Not sure?

[harleyboy]

I have just aquired a Marlin #1894. 44 rem mag, can I only use 44 rem mag rounds? or can I use other 44's?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I think you will run into a feed problem if you try to put 44 Russian into it. The gun's set up for that cartridge length. 44-40's a different cartridge.

[Aragorn243]

Best place to check is with the manufacturer. Generally speaking a firearm is made for a specific cartridge, but there are a few that will fire more than one type.

I have a 45-90 that will fire 45-70 cartridges but doing so runs the risk of erosion and then poor extraction when you start firing 45-90's again as the case expands into the eroded bore. I suspect it would take a LOT of rounds to do this however.

The 44 Special would probably work as it is only slightly shorter and the 44 Rem mag was designed longer simply to prevent it from being able to fit into weaker 44 Special chambers.

[vintage hunter]

Look on the barrel, it will be marked .44 Rem Mag or either .44Rem Mag/ .44 SPCL, if not specifically marked it won't feed the .44 Specials. These are nice well balanced little carbines but they suffer from a poorly designed mechanism, especially the old models, and always give feed/ extraction problems. Cartridge O.A.L. is very critical, a bit too long or too short and they jam. An easy way to tell if one is giving problems is to look at the election port area, if it's all scuffed and scratched up you can safely bet it's not feeding or extracting properly.

[Jumong]

I tried 44 Special in one and got failures to feed from stovepipes about 1 in 5 rounds.