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Old March 24, 2007, 05:21 PM   #1
tjhands
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Can I use lead bullets in my Marlin 1895?

Hi gang.

I have a Marlin 1895 in .357magnum and would like to use lead bullets in it, but only if it's safe to do so. I'd be using Laser-Cast 158g LRN bullets if that factors in. Thanks a lot folks!
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Old March 24, 2007, 07:13 PM   #2
TEDDY
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Lead Bullets

OF COURSE YOU CAN!what made you think otherwise?
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Old March 24, 2007, 07:34 PM   #3
Unclenick
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Must be an 1894C. The 1895 is only in .45-70 and .450 Marlin, and .444 Marlin. In any event, both feature Ballard rifling which was developed shooting lead bullets, so, yes, they are just fine. The 1895 45/70 prefers cast bullets sized about 0.002" over groove diameter. I don't know if that will apply to the 1894C? You may discover firelapping helps keep lead bullets shooting a bit more cleanly in your gun. Gas checked bullets will make it more tolerant of load variety.
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Old March 24, 2007, 11:01 PM   #4
cheygriz
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I use lead bullets (almost) exclusively in my Marlin 1895, .45-70.
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Old March 24, 2007, 11:16 PM   #5
Edward429451
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I 'think' it depends on when it was made. The older ones have micro groove rifling, the newer ones have ballard rifling (suitable for lead boolits). A call to Marlin w/the serial number would net an answer.

My newer 1895 45/70 w/Ballard rifling luvs cast lead.
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Old March 25, 2007, 12:56 PM   #6
ClarkEMyers
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You can certainly use lead bullets in the Marlin.

Pretty much any SAAMI load will do well and be safe.

There is a difference in bore and groove sizes between MicroGroove and other styles of rifling - that's the point of MicroGroove.

Because the bore in MicroGroove rifling is slightly larger and the groove diameter is slightly smaller many common cast bullets for use in other firearms - such as most pistols - are not a good fit in the MicroGroove rifling and so may lead more and give inferior accuracy than bullets which do fit the Microgroove well. Bullets that fit the MicroGroove rifling may not fit other forms of rifling well and so the best bullets may not interchange across different firearms.

Just the same the answer is to try it.
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Old March 25, 2007, 04:44 PM   #7
Castaway
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There is a myth that's developed about micro-grooved rifling. They can accurately shoot cast bullets. The trick is to shoot bullets 0.001" over jacketed bullet size. Regardless, the question was is it safe. Assuming the rifle is Ballard cut it will shoot safely and well with nominal diameter cast bullets. If microgrooved, yes it's safe but accuracy may be disappointing unless you are shooting slighly larger diameter bullets.
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Old March 26, 2007, 01:11 AM   #8
James A. Mullins
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I shoot the older model .357. Use both 150 and 158 from lazer cast and others. Have found that before you quit shooting run 4-5 jacketed loads through the gun. I read this in a gun mag. several years ago. In anyevent I never have to scrub out the barrel doing this.
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Old March 27, 2007, 03:17 PM   #9
XD-Guy
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Quote:
There is a myth that's developed about micro-grooved rifling. They can accurately shoot cast bullets. The trick is to shoot bullets 0.001" over jacketed bullet size. Regardless, the question was is it safe. Assuming the rifle is Ballard cut it will shoot safely and well with nominal diameter cast bullets. If microgrooved, yes it's safe but accuracy may be disappointing unless you are shooting slighly larger diameter bullets.
The rule for shooting lead in a micro-groove is "Big and Hard" I shoot laser cast bullets out of my Marlin 30/30 those bullets are very hard. If you keep em under 1300 you don't even need gas checks. The point is that I sluged my barrel at .308 and shoot .310 bullets out of it and the guy that taught me sluged at .3085 and he shoots .311 bullets out of his. We both found these rounds to be very accurate at 100 yards with no leading of the bore. So if you want to shoot lead out of a micro-grooved barrel the bullets must be hard and the bullets have to fit tight.
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Old March 27, 2007, 03:26 PM   #10
XD-Guy
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Quote:
I shoot the older model .357. Use both 150 and 158 from lazer cast and others. Have found that before you quit shooting run 4-5 jacketed loads through the gun. I read this in a gun mag. several years ago. In anyevent I never have to scrub out the barrel doing this.
James
James, A funny thing about what you say here about the jacketed stuff is....... If you ask 100 lead shooters about doing that, 50 of them will tell you to do it and the other half will tell you it's the worst thing you can do. Go figure!!
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