do with old 45-70 rifles. 
I had to laugh when one kid said “You’d think they would put a warning on these things.”

I explained that warning labels are a relatively new thing. I told them they should get the gun checked by a gunsmith before shooting it. 

Anyway, I made a call and found them 2 boxes of HSM Cowboy 45-70. 

[bgavin]

I'm not interested in pain, so any 45-70 loads for me would be AA5744 or Buffalo Rifle.
Neither of these would come close to over stressing a modern 45-70 action.

I figure Ruger will retain that lame cross-bolt safety device (which can be disabled, I understand).
The Henry transfer bar is a superior device, but Henry are limited to a max of 3 or 4 cartridges (a marketing mistake).

The Winchester 1886 has the barrel and the tube capacity, but includes a lame tang safety, which (may) preclude use of an aperture sight.
The Browning BLR is only available in 450M, which is Unobtanium in normal times, and especially so today.

Hopefully, Ruger will release a cowboy 45-70 and 8 in the tube.

[Adolph Vancinghand, SASS #28923]

On 12/19/2021 at 9:33 AM, Michigan Slim said:

My daughter and I have both put deer in the freezer this year. We have all the venison we can eat so we came out this morning to pop a coyote. I didn't know I spoke Marlin but I very distinctly heard STAY! and GOOD DOG! a couple minutes ago. . Had a .44 accent to it.

 

Congratulations to both you and your daughter!  It's refreshing to hear folks discovering (or re-discovering) how effective these saddleguns can be in the hands of folks who know how to run 'em. Over the years, I've taken deer, turkey, hogs, and bison here in the States with a variety of Marlins in different chamberings...and even a leopard with an 1895 .45-70 (many years ago in Zimbabwe).

 

Fed properly and pointed effectively, Marlins "speak" a universal language!

 

"Ad"  

[McCandless]

 

"We are excited to officially announce that Ruger-made Marlin® 1895 SBL rifles begin shipping TODAY! Visit marlinfirearms.com to learn more."

[Pat Riot]

37 minutes ago, McCandless said:

 

"We are excited to officially announce that Ruger-made Marlin® 1895 SBL rifles begin shipping TODAY! Visit marlinfirearms.com to learn more."

Oh man, and it’s a beauty too. Stainless with gray laminate stock, a GREEN fiber optic front sight with a Tritium insert and a ghost ring rear. Green, not red. I hate red FO sights. 
I need another rifle like I need a…never mind. Wrong place for that saying. 

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

Marlins made by Ruger/

Good news for a change.

Best

CR

 

[Michigan Slim]

3 hours ago, Adolph Vancinghand, SASS #28923 said:

 

Congratulations to both you and your daughter!  It's refreshing to hear folks discovering (or re-discovering) how effective these saddleguns can be in the hands of folks who know how to run 'em. Over the years, I've taken deer, turkey, hogs, and bison here in the States with a variety of Marlins in different chamberings...and even a leopard with an 1895 .45-70 (many years ago in Zimbabwe).

 

Fed properly and pointed effectively, Marlins "speak" a universal language!

 

"Ad"  

I grew up in Levergunland, northern Michigan! It's our favorate action to hunt and play with. One of my son's proudest moments was watching his little sister (Kaya) outshoot all his buddies. They had AR15s and she had her Winchester 73. Speed and accuracy -she smoked all of them.

[bgavin]

My wife is a better shot than me with a rifle.
Living proof that her lady bits don't get in the way of her aim.

When we first hooked up 43 years ago.. she spent time in the back yard with our new pellet guns.
She was shooting the eyes out of photos of her ex-husband.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

3 hours ago, bgavin said:

When we first hooked up 43 years ago.. she spent time in the back yard with our new pellet guns.
She was shooting the eyes out of photos of her ex-husband.

 

bgavin,

she was showing YOU that it would be wise to walk softly, be faithful, and treat or nice....... OR ELSE.

 

..........Widder

 

[bgavin]

I'm very fortunate.
Her ex-husband was such an asshole, that he makes me look good.
It was my 3rd time up to bat... and I hit a home run.