Anyone have a Marlin 1894CL .32-20?

[K.38]

I ordered one today and I will find out if I get it next week. These were made a few years ago and apparently a few just surfaced at MT Sports. They went pretty quickly so I'm not sure if our order made it or not.

They look like a very nice rifle. A guy just got one last week and I had a look at it.

I may be dry firing it for a while as ammo seems to be non- existent for the time being.

If anyone has one how do you like it? Does it shoot good? Do you use factory or reloads?

 

[S-W4EVER]

Bud's has them for $588 delivered. It sounds like it would be a fun gun to shoot if ammo wasn't so hard to find (and expensive when you do find it).

 

[km5wu]

I used to have a Marlin in 32-20. It was the Ducks Unlimited model. I shot many a cowboy action match with it and a pair of USFA revolvers in the same caliber. I loaded my own and even cast bullets for them. I venture to say you'll like it once you find some ammo. That Marlin is one of those guns I wish I hadn't traded off.

Paul

 

[Noah Zark]

I have two of them, one is a half-magazine 1894CL from the 80s production run, and the other is a 1894CCL octagon full-magazine "cowboy" model from 2003, one of a limited edition.

Both shoot factory Winchester loads just fine, and group about 0.75" to 1.25" at 50 yds offhand depending on the gun and me. I have about 500 hulls from when I bought a rechambered 310 Martini Cadet back in the late 80s for $125 and had it relined to .312 from its original .316. With handloads and 90-100 gr bullets, the Marlins (and the Martini) are very accurate, have no recoil, and are among my favorite leverguns.

Noah

 

[garyhan]

I ordered one of the 1894 CL .32-20's from Bud's on Aug 27. I was just in time as they are now listed out of stock. Seems everyone that has one loves it. Hope to have it in my hands in a week or so.

gary

 

[garyhan]

I received the Marlin today. A beautiful little gun with some nice figure in the stock. Mounted a Williams FP receiver sight on it and will try it at the range Friday.

gary

 

[K.38]

I received the Marlin today. A beautiful little gun with some nice figure in the stock. Mounted a Williams FP receiver sight on it and will try it at the range Friday.

gary

You have .32-20 Ammo? That stuff is scarce as hen's teeth around here. I found some brass but the bullets and dies are on backorder.

With that receiver sight your rifle should be a tack driver.

 

[2000Z-71]

I know that years ago they did a run in both .32-20 and .25-20. Wish I had one of the .25-20's. I've got my great grandfather's Winchester 92 and it is chambered for .25-20.

 

[walnutred]

I have one I bought when they first came out in the late 80's or early 90's. Put a receiver sight on it and used it for groundhogs for years. Then I took the receiver sight off and put a full length magazine tube on it and used it for CAS a few more years. Then I quite shooting CAS, put the receiver sight back on and it's back to being my pest control rifle, so we've gon full circle.

After handling mine a friend purchased one as well, so we ordered 500 brass from Midway. We have a 2400 load, that I will not give details on for obvious reasons, which pushed the 115gn FPGC at around 1900 rps. Actually it goes a little faster but some people believe you cannot push lead that fast ;D

 

[rburg]

Funny, this round seems to be making a minor comeback with us old guys. At the last National Gun Day show I found and bought a really nice .32-20 Target from the 1930s (same grips/medallion as my K22s and M&Ps). Of course I had no ammo. One of my buddies took care of me and gave me a box of new, probably 1960s ammo. The stuff that says for use in any rifle or pistol. Then at that same show I found a bag of new virgin brass for $15. It was a start.

Then 2 weeks ago at a small show my son wanted to go to in Dayton, OH. I generally don't like those shows because they're filled with AR and chinese crap. But on the end of one table a guy had a pile of .32-20 stuff. I was interested in buying one additional box (from maybe the 1950s, maybe earlier.) He said he's selling it all as a lot, then at first wouldn't give me a price. He finally said "$50" takes it all. So I took it. I got 91 empties, 138 factory loaded rounds, and a cute little box of 50 100gr flat nose bullets! Score!

Then at the weekend OGCA show I managed to find a guy with an old peanut can full of cast gas check bullets. It had 255 on the sign. He also had a Splenda can with 201 in it. He took $9 for the mess. Making progress. Along a few aisles a guy had another box of factory loads with $20 on it, 34 new and the other 16 empties. Then my final score of the day was a set of dies. Ancient RCBS steel for $30. Don't look like they've been used.

My oldest son tumbled the 91 empties from a week ago. They look nearly new.

I've read a lot of bad stuff about reloading the round. It seems like its one of the hardest to reload because the cases are so thin. First step as I understand it is to trim them to the same length. That insures you're the same length when you flare them. If you don't, you'll get too many crumpled cases. I'm a little concerned with using gas check bullets in a hand gun. Guess I'll need to start scouting for a companion rifle. I'd probably prefer a really old Winchester.

But Bud's is only about 75 miles away, and with the color change coming in mid October, it'd be a nice drive. Bud's is in horse country. Lots of nice farms with old and scenic homes and barns (OK, I like barns.) If all else fails this weekend, maybe I'll take a drive down state.

 

[David LaPell]

I used to have a pair of the Marlin 1894CL's, one in .25-20 and one in .32-20. I liked both of them and often wish I had never sold them. I remember the .32-20 being super accurate.