What guns are Master Shooters using?

[AMB]

What guns are Master shooters using? I'm especially interested in PC?

[AMB]

Myself I'm using an old ratty looking 39A, and a well handled 336A in .30-30. For pistol cartridge, it's an old 57M, in .22 mag. They all are accurate. One big key is the trigger's have been done. The 39A and the 336A are great, the 57M has gone from horrendous (the first time I pulled the trigger I thought the safe was on!!!) to a now shootable (but not fun)heavy. I scavenged up good old Steel Lyman and Redfield receiver peeps for sights, and lyman and redfield front sights with small bead inserts.

[richard]

I'm not a master shooter but I think most of the guys are using some sort of Marlin for all categories. i shoot a 39A for smallbore, a 1894 32/20 for pc and a 336 30/30 for centerfire. They're all good except the 30/30 is a little light for the rams. They all have Williams PF sights and I don't crank them because I don't think they are repeatable. They work okay but I believe Lyman receiver sights or tang sights are better. i also have an 1894 in 44/40 which is a great rifle too but way more gun than I need for pc so it simply serves as a back up now. i am not a master because of my own ability and focus, not because of my rifles which are absolutely competitive. It's still great fun. The guns aren't super expensive and the targets are nice and big!

[GTKF]

I'm not a master shooter either and I agree with Richard I have 3 Marlins; a 39A for rimfire, an 1894 in 44 mag that I shoot in both PC and rifle (different loads) and 336 in 35 Rem that I also shoot in rifle. No problem with Rams with eitherI just got a 94 winchester in 30-30 that I'll also try.

I have Williams FPTK sights on all and haven't found any problems with reproducability, but d agree the old Lymans are better sights. I also use a Lyman 17A front with a wide post

[cslcAl]

If you want my honest opinion the PC game has a lot of options for calibers and you can choose whatever fit your needs best. I have a Marlin 94 CL in 32-20 which really does a good job for me. Last year I bought a Win. 9422 in .22mag. just to ease my reloading chores, and I was quite surprised at the performance I got from it. I have found the wind drift to be very minimal with the 22 mag compared ot say a .357. I recentely purchased a MArlin 94 Cl in 25-20, but I haven't shot it enough to rate it.
Al Foust

[jnyork]

Not a master, just AAA, but here it is anyway: Very well-seasoned 1967 Marlin 39a for rimfire with Marbles tang sight and Lyman 17a front. For PC I use a Marlin 1894CL in 32-20 with the same sight setup. For the big bore targets, I have two, a Winchester 1886 .33WCF with a Marbles tang and original bead front, and a Marlin 336a, 1948 or so vintage, with again the Marbles tang and Lyman 17a front. I also have a Uberti 1873 rifle in 44-40 with the same sight setup that I use occasionally, but it has taken a back seat to the 32-20.

[Jason]

For smallbore, I use a Marlin 57 (22lr of course) with Williams receiver sight with target knobs and a Lyman 17 front sight. I've had one 37/40 and a couple 36/40 scores, but never felt confident with it. For pistol cartridge, I use a Marlin 57M in 22mag with the same sight setup as my smallbore rifle. This 22mag was the first 57 that I had and it shoots so wonderfully that I've gone through four of the 22lr versions now trying to find one that shoots as well as the magnum. The jury's still out on the steel-receiver one that I'm shooting now. This rifle is the one that took me to my first master classification and my first grand slam pin. It's shot one 39/40 and several other master scores. It's just crazy good. That said, the 57 model triggers are nightmares to work on compared to model 39 or 336 triggers. There are about four hundred million parts and it's very easy to take them from unacceptably gritty and heavy to unsafe with just a couple strokes of the polishing stone. For instance, in my last practice session it took about a pound a half of pressure on the front of the trigger to make it release but just barely touching the side of it made it fire. The design doesn't lend itself well to shimming, either, but I'm determined to figure out a way to make this trigger consistent, safe, and less than two pounds.

For the 200m match, I use a Marlin 336 Carbine in 30-30 that my dad gave me that I happen to have around. I put the Williams and Lyman sights on it like I have on the smallbore guns. It shoots really well with the 110-grain bullets of most any brand/type for chickens and pigs. I use the 130-grain Hotcore Speers for turkeys and the 150-grain Hotcores for Rams. I could probably use the 150-grain Winchester Powerpoints or Remington bulk bullets, but the Speers have a better BC and I don't shoot enough of them for the cost per bullet to be as important as them working really well. I don't shoot this match often enough for the cost of any of my bullet choices to really matter right now due to high gas prices and a cramped schedule, but I hope that will be changing within the next year. We're in the planning stages for a 200m cowboy match at my home range, a scant 2 miles from my house. I'll use this as an excuse to get a better gun for the match. I can't really recommend the carbines with 20" barrels like I have when there are 24" barrels out there that give a longer sighting radius and more weight out front to slow the wobbles. I use it because I already had it and it let me shoot the match.

[glen ring]

Not a master, just AAA.
Marlin 39a in smallbore.
Marlin 1894m .22 magnum PC.
Marlin 1894 .357 magnum CLA.

I have kept stock sights on all three, but I've filed the front making it more narrow.

The 39 likes federal champion 40 grain.

The .22 magnum likes federal 40 grain fmj on Chicks and pigs and the 50 grain federals on Turkeys and Rams.

The .357 likes speer 160 grain flat point on chicks and pigs and Hornady 160 grain silhouette over a max load of H110 for rams and turkeys.

[Tlee]

Any of you Marlin 1894CL shooters modified your trigger? I'm considering purchasing an 1894CL in 32-20 I found locally. I just don't care for the 7 or 8 pound factory trigger.

I've done my own triggers in the Henry Rimfires (REAL simple... 1st one took me about an hour, the 2 I've done since were less than 30 minutes... Between a 2 and 2-1/4lb trigger on all those). Hopefully the 1894CL trigger is just as simple.

-Tim

PS - Anyone with some surplus 32-20 brass or dies laying around they'd like to sell/trade? I'd purchase it outright or I've a couple hundred pieces 32 H&R Mag I'd be willing to swap.

[GTS]

Tim,

We may be able to do a little business. I think I have a brand new set of Redding dies in 32-20 and I am using 32 mag in PC matches. Is your 32 mag nickel or brass, new or fired, etc., etc.

Greg Sullivan