Review Of New Marlin

[orygun]

And a big thump when it gets there.

There is little doubt of that.

 

[CLT65]

Shooting a 45-70 at 1,000 yards would be akin to shooting a recurve bow at 200, I would think.

Here's another wikipedia snip that I'm sure most here have heard about, buffalo hunter Billy Dixon knocked an Indian Warrior off his horse at 1,500 yards with a buffalo gun. He must have aimed maybe 30 feet over his target? Even he said it was a lucky shot.

"Dixon led the founders of Adobe Walls to the Texas Plains, where he knew bison were in abundance. The group of 28 men and one woman occupied the outpost of five buildings 15 miles northeast of Stinnett.

The outpost was attacked on June 27, 1874, by a band of 700-1200 Natives. The stand-off continued into a third day, when a group of Natives were noticed less than a mile east of Adobe Walls. It is said that Dixon took aim with a quickly borrowed .50-90 Sharps buffalo rifle (as, according to his biography, he only had a .45-90 Sharps and felt it could not reach). He knocked the Native man off his horse, killing him. Understanding how far the guns could fire, the Natives then withdrew and left the settlement alone. Dixon's shot was measured at over 1,500 yards, earning him a position on the list of longest recorded sniper kills.

Dixon stated in his biography that it was a "scratch shot"."

It looks like the heaviest load for the original 50-90 Sharps would launch a 550gr bullet at about 1450 fps. Modern heavy loading in the 45-70 will match that and shoot flatter.

Don't take me wrong; I'm not saying that the average person can shoot long range with a big-bore lever gun. I know I certainly can't.

 

[DirectDrive]

Shooting a 45-70 at 1,000 yards would be akin to shooting a recurve bow at 200, I would think.

Here's another wikipedia snip that I'm sure most here have heard about, buffalo hunter Billy Dixon knocked an Indian Warrior off his horse at 1,500 yards with a buffalo gun. He must have aimed maybe 30 feet over his target? Even he said it was a lucky shot.

Interesting story.
Sometimes lucky shots are needed.

I read somewhere that when the US Army was selecting the 45-70 for military use, one of the criteria was that it must be able to take down a horse with one shot.
The 405 grain standard loading is quite a payload.

 

[Koda]

I love the lever guns and the cartridges but their poor trajectories is why I don't think the lever gun needs a CDS dial scope. Ive been wanting to put a nice LPVO on my 3030 but the nicer ones I was looking at from Leupold are too expensive partly due to the unneeded CDS dial I would never use. My farthest shots on deer have been 200yds, which IMO is realistic since the holdover is pretty simple enough but its the group size thats kept me from even thinking about going to 300.

 

[Nosferatu]

I love the lever guns and the cartridges but their poor trajectories is why I don't think the lever gun needs a CDS dial scope. Ive been wanting to put a nice LPVO on my 3030 but the nicer ones I was looking at from Leupold are too expensive partly due to the unneeded CDS dial I would never use. My farthest shots on deer have been 200yds, which IMO is realistic since the holdover is pretty simple enough but its the group size thats kept me from even thinking about going to 300.

I really like the Trijicon MRO I have on my 336. Lightweight, a bit more FOV than the others and. the green dot is awesome.

I use this for whacking coyotes on our 5-acre property. Max shot distance I would even safely get is ~120 yards and most of them are within 60. No magnification needed. Put a dot on the doggies chest and it's done.

It is on the pricey side though, I paid $400 plus $80 for the mount. I refuse buy Chicom junk anymore when good options exist from the homeland. Amortized over the rest of my life, the extra cost is really pretty minimal.

 

[Koda]

I really like the Trijicon MRO I have on my 336. Lightweight, a bit more FOV than the others and. the green dot is awesome.

I use this for whacking coyotes on our 5-acre property. Max shot distance I would even safely get is ~120 yards and most of them are within 60. No magnification needed. Put a dot on the doggies chest and it's done.

It is on the pricey side though, I paid $400 plus $80 for the mount. I refuse buy Chicom junk anymore when good options exist from the homeland. Amortized over the rest of my life, the extra cost is really pretty minimal.

I put a Leupold 3x9 on mine, and fell in love with the firedot for morning and evening hunts. Its a big bulky scope though and Ive been attracted to a smaller LPVO on lever guns and been wanting one with a firedot but most of them are over my price and or fancy reticles for AR15s. Ive thought about a basic red dot but still want a variable optic for the longer 200yd shots which I am comfortable with in the caliber.
Ive heard if you zero the 3030 at 150yds its the best MPBR zero for out to 200yds shots without any true holdover. Just point and shoot. Been wanting to try that.

 

[Nosferatu]

Ive heard if you zero the 3030 at 150yds its the best MPBR zero for out to 200yds shots without any true holdover. Just point and shoot. Been wanting to try that.

I have my other 336 with the 4x Leupold zeroed at 150 yards for that very reason. It likes the 160gr Hornady Leverevolution.

 

[Koda]

I have my other 336 with the 4x Leupold zeroed at 150 yards for that very reason. It likes the 160gr Hornady Leverevolution.

