Insane target happenings with new Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag ...Update with new sights!
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2026 6:47 pm
Well my story begins last week when a friend told me that he was going to sell his lightly used Marlin 1894 Classic he bought new back in 2018. I told him to bring it to my range and I would see how it functioned and shot since this was a Remington made rifle and most likely could have a large .431-432 bore size and have been there before with a Henry. It shot really well that day with all my loads especially the 200 gr. Xtreme plated load over 9.5 BE-86 and the 240 gr. XTP over 10 gr. Unique plus some factory ammo he had. The fit and finish was really tight and good and like the look of the walnut stock. So I gave him 500 bucks for it including 150 rounds of ammo! My plan was to shoot the hotter 44 mag ammo thru it and save that wear and tear on my Uberti 1873 carbine in 44 Mag that is sort of a rare piece no longer made in that configuration.
I took it to the range today after a bit of work on the rear sight opening up the slot a bit to be able to see and position the tiny front bead on target.
It shot really well from 25-30 yds after a sight adjustment but what happened twice next just blew my mind!!!
I put up a plain piece of cardboard with no target at all just to shoot at to check for any keyhole hits from 25-30 yds. Just aimed anyplace and shot 3 to 4 rounds trying to hold in same location on the blank cardboard. The first shots were interesting as 2 were right next to each other! I then circled the area and wrote No Target around the hits and drew a WTH face as that was cool! I then did the same deal again with 200 gr. Xtreme load and just aimed at the cardboard. This time I did not see any hits and then sprayed a white dot on the cardboard. It was then I looked down and saw where those 200 gr. rounds did hit.....INSANE HITS on the face I drew!!!!!
Now that front bead is a brass color that blended right into the tan color of the cardboard and had no idea of any kind of aimpoint but I tried to hold in same area when shooting. Just crazy how it happened twice with different loads! Yes this Marlin is a keeper!!!!!! Just WILD !
I took it to the range today after a bit of work on the rear sight opening up the slot a bit to be able to see and position the tiny front bead on target.
It shot really well from 25-30 yds after a sight adjustment but what happened twice next just blew my mind!!!
I put up a plain piece of cardboard with no target at all just to shoot at to check for any keyhole hits from 25-30 yds. Just aimed anyplace and shot 3 to 4 rounds trying to hold in same location on the blank cardboard. The first shots were interesting as 2 were right next to each other! I then circled the area and wrote No Target around the hits and drew a WTH face as that was cool! I then did the same deal again with 200 gr. Xtreme load and just aimed at the cardboard. This time I did not see any hits and then sprayed a white dot on the cardboard. It was then I looked down and saw where those 200 gr. rounds did hit.....INSANE HITS on the face I drew!!!!!
Now that front bead is a brass color that blended right into the tan color of the cardboard and had no idea of any kind of aimpoint but I tried to hold in same area when shooting. Just crazy how it happened twice with different loads! Yes this Marlin is a keeper!!!!!! Just WILD !
And did the best I could dealing with a bit of sun glare...always shooting into that sun in the afternoon. Shooting my 200 gr. plated Xtreme bullet load of 9.5 Unique after a touch of windage I got a good hole slot of 5-6 rounds and good enough for what I do. Now I slugged the barrel this morning to see what the size was and it measured out at .432 and the plated Xtreme bullets measure at .430 Will not try to shoot cast lead bullets of that size and would need something like a .433 minimum size for that. I have the Uberti made Winchester 1873 in 44 Mag for that with it's .429 barrel bore. Just happy it somehow shoots the .430 size plated bullets that well! The 240 gr. XTP bullets shot very well also with 10 gr. of Unique.