The rifle is made by Marlin - it has JM stamped on the barrel and was made at the Marlin factory. The woodwork fits lovely.
I love it though I don't think I'll put optics on it. I will probably shoot it with iron sights. Then again, we'll see.
Am going to shoot it tonight at the club with .38 spl.
(And, seriously folks - I aim to be a really good shot and take my shooting seriously).
So... what happens, exactly if you shoot lots of .38 in a .38/.357 Marlin?
Is it merely a matter of dirt/cleaning, or something more permanent? Does it affect accuracy, or reliability, or both (when shooting .357)?
Is it something that I should be looking for if buying a second hand Marlin (which I expect to do when I get my FAC, though that won't be for a while yet)?
What used to happen in the old revolvers was you would get a tiny amount of erosion as the burnt powder ate into the steel just in front of the brass case. Over time this would become pronounced and you would eventually get a permanent ring forming around the case mouth.
The same could happen in the chamber of your barrel, which is why it's best to shoot .357 cases as this is not only more conducive to a cleaner chamber, but, I personally think, is more accurate because the bullet doesn't have as far to jump into the lead/rifling.
G.M.
Never argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
It wasn't so much erosion Graham as a possible build up of lead that would hamper the chambering of the longer cartridge if allowed to build up over time as the result of poor cleaning. I knew one guy who had a model 66 S&W that wouldn't chamber .357. It took him many hours to remove the build up. Some of us used to use stainless steel brushes to ensure that this didn't happen in our revolvers.
I agree with you entirely about using .357 cases in the carbine as there is less bullet jump to the leed that can only be better for accuracy and also they tend to feed better with the longer cases than with .38spl.
Thanks all. The issue with .38 causing a ring is interesting though I can't do a lot about it at the moment as I am not yet reloading and I can't shoot .357mag at the club.
The rifle action seemed a little stiff and clunky at first, but it seems to be getting quite a bit smoother now. I think I'll wait a few months and see what happens before I try to 'improve it', if possible, with polishing paste etc.
Our club guns shoot almost exclusively .38spl ammo with no issues, although I have never seen them fed .357 and so cannot say if the dreaded crud build up will cause feed issues. My personal Marlin eats both .38 and .357 in roughly equal quantities, without problem. I clean it with a pull through both ways after each session and brush and jag clean it once a month or so.
At the end of the day, it is a ring of contaminant that, if ignored or left, may cause feed issues when changing back up to .357 rounds. Regular cleaning should stop any issue if shooting mixed ammo types. If you just shoorm.38 or .357 then I think it is am no-issue.
Oddball, just enjoy it. We are probably talking a LOT of rounds to cause an issue.
:lol:
