Finally Got My Marlin 1895 to the Range

4683 Views 30 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Medved11, Sep 13, 2016

Medved11

Discussion Starter · Aug 28, 2016

I finally had some time to take my 1895 to the range and get it zeroed.

The gun functioned perfectly and the recoil was much more manageable than I had expected.

I put 20 rounds of 405 grain PPU ammo through it. I was also pretty surprised by how clean the gun was when I got home. I was expecting a black gunky mess in the barrel and chamber based upon previous experience with PPU but it only took a quick soaking with some Ballistol and about six patches and everything was squeaky clean.

All in all I'm very happy with this gun (I also squeezed in 60 rounds with my M1A Scout to reconfirm my zero)

The bottom target in picture below was me walking the ghost ring up to the center using two shot group at 50 yards. The top target was me zeroing the Burris Fastfire III at 50 yards (that just took a couple of small adjustments)

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 28, 2016

1100 tac said:
Love my .45-70, looks like yours is going to be a shooter.

I gotta say this though, run a few patches with Butches Bore Shine through

and see if you think it was really "squeaky clean"...

I don't have any Butch's in my cabinet but I'll give Hoppes a try and see what comes out after a little soaking

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 28, 2016

Instructor said:
You may well already know, but the Marlins are quite easy to clean from the breech by removing lever and pulling out the bolt giving access to the bore from breech end. Pull lever some half way down, remove screw holding it in place, remove lever, pull out bolt and bingo, you are there. Upon re install reverse order. The ejector is the weakest part about these rifles for they are prone to break.** It is inside the frame on the left side and sits in a recess. It will most likely fall out upon bolt removal but simply replace in the slot and slide bolt back in to receiver. While you have the lever out, note the lug that inserts into the bolt and place a spot of grease on that area to give a bit smoother action, not a lot, just a small dab is all that is necessary. As fabled and great as the Winchester lever guns are, don't try this take down on them, takes multiple hands, punch, and lots of swearing.

** That ejector is of a spring steel version and Wild West Guns makes a much stronger one and common item to replace if the rifle is to be used for big bears, etc. Noting your location doubt that you will find any big bears, but one never knows. Big fan of the 45/70 and have had several over the years and they are a great hunting round.

Thanks - I'm a big fan of cleaning all of my guns from the breech and do it pretty religiously with all of my guns (even if it's just running a bore snake down the tube if I don't have time for a full cleaning).

I may replace the ejector in this rifle and my other lever guns with a Wild West version but I'll probably wait until I lose one (or it breaks)

We actually do get a few Black Bears roaming through my neighborhood. They tend to come down out of the Sourland Mountains looking for food. There's been a juvenile bear that's been cruising through our yard over the past couple of weeks. He's probably using it as a path to get to the wild strawberries that grow in the woods that butt up against our development.

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 28, 2016

Hockeybuckeye said:
405 grain? That's loaded for bear!

They are great & versatile guns. I have the full rifle version and my mods to it were a set of TruGlo fiber optic sights and a Limbsaver recoil pad. Here is a grouping with the open sights sandbagged at 100 yards. The one a little outside at 9 o'clock was my fault, not the gun's.

I was using Hornady's 325 grain LEVERevolution.

Yeah - 405 grain was all I could find when I placed my online ammo order. I've since found some 300 grain loads that will be arriving this week. I'll admit that my shoulder is feeling it today (no bruising but it's sore as can be). I don't think that shooting 20 rounds of 45-70 followed by 60 rounds of 308 while wearing a t-shirt did my shoulder any favors

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 28, 2016

Hockeybuckeye said:
Your version has the decent recoil pad. Mine came with a hard rubber buttplate that was no help at all. That's why I had to upgrade.

Funny thing is Limbsaver didn't make a direct fit one for the 1895 which is strange given how many are 1895's are being made. I had to contour & fit a universal one to it.

I actually wasn't feeling much discomfort while I was shooting - it didn't really start bothering me until late yesterday evening when I reached for something in the garage.

I can only imagine how it must of felt shooting with that hard rubber butt pad. I'm guessing that the recoil must have gone right through you

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 28, 2016

1100 tac said:
Love my .45-70, looks like yours is going to be a shooter.

I gotta say this though, run a few patches with Butches Bore Shine through

and see if you think it was really "squeaky clean"...

You were right - a 30 minute soak with some Hoppes brought out a decent number of very dirty patches full of fouling that the Ballistol did not pick up

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 28, 2016

Hockeybuckeye said:
8 rounds bruised me pretty good and I know how to hold a gun when shooting to minimize it.

