[mtdburnett]

Marlin doesn't even list this rifle on their website but Cabela's recently had a good number of them and ran a sale. The owner's manuals are generic to the 1894's and the only specifics listed in the manual has to do with OAL for cartridges in .38 Spl, .357 Mag, and .44 Mag. The .45 Colt isn't mentioned. Does anyone know min and max OAL for the 1894 in .45 Colt? Reloading is the only way to make that caliber remotely affordable.
Thanks

 

[1895Gunner]

45 Colt info:

Case type Rimmed, straight
Bullet diameter .454 (lead), .451 (jacketed)
Neck diameter .480 in (12.2 mm)
Base diameter .480 in (12.2 mm)
Rim diameter .512 in (13.0 mm)
Rim thickness .060 in (1.5 mm)
Case length 1.285 in (32.6 mm)
Overall length 1.600 in (40.6 mm)
Primer type Large pistol

 

[Tomray]

Every rifle is going to have a little different Max OAL, due to the MFG tolerances.........................Load a dummy round and see what the carrier in your rifle will handle.

If you need to squeeze a little more, you can usually file the cartridge head rest on the carrier a bit.

Tom

 

[mtdburnett]

Thanks. I wonder why Marlin didn't include this in their booklet.

 

[bowhunter472401]

I have 2 1894's one of them a 45 colt. My marlin owners manuals recommend to shoot high quality factory loads and if you shoot reloads do it at your own risk. They further say that Marlin assumes no responsibility on shooting reloads.... in fact all my owners manual says that.... it's called a legal disclaimer. Don't let that worry you too much, reloading is becoming more and more popular every day. As long as you stay within the parameters of your loadbooks and start your loads low and work up you'll be fine. Good shooting... Dan

 

[INFMSG]

I have been doing Cowboy shooting for a couple of years and this is what I use in either my Ruger Vaquero's and Marlin 1894 in 45 Colt. Starline brass, CCI large pistol primers, 5.0 grains of Tightgroup from Hodgdon, and Oregon Trails 250 grain .452 bullets.

I set the length to the bottom of the canaleir(?), use a Lee Factory Crimp die at the end, and I have yet to trim any brass because they are stright length cases or check the over all length of the cases. As long as they fit in my pistol without locking up, i.e. high primer, or sticking out of the pistols cylinder, i.e. length is too long. Also, no problem with cycling as fast as I can go through my rifle then everything is just fine. This is done with a few rounds loaded with no powder or primer before I do this just the case and head seated in the round.