By R.K. “Bob” Campbell
I just came off the range and I am writing this report from notes.
The .44 Magnum leaning in the corner didn’t beat me up. In fact recoil was pleasantly subdued. While the .44 Magnum in question is a rifle, just the same, this is quite an accomplishment.
Let’s look at the Marlin 1894 closely. It just may be the best thing going for all around close range defense and hunting carbine. As most of you know Ruger now owns Marlin firearms. They manufacture a full line of Marlin lever action rifles including the Classic line and some interesting modern stainless steel/optics ready rifles.
The older Marlin rifles were outstanding. I have taken wild boar with the 1894. Nothing dies as quickly as a big hog hit with the .44 Magnum. The Freedom Group rifles were said to be of less high a quality with poor fit and finish. Some may have been of less quality but then some were not. Beyond any question the modern Ruger-made Marlin rifles feature the best quality control I have seen in Marlin rifles. The 1894 Model was the last Marlin to be re-introduced.
The original 1894 was chambered in the Winchester lever action ‘dash’ cartridges including the .25-20, .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40. In modern times the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum are most popular.
This is a traditional leaver action rifle with a magazine tube under the barrel an exposed hammer and a bolt that cocks the hammer as the lever action is operated. A cartridge is raised from the magazine tube to be fed into the chamber, by a carrier. The proper safety position is chamber unloaded or hammer down on a loaded chamber if danger or game shooting seems eminent.
The modern Marlin rifles are supplied with a cross bolt safety that blocks the hammer from contacting the firing pin. Since the strong steel receiver is a flat top design it is simple enough to mount optics. This is a fast handling rifle. The receiver is flat and this allows carrying the rifle easily and stashing it behind the seat. A rifle with a protruding magazine may snag. That makes the Marlin a handy dandy go anywhere do anything type of rifle.
Why the .44?
I mentioned the .44 Magnum features excellent knockdown power. Yet, with most loads the .44 doesn’t cause a lot of damage and you may eat meat right up to the bullet hole. The cartridge is one of the most accurate available and performs well in a rifle.
While the .44 Magnum is a great revolver cartridge it performs even better in a rifle. You don’t necessarily need a .44 revolver as a companion. For most of my hunting life when I carried the .44 rifle I carried a .45 auto in a shoulder holster or a light .38 Special on the belt. I also spent many pleasant hours working up load combinations for either firearm. I included a table at the end of this report that illustrates my testing with a number of .44 Special and .44 Magnum loads. These select loads reflect the role of the Marlin 1894 as a defense rifle and a rifle for think skinned game and predators.
Proper use of the lever action rifle
Be certain to practice both loading and unloading the rifle. Safety is foremost. When you operate the lever press forward not down. Work the action in a positive manner without hesitation. Practice cocking and lowering the hammer safely.
While some don’t like the Marlin’s manual safety it is best to press the cross bolt to safe as you lower the hammer. If you don’t like the safety ignore it.
Thumbing those big rounds into the magazine isn’t difficult. In fact you may keep the carbine in action by firing a couple of rounds then re-loading a couple. I practice this often. It isn’t for nothing a pistol caliber lever action rifle is often called a cowboy assault rifle.
If you look closely at the Marlin you will see the bolt is unusual in that it is square. That is as strong as it gets in a lever action rifle. An action lug locks up tight when the bolt is closed. I don’t “hot rod” .44 Magnum handloads—it is already hot enough—but this bolt design steel receiver and solid locking lugs is hell for strong. A safety feature is the Marlin two piece firing pin, present since this rifles inception.
This isn’t a legacy rifle for the author but a fairly recent acquisition. I added an XS sight rail, aperture sight, and bold post front sight. XS is the leader in such things and these sights and rail are SOP on high end custom lever action rifles. They also allow adding optics quite easily. With this set up practical accuracy improved a great deal.
I had one set back. During the test the rifle beat me up with stout recoil. I also experienced poor accuracy. I had picked up “bargain basement” .44 Magnum 240-grain FMJ ammunition. I thought I had (circle one) forgotten how to shoot, got soft, or got a lemon.
The next range trip I tried a few rounds each from Black Hills, Federal, Hornady, Remington, and Winchester, hesitantly at first. The rifle shot fine and put the shots into a tight group. Did I have a bad day? Yes due to the ammo as it continued to perform poorly after every modification. The 1-in-20-inch twist stabilized heavy or light bullets well and since my experience with the wrong fuel mixture the piece runs fine. That load did well to stay in four inches at 25 yards. How do you manufacture just bad ammunition?
I have a little arthritis in my shoulder that only bothers me if I fire 12-gauge shotguns and heavy recoil rifles. By contrast, .44 Special loads are a joy the .44 Magnum adds up to soreness.
I have enjoyed excellent results with Woox stocks on several shotguns. The recoil pad is well designed and the wood beautiful. The main advantage for the author is the geometrically designed stock which re-directs recoil.
I fitted a Bravado lever action stock to the Marlin, which not only added a great deal to the looks of the rifle, recoil impulse was much less than with the old straight stock. After all Marlin’s stock was originally designed for low power revolver cartridges such as the .44-40. With the Woox stock and XS sights practical accuracy is high.
The Bravado stock features a cheek rise for optics use as well. I fired a good mix of .44 Special loads with excellent results. Fast work with the lever action will stop threats quickly. This is a good all around home defense and area defense set up suitable for defense against armed felons and dangerous animals alike.
Here are some of my accuracy results at 50 yards, fired from a solid bench rest using Real Avid’s Ratchet Rest Range Bag:
Load 3 Shot group at 50 yards
Black Hills 210-grain .44 Special 2.5 inch
Federal 180-grain Punch .44 Special 1.7 inch
Black Hills 240-grain JHP .44 Magnum 2.0 inch
Hornady 200-grain XTP .44 Magnum 2.25 inch.
Federal 230-grain Personal Defense HST 2.5 inch
Dot the I
I also experimented with the Holosun AEMS Pro optic. This sight features three reticle options: dot, dot in a circle, and circle only, with the press of a button.
The Holosun AEMS features shake awake and auto off not to mention multiple light settings. Moreover the AEMS has service grade reliability. Results were encouraging. This combination is a brilliant blend of old school lever action reliability and modern reflex sight speed and accuracy.
The Model 1894 is fast and agile with this sight and hits came fast; 50 yard accuracy is improved.
Ballistic testing: I used Clear Ballistics gel to determine the effect of choice loads in ballistic gelatin. Even the light loaded .44 Special did well. I slapped these blocks with .44 caliber loads with excellent effect. From personal defense to taking medium game .44 caliber loads are impressive.
Load Penetration Expansion
Hornady 200 gr. XTP 2099 fps 18 inches .90 Flattened
Hornady 240 gr. XTP 1866 fps 22 inches .74 inch
Fed. 230-gr. Personal Defense 1310 fps 15 inches .95 inch
Fed. .44 Spl. 180-grain Punch 940 fps 17 inches .65 inch
Marlin Model 1894 Classic
- Type: Lever action
- Cartridge: .44 Magnum/.44 Special
- Capacity: 10+1 rds. (.44 Magnum)/11+1 rds. (.44 Special)
- Barrel: 20.25 in.; 1:20-in. twist
- Overall Length: 37.75 in.
- Weight: 6 lbs., 7 oz.
- Stock: Black walnut, checkered
- Length of Pull: 13.6 in.
- Finish: Blued (steel)
- Sights: Post, hooded (front); buckhorn notch, adj. (rear)
- Safety: Two-position crossbar
- MSRP: $1,239
- Manufacturer: Marlin, 800-544-8892, marlinfirearms.com