Thats what Im using too, the FTX really did improve the trajectory of my 3030 as well as the group size so I luckily stocked up befor the ammo crunch. Im currently zeroed at 100yds since most shots are under but the 150yd zero is tempting to not have to worry about holdover at all out to 200yds. With the FTX its only about a 3.5" drop @200yds.

 

[Spitpatch]

Handload the .30-30, and you will find the "wall flower" of inherently accurate cartridges.

A 1948 Marlin 336RC with a Lyman Alaskan scope will hold its own against any fat-barreled gun here, even with their scopes 50 years newer.

So much for "tubular magazine attachments" as an accuracy disqualifier.

It may also be of interest that the very first (and one of the last honest) Highpower Silhouette matches was won with a Marlin 336 in .30-30. (This sport was originally designed to encourage "stand on your own two legs and dance with the girl ya brung".)

Marlin 336 actions showed up with alarming regularity and alarming award placements in the benchrest competitions when the .219 Zipper was ruling the roost there.

I hope and pray Ruger does right for the name. If Bill Ruger was still running the outfit, he'd have built an '89 to start.

 

[wjv]

Want one in 444 Marlin.

 

[DirectDrive]

View attachment 1104291

Nice one.
It looks like my 45-70 Remlin (same checkering) only I have the Skinner Alaskan peep and a Montana sling.
The Skinners work good and look good on the Marlins.

 

[titsonritz]

Want one in 444 Marlin.

View attachment 1104291

I never got this cartridge, why a .444 Marlin when there is .45-70? Please fill me in.

 

[WAYNO]

In their original loadings... The .45-70 is a mortar, with relatively slow velocities coupled with a block-buster bullet. The heavy bullet is devastating at any distance, if the shooter is proficient with lobbing bullets with a tremendous arc. The .444 has a lighter bullet, with much higher velocities, but still creates quite a bullet hole.

If they had modern propellants in the 19th century, the .444 is what they would have made.

 

[41mag]

one of the criteria was that it must be able to take down a horse with one shot.

I had read years ago, the one criteria was it must be able at 100 yards, to kill the warrior laying behind the horse. I was in some older black powder tech talk, was never able to find the source again.

 

[DirectDrive]

I never got this cartridge, why a .444 Marlin when there is .45-70? Please fill me in.

When I dig into it, they say that the .444 Marlin was designed to approximate the power of 45-70.
It was introduced at a time when 45-70 factory cartridges were not readily available.
Don't know why there was a period when 45-70 ammo was not readily available.

 

[DirectDrive]

So in reality, it appears that 45-70 has survived an "assault" by both .444 Marlin and .450 Marlin.
Kind of amazing that a cartridge from the black powder era was able to fend off two modern designs that were intended to replace it.

Of the 3, I like the design of that .450 Marlin

 

[Nosferatu]

So in reality, it appears that 45-70 has survived an "assault" by both .444 Marlin and .450 Marlin.
Kind of amazing that a cartridge from the black powder era was able to fend off two modern designs that were intended to replace it.

Of the 3, I like the design of that .450 Marlin

On paper, the 444 bests them both, but the market has decided the 45-70+P is the king.

In reality, they all do the exact same thing, with likely the exact same results.

FWIW, I only have a .45-70, a Marlin 1895GBL. I'd be just as thrilled with one in the other calibers as well.

 

[DirectDrive]

On paper, the 444 bests them both, but the market has decided the 45-70+P is the king.

In reality, they all do the exact same thing, with likely the exact same results.

FWIW, I only have a .45-70, a Marlin 1895GBL. I'd be just as thrilled with one in the other calibers as well.

.450 and 45-70 share the better bullet selection and that's probably why they created the .450 while .444 had already been benched.

 

[Nosferatu]

.450 and 45-70 share the better bullet selection and that's probably why they created the .450

Yep. Lots of big, cast boolits in .458. I wanted a 450 Marlin BAD when it was introduced.

 

[orygun]

I never got this cartridge, why a .444 Marlin when there is .45-70? Please fill me in.

Before "boutique" loadings from companies like Buffalo Bore all of the 45-70 ammo matched the original 45-70-405 loads at 12-1300fps. Mortar shells. The 444 Marlin used readily available 44 Magnum bullets and was loaded to higher pressures since there weren't any old guns in that cartridge, like the Trapdoors in 45-70.
The 450 Marlin was a neat thing, but it was only for non handloaders, as the rest of us had no trouble besting the original 45-70 loads. These days there are several options for much hotter 45-70 ammo. There never was a time I'd take a 444 over a 45-70.

Layne Simpson just did a review of the new Ruger/Marlin in Shooting Times. He compared it to a couple of earlier guns and had some nice things to say. Being a lifelong Ruger fan I honestly had no doubt the quality would be good. I'm not in the market for one of these new 1895s, but am looking forward to having a chance to give one a personal inspection. Well, as long as Ruger doesn't make a blued Guide Gun with a ported barrel, anyway.