if you were buying a marlin 1894, which would you get, i'm leaning towards the 38/357 because of the cheap ammo, but i have a 41mag smith that i really like, i also have a ruger 44 rifle so the 1894 in 44 didn't really intrest me, beside cost and availability of ammo, which do you guys have and which would you choose, i reload but i dont reload pistol stuff, i only have a single stage press, maybe a dillon should be in the works

I have 2 marlins 1894 one in 357 magnum and one in 44 magnum. Both are great guns but the 357 gets a lot more use. The 357 is a lot of fun just to shoot .My niece shot a doe with the 357 and a 140 gr hornady XTP handload. It only went 10 yds and dropped.
When i reload handgun cartridges I do 500 rounds at a time.I use a lee hand press,hand trimmer, and hand primer tool. I sit and watch tv and get my brass resized,trimed ,and primed in a couple of nights. The next night I dump in the powder and seat the bullets .

if I trimmed 500 rnds in one sitting my arm would fall off....literally

thanks sam444, i am leaning the38/357 way, just wondered if anyone had one in 41mag

I'd prefer it in .45 Colt, if there's such an animal.....

hey!! the 45LC would be cool, but they only offer it in 38/357, 41 mag, 44 mag , and 32/20?, i really likemy smith in 41 mag, i also love my ruger 44 mag rifle, i am kind of torn between mass and velocity if that makes sense, but i want something reasonable and fun to shoot, lets don't even talk about my 10/22's, the one factor i really like about the 38/357 version is the cheap ammo, like a 38sp in a wad-cutter, or if i wanted to reload for it,icould get a pound of red dot and shoot for a while, but i would need to upgrade my old rcbs rock-chucker press with something newlike a dillion progressive loader, hummm, maybe that could be next years X-mas idea,,,,hey sam444 do you have any pet loads for your 444, i have a friend that has one and we have just started working with it, i tell you that is one deer bustin round[:-], lever guns are so neat, well i did sell my ole blr, but thatwas because i was dis-satisfied with the trigger[:@], i love browning, but i believe they could have done a little better with the BLR

Unless the 1894 has had some changes since I had one (20 years ago!), forget shooting .38 Specialwadcutters from it. Too short to feed, and youalmost have to disassemble the damned rifleto clear it.

WishI still had mine.

yesI have pet load for my 444s. I use Hornady's 265gr flat nose, CCI 200primers, and 44.4 grs of H 4198. that's an easy load to remember and it shoots well.I have been using that load since the early 70s. According to hornady 's sixth addition thid load is a gr. under max for rifles.

m.t.hands -

Don't be so discouraged about reloading ammo for pistols with a single stage press. Its really not that difficult. I load for 45 ACP, and can load about 100 per hour with my Rockchucker, or about the same as I can reload for my rifles.

BTW - I would go with the 44