El Sobrante Kid Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Has anyone played with the new Ruger Marlin (Marlin 1894 Classic Series Walnut 357 Mag 18.63in 70410)? I see that the capacity is listed as 9 + 1, and I was wondering if anyone has cut the spring to see if the magazine capacity can be increased. My interest would be how many .357 cartridges will fit, not .38's. Thank You! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidScott Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Inquiring minds would like to know. Also how they run "slicked up" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kajun Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 hours ago, El Sobrante Kid said: Has anyone played with the new Ruger Marlin (Marlin 1894 Classic Series Walnut 357 Mag 18.63in 70410)? I see that the capacity is listed as 9 + 1, and I was wondering if anyone has cut the spring to see if the magazine capacity can be increased. My interest would be how many .357 cartridges will fit, not .38's. Thank You! Well you "might" be able to get 10 .357s in the mag tube if you trim the mag spring a little bit....I wouldn't do this unless you have a spare mag spring handy in case it does not work. . I've heard that Marlins are OAL sensitive so I'm not sure how smooth they would be. Fact is you should be able to get 10 .38sp in the mag tube ok without spring modification....you'd just have to try it....and see how the rifle would cycle them. Kajun 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sobrante Kid Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 Thank you for your thoughts. I don't have one of the new Ruger Marlins, and I'm not even remotely inclined to buy one until I know the answer as to whether or not they can be made to reliably run with 10 standard OAL .357's in the magazine tube. When I first started reading about the specs I was stunned that Ruger did not make the barrel and mag tube long enough to hold 10 rounds. One of the biggest markets for these rifles (CAS) may be shut out by this one decision. Hopefully someone will have the opportunity to see what can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrel Cody Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 11 minutes ago, El Sobrante Kid said: Thank you for your thoughts. I don't have one of the new Ruger Marlins, and I'm not even remotely inclined to buy one until I know the answer as to whether or not they can be made to reliably run with 10 standard OAL .357's in the magazine tube. When I first started reading about the specs I was stunned that Ruger did not make the barrel and mag tube long enough to hold 10 rounds. One of the biggest markets for these rifles (CAS) may be shut out by this one decision. Hopefully someone will have the opportunity to see what can be done. A VAST majority of us shoot 38s NOT 357s so how would that shut us out? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blind Squirrel Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Just load #10 on the clock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sobrante Kid Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 2 hours ago, Tyrel Cody said: A VAST majority of us shoot 38s NOT 357s so how would that shut us out? Because, from what I read here on the Wire, many people who shoot .38's in a rifle chambered for .357, have to run a long OAL on the .38's to get them to feed reliably. The new Ruger Marlin is only chambered in .38/.357, so it is not a stretch to think that .38's shot in this rifle will need a similarly long OAL. If that isn't the case, that would be great. IMO (worth every penny you paid), it seems like a foolish mistake to produce a lever action rifle that, from the factory, will not hold 10 rounds of the cartridge that it is made to shoot. If you have some useful information on this subject, please share it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kajun Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 9 minutes ago, El Sobrante Kid said: Because, from what I read here on the Wire, many people who shoot .38's in a rifle chambered for .357, have to run a long OAL on the .38's to get them to feed reliably. The new Ruger Marlin is only chambered in .38/.357, so it is not a stretch to think that .38's shot in this rifle will need a similarly long OAL. If that isn't the case, that would be great. IMO (worth every penny you paid), it seems like a foolish mistake to produce a lever action rifle that, from the factory, will not hold 10 rounds of the cartridge that it is made to shoot. If you have some useful information on this subject, please share it. For one thing it's cheaper to load .38sp ammo than .357. Loading a .38sp to a particular OAL is not a hard thing to accomplish and if you get them to cycle just fine in the Marlin chambered for .357 why not save money and time by not fiddling with the magazine spring. The fact that you need to have 10 in the magazine and the rifle with no round chambered would preclude you from using this Marlin rifle in .357 for CAS. With .38sp being cheaper to load and fitting 10 in the Marlin magazine I don't see any reason not to use .38sp in the rifle. Now if you are a really stickler for historical accuracy and being "true to the caliber" then by all means don't buy this Marlin. You'd be better suited to buy a 24" Marlin of something like a 1873 chambered in .357 that has at least a 10 round .357 mag capacity....it's your money, spend it like you want. Kajun 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 OP, how many SASS shoots have you participated in? More folks shoot .38 Special, than .357 Mag. If the rifle lifer is timed correctly, it will feed either. The Ruger made Marlin 94's are outstanding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 If you only have to load the 38s a little longer to function, that's one thing. If you have to load them to 357 magnum overall length 10 might not fit. Many shooters use 38 special loaded longer because it functions in the rifle better not because of a capacity issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 ive heard good things of these new rifles but if they dont meet SSS minimum standards what good are they ? that will defeat the all of the hopes of those that really love the marlin p[ast in my thinking , i hope they can hold the ten we require - id never buy one that didnt nor would i recommend them to anyone else , its in their best interest to prive it can and it will function correctly in that area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 The Marlin 1894C has been used by SASS shooters for a long time prior to Ruger’s purchase of the Marlin brand. I haven’t heard an outcry about whether it can be altered to hold ten .357s. Every rifle is different. I had a “Remlin” 1894C for a short time; it fed my .38 Special cowboy ammo just fine (1.44” OAL). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 A small percentage of potential buyers are cowboy action shooters. Most of the rest don't care about 10 rounds. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Spade Mikey Wilson Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I have two Marlin 1894's in .357 Mag. I shoot 38 Special in them. Both were very picky in what they would reliably feed. After a lot of experimenting I found that they did not like TC truncated cone style bullets at all. I load 125 grain .358 diameter Round Nose Flat Point bullets with a casing AOL of 1.380". They have functioned reliably in both of my rifles for quite a years now. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sobrante Kid Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 Thank you for all the comments. I am not trying to decide if I should be shooting .38's or .357's, my question is whether or not the Ruger made Marlins can be made to hold 10 standard OAL .357's, and run reliably. Thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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