Marlin 1894 Cowboy 45 Colt Owners

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Gentlemen - I have two Marlin 1894 Cowboy rifles, one 20" and one early model with a 24" barrel. I was hoping to install a tang sight and target front sight, of some sort, on the long barreled rifle so that I could shoot silhouettes at my local range. Before we go any further I know the 45 Colt will not knock over the silhouettes.
In the 1980's I had a repro Henry Repeat'n rifle in 44/40 that I used to shoot silhouettes with just open sights, but I have a feeling the Marlin just won't cut the mustard.
I have temporarily installed a Leupold MK IV 16x scope on the 24" Marlin and using Bullets Barn 250gr LRNFP bullets , WW231, Fed 150's and Hornady brass I get 3/4" groups at 50 yds but when I go out to 134 yds (my home range) the groups open up to 6" to 8". Unfortunately this is not good enough to hit a chicken at 200m.
I have read that Marlin 1894's have a 1x38" twist in 45 Colt. Is this too slow to stabilize 250 gr LRNFP bullets loaded for Ruger New model Vaqueros, or any cowboy pistols, for long range shooting?
Will loading jacketed bullets at higher velocity help, say 1400 fps?
Any words of wisdom?

Thanks, Jay
 
I have a 20" Marlin Cowboy in .45 Colt. I shoot the bullet barn 250gr bullets with Unique, but only at 50-75 yards. I found that a Hornady HP/XTP with 9gr Unique is a lot more accurate at 100m. Interestingly, an RCBS .454" diameter, 250gr bullet, cast soft and shot with black powder is also a lot better than the bullet barn bullets at 100m.

I've never had really good accuracy at 200 regardless of what I shoot out of it unfortunately.

I've got a Lyman 17A on the front, and a Lyman peep on the rear. The newer Lyman peeps are a sloppy sight, and so are the newer Marbles sights. I used to use a Skinner peep, but wanted to shoot steel at 200 and couldn't get there with the Skinner's limited elevation.

Chris.
 
Yes if you want to shoot high power. The same targets out to 200 is cowboy lever. Of course you can shoot at high power targets at the correct high power distances with a cowboy class rifle
 
I thought the 45 Colt Marlins were 1 in 16 twist rate?
If it's 1 in 38 that's a slow twist.
Maybe they changed it over the years?
Though Google is giving me conflicting information and the Marlin site is older than the New Testament.

I am jealous as hell at your 1894 Cowboys in .45 Colt.
 
In the January 2017 edition of "Rifle" magazine there is an article by Brian Pearce about the new Marlins and he talks about the slow, 1x38", twist they use in the 45 Colt.
 
i've also heard of different twist rates in these rifles so I measured mine, and it's definitely the slower twist.

Does anyone shoot cowboy lever action in western Canada?

Chris.
 
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