After the new pad I ran a box of 20 through it and never felt it!

I paid a lot of attention to the position of the buttstock in my shoulder before every trigger pull. I learned my lesson about that awhile ago with my PTR91. That's only 308 but it beat me up badly once.

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #16 · Aug 28, 2016

Stevie Ray said:
Is this a brand new 1895? If so I'm curious how happy you are with the fit and finish on your gun, I've been procrastinating about getting one but have read mixed reviews regarding the quality of fit and finish.

That's a very nice looking gun, congrats!

Thanks - It's a brand new production gun (April 2016 according to Marlin when I called in the serial number). The fit and finish is good in my eyes. Everything is straight and the fit between the stock and the receiver is fine. The action was pretty smooth out of the box and has further improved after cycling it while I watched TV and yesterday's range session.

If I had one gripe it would be the machine marks that I found on the lever and inside the receiver. I would have liked them to spend a little time at the factory smoothing them out a little more. This having been said, this isn't a huge deal for me. I'm a bit less sensitive about machining marks, etc. after getting into AKs.

My only other issue is the semi buckhorn sights. They just don't work for me. I was all over the place when I tried shooting my 336 and 1894 the first time. However, once I replaced them with ghost ring sights I was shooting without issue.

I've now bought 3 Marlin lever guns sight unseen online via my FFL and I've been happy with all of them in terms of workmanship. I'm not a lever gun purist (or an expert by any means) but I have no problem recommending new Marlins based on my experience.

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #19 · Aug 28, 2016

Stevie Ray said:
Good deal, thanks for the feedback!

You're welcome- I'll be honest and say that I was sweating bullets when I ordered my first Marlin online (the 336)after reading other people's comments about the Remlin quality control but I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up and everything was straight and the fit/finish was what I would expect at the price point.

I'll fully admit that I'm not a Marlin "purist" but, after buying three guns that were all made this year, I'm confident that I would get another without hesitation.

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #20 · Aug 28, 2016

Hockeybuckeye said:
I didn't like the sights on mine either. Took the hood off the front sight, tried painting different color dots on the front sight and still couldn't focus well but in their defense it could just be an age issue with me.

NO complaints with the TruGlo's I installed.

I took the hood off all of mine right away since I found that I could see the blade better. I never thought about trying TruGlo sights - I went with XS since that's what my buddy is using (and I was too lazy to research other options)

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #23 · Aug 29, 2016

Thanks - that's sort of what I was thinking when putting this rifle together. I'm not sure where the gun laws in NJ are going after Christie leaves office next year, so I figured now was a good time to start getting ready. I've started to notice that a lot of guys here are buying a lot more lever action and bolt action rifles than before.

POLACK said:
medved,nice looking west va assault rifle.

still waiting to shoot my 1895 stp 16.5 inch. one day it will reach the range

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #26 · Aug 29, 2016

Henry45 said:
I have a new production 1895 too. Fit and finish is very nice. I changed the shock pad to a Pachmayr shotgun pad (took some fitting but no big deal), and added a "Skinner" peep sight. I'm not too great with semi buckhorns, but with the Skinner, it came right in to sight. Mine shoots pretty close to what the OP's shoots at 50 and pretty dang good at 100 with my old eyes.

I load 325g Hornady FP and backed off the full powder charge of the 405 factories, and it made the recoil much more manageable. But it's still a hoss.

20 rounds with a 45/70 and then 60 with the M14....

Ahhh.. i remember those days fondly... but glad they are way behind me.. I felt it too long afterwards...

Like the OP, i'd have no problem buying another new Marlin. Mine is a hoss, and in hog country, it's a great gun to carry...

My shoulder is still reminding me of my "questionable" choice of going 20 rounds with 405 grains. I had to pop a few more Advil this morning in order to get my arm moving

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Medved11

Discussion Starter · #31 · Sep 13, 2016

dbb1776 said:
Tell me a little more about the xs sights.
I'm looking at peep sights for an 1894. How's the sight picture with the wings?
Are easy are the adjustments?

I've got XS peep sights on both my 1895 and 1894. The 1895 has the winged sights and 1884 doesn't. To be honest, the sight picture (at least to me) about the same between two. The wings may help focus your eyes better and cut down on some glare but I wouldn't say that there's a huge difference.

The adjustments to zero are a little fussy since you need a screwdriver to loosen the windage screws and the post of the ring slides somewhat loosely within the track; however, the zero seems to hold as long as you tighten down the screws properly.

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