Hi Guys... I am happy to say that I finally got my marlin 1894 44 mag (micro groove) to shoot accurate light loads for pistol cartridge silhouette. After many different loads I found my barrel to be over sized. Penn bullets sold me some .432 dia. 240gr tc lead bullets. With 8grs of unique powder and Fed.155 mag primers the rifle is shooting sweet. I hope this helps other leveraction shooters...GOD BLESS AMERICA Anthony G
rambuster40

Thanks for posting this. One of the guys that shoots a 44 at our pistol cartridge match has been having fits trying to find an accurate load. I'll pass this info along to him. Maybe his barrel is oversize, too.

With ballard rifling on my1894 cb, on the recomendation of the previous owner, I tried 240 gr .431" laser cast from Oregon trail. He also said 200 gr didn't shoot well.

One of the local club members let me try 200gr .429" laser cast with 8gr of Unique and the groups tightened nicely.

Found similar results with a hotter load; 21 gr of IMR4227 and 240 gr bullets when going from .431 to .429.

This was my first time shooting lead bullets and I learned a lot about the importance of finding the correct diameter fro the gun

I was very discouraged with my Uberti 1873 rifle, 44-40, tried every powder and load to no avail, just sprayed patterns, not groups. Went from .429 to .431 Lasercast and 10 grains of Blue Dot, amazing difference, now a happy camper!