I bought a Marlin, but in all probability I'll never hunt with it... just thought it would be good to have "just in case"... I've thought about trading it or selling outright, but I hate getting rid of any guns...
I put a scope on it (cheap) that I absolutely hate.
if buying new stay away from serial numbers starting with 91. i git railed on a new 1894 in ss .44 mag. beautiful rifle but will not shoot worth a plug nickel. i understand there were some unhappy employees when they found out the company was moving. i hwas told a lot of the rifles were not made correctly. i got rid of mine. what a shame.
Well, I have a few 44Mag rifles. I have the Marlin 1894 and I had it in two versions, the Cowboy Special (20" octagon barrel) and the round barrel version both of which have the Ballard type of rifling. A must if you are going to shoot lead. I have the Ruger M77/44 and to be honest, that thing has been a burr under my saddle for as long as I've owned it, that is, until I changed scopes. After that, much, much better. If you get it, and get REAL 44Mag ammo, get a recoil pad, just sayin'.
I also have an Encore carbine, now that is the epitome of 44Mag rifles for accuracy and coolness!
I reload and I cast. At first, my goal for the Marlin was to shoot ONLY lead through it. I was loading on a Dillon Square Deal B, and that is a fine machine as I have 3, but the dies were not helping me one bit! They were resizing the lead bullet, which has to run big if it is going to shoot in a Marlin, and my accuracy was going to pot! Now, I am getting 1 1/2" @ 100 with my own cast bullets running 1800fps. Now if that doesn't take a deer, something is wrong!
I did take a groundhog with that setup @ 50 yards. Needless to say, DRT!
I also had an H&R Topper. Save your money!
Pics as promised:
Best 100 yard group from the Marlin-
with this boolit that I cast.
Groundhog:
Best 100 yard group with Hornady 240gr XTP at 1750fps from the Encore Carbine:
If it were me to do ALL over again, Encore, hands down.
ive got an h&r 44 mag single shot that wil shoot well at an inch or under @80 yds 100 if you do your part ...i would buy the H&R definetely ...waste of money on the ruger unless you want to put a new trigger in it and spend an extra 500$
look for a marlin 1894 like paperboy said they are built like a tank and shoot very well and they will lay the smack down on a deer my self i hunt with a pro hunter 44 mag hand gun with a scope i put the smack down on a 8 point last year about 60 yrds
I happen to know there's a VERY nice Marlin 1894 in .44 magnum for sale in the INGO classifieds... just posted this evening as a matter of fact. (hint, hint)