I have a Marlin 1894cp in 38/357mag (16INCH PORTED BARREL)- Can I shoot lead bullets thru this gun? or only jacketed? The reason I ask is that a guy at the range told me this gun was not meant to shoot lead bullets-only jacketed...I told him he was wrong. He still thinks he's correct- so anyone got an answer? :confused:

I don't know of a Marlin lever gun that has been designed to just shoot jacketed bullets. i have 12 original Marlin 1894's produced anywhere from 1894 thru 1985. The newest Marlins are the same as the oldest ones, and many of the parts will even interchange. I have been shooting Cast Bullits in all of mine, even the ones that I have converted to Wildcat Calibers. (357/44 Bain & Davis, and 357 Auto Mag)

Ported barrels should be OK with gas-checked bullets. Plain base may have accuracy problems.

There is some risk of particles coming out the ports, but that is true to an extent even with jacketed.

I think because of the longer barrel, leading could be a concern as velocity increases above the 1000fps mark. Especially with 'soft' lead bullets. Using strictly hardcast lead bullets should reduce leading problems considerably. Buffalo bore advertises a 180gr hard cast @ 1851 fps in a 18.5" barrel. I plan on using my marlin as a backup shortrange deer rifle.

A friend of mine owns a 16inch ported 357 and shoots it in gallery rifle comps using normal unchecked hardcast lead bullets and he has no problems at all ,we have all had some leading problems over the years especially build up in the chamber due to swapping from 38s to 357 (we use different loads at different distances within the same competition to avoid scope adjustments) but a coating of Lee alox has eliminated this. Judging by some of the perfomances he has put in there is no problem with using lead whatsoever.

I have a 1894cp and a ported guide gun in 45/70. The only problem I have noticed is you get a slight lead build up in the ports. No problem, just vlean them. Byron