You lucky dog!!!!!

 

Yes, I have one in 40-60. When I do shoot it I shoot 40-65 Winchester. By dimension it is the same round as the 40-60 marlin.

 

Nice looking rifle. It looks to be in good shape.
Is the bore ok?

 

Bore isn’t in the greatest of shape, but still shootable

 

Great find!! I have one and it's my favorite lever gun. Star Line makes .40-65 brass. The proper bullet diameter is probably .406 and you'll be limited to weights under 265g because of OAL, the heavier ones will be to long to feed. . You may want to slug the bore but that's what works best in mine. I tried several powders, Unigue and 5477 were a bust, I settled on 11 Grains of Trail Boss, Shoots VERY accurate, pleasant to shoot, and you don't beat your old timer up!!
Your barrel looks short, maybe cut off?? Should be 28" unless it was a special order!!
ACME bullets has .406 diamater bullets.

CONGRATS!! Now the fun starts!!

 

I’ll take a pic of tape measure on barrel and post it later

 

Just did some research. 28" was the most common barrel length, 12,482 total, next was 24" at 2,788, 780 at 30", 277 at 26", then a few from 20" all the way to 32".

 

That short barrel is nice. I have 1 in that caliber and its a ball to shoot. Mines got a 26" bbl. Like BigAl1 said, don't beat it up with hotter loads, Stay with the black powder pressures.

 

Congrats, nice looking 1881! I have a few of them, a very cool model!

 

It does appear to have been cut down, as Al stated the 40 and 45 were standard with 28” and the 32 and 38 were standard with 24”, but not uncommon to see them reversed. I have a 40 with a 26”, you could order them shorter and longer then standard. What’s the serial number?

 

4914 I believe, I’ll double check tonight

 

Serial number 4914. Looks like a 20 inch barrel?

 

Only four ever made with the 20" barrel so probably been cut down. Ser# looks like it was made in 1884.

 

It should Measure 20” to the bolt face, it appears to be 19 1/2” I’m gonna say it was cut down. Give me a day or two, I’ll see if I can check the serial number to see how it left the factory

 

Even cut down, that is a nice old Marlin. Should be fun to play with.

 

Bad news! Here’s the factory records on your 1881

MARLIN MODEL 1881 - SERIAL NUMBER 4914 Type: Rifle
Caliber: 40/60
Barrel Type: Octagon
Barrel Length: 28 inches Date Shipped: June 28, 1883
Date: June 30, 2020 - Searched by: jb/jb

 

Neat you found the info, where did you find that?

 

I would definitely shoot cast boolits in it. you can size them to the worn bore, they should shoot great! I would also use real black powder,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Those records are housed at the Cody Museum, in WY, being a member i get a few searches per year. The surviving Marlin go up to around 355000. They also have some Winchester records and LC Smith




























l

 

That is cool, shortened or not. You just look at an old piece like that and wonder what it saw.

 

@M1Riflenut , here is some info on your 1881.

 

Anyone have any info on SN 50030? It’s marked 40 cal on barrel, is a 40/60 and has appears to be a 26” bbl

 

I have one in 45-70 and two in 40-60 Marlin ( 40-65 win) , took a deer with two of the three so far. Love them but defiantly not a dogging gun at 11 pounds, hardly any recoil though.