The Marlin rep dropped by the shop the other day. When he asked if we needed anything I said "Yeah, a 1894 in .38/40 WCF!" He said if there was enough demand, they'd consider it. I figure it'd be a natural with the cowboys and am surprised that this cartridge hasn't received CPR yet like some of the other "obsolete" cartridges have. So, if you have a hankerin' for a Marlin in .38/40 like I do, drop the Marlin boys a note. I'm not a cowboy shooter but I want a modern .38/40 to experiment and hunt with. I'd really like a "CL" version with the 2/3 magazine but would settle for whatever they might bring forth. Maybe one day....

What are the ballistics on a 38/40? How do they compare with a 41 mag or a 35 Remington?

Remarkably close to a .40 S&W... amazing how little progress is really made over a century :)

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/pistol/3840win.php

It's an old black-powder round from 1870s, 1880s.... .40 bullet (despite the cartridge name) and slight bottleneck. It'd be long dead, I think, except for the cowboy-action shooters.

I got tired of waiting for Marlin and bought an old one. They're hard to find in that caliber. Mine shoots like a house afire with my swaged lead/tin .401 bullets.

Still, if Marin would come out with one, I'd buy a new one to go with it. It's a great round, unfortunately, I think the CAS gamers out there will go more for the .32-20, as they are looking for really light bullets and no recoil to speak of.

The cartridge compares favorably to a light loaded .41 mag revolver in terms of ballistics. I shot a rather large goat and hog with my rifle, with good results.