Custom Marlin leverguns: big-bores for bear, boar and buffalo

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2002 by John Taffin

Ideal Sights For Close-Range Hunting

Ghost Ring sights are designed for hunting up close, and I personally cannot punch tiny little groups in paper targets at long range with them. What these sights lack in long range precision (for my eyes), they more than make up for in speed.

The rear Ghost Ring sight consists of a very large diameter aperture with thin rim which mounts to the existing holes on the Marlin's receiver. It is a tidy and compact sight which features simple but good windage and elevation adjustments. The front sight can be a bead, or as on this rifle, a tapered post with an easy to see white stripe down the center. For close in hunting, this is about the best setup imaginable.

A Feast Of .44 Loads

Leverguns can be very stubborn about what loads they will feed with some of them in .44 Magnum only accepting standard 240 grain bulleted rounds. Not this custom Marlin. Most serious hunting loads in .44 Magnum are loaded to longer than standard OAL, with bullet weights up to 330 grains. The action on Ashley's DRC built .44 Magnum will even handle the extra long 330 grain Hammerheads from Garrett Cartridges.

As this is a levergun designed for up close and personal use, all groups are three shots at 25 yards. In the accompanying chart I have also listed the TKO rating for each round.

TKO stands for Taylor Knock Out and was designed by elephant hunter John "Pondoro" Taylor to give a clearer picture than muzzle energy figures of the capability of each cartridge and bullet combination. TKO numbers are a simple a way of comparing load to load and cartridge to cartridge. It is found by multiplying bullet diameter times bullet weight times muzzle velocity and then dividing this number by 7000.

Large Frame Custom Marlin

The adoption of the .45-70 cartridge in 1873 by the U.S. Army set off a race to see which manufacturer would succeed in designing a lever-action repeating rifle large and strong enough to accept the potent Government cartridge. Marlin won that race with its Model 1881.

The later, John Browning designed Winchester 1886 was a better and stronger gun. Sparked by this competition, Marlin looked toward the future and in 1895 brought out their new large levergun with a solid-top receiver and side ejection.

The 1895 Marlin did not last very long, only until 1917, during which time it was chambered in .38-56, .40-65, .40-72, .40-82, 45-90, .33 Winchester, and, of course, its most popular chambering, the .45-70.

In 1972 the Model 1895 was resurrected in a new and stronger version chambered in .45-70. It has been a most popular rifle among hunters who are not interested in seeing how far away they can shoot game. In 1964, the .45-70 was joined by a new cartridge, the .444 Marlin. This kinder, gentler cartridge does with a 300 grain bullet what the .45-70 does with a 400 grain bullet. If one does not need the power of the .45-70, the .444 Marlin makes a great choice.

So we now have Marlin leverguns available for hunters in .44 Magnum, .444 Marlin, and .45-70. Is there still room for improvement?