Evening gents.

I have an almost full box of 250 Oregon Trail .459" 500 grain cast bevel-base flat-points that I'd like to load for my 1975 vintage Marlin 1895 SS. I'm thinking 1500-1600 feet per second or so. I'm not looking for a stomper of a load, but may take the rifle to AK in May on a spring black bear hunt.

Has anyone loaded this bullet in a Marlin levergun before? I have Varget, H4895, IMR 4064 and W748 on hand. Looking for some help here. I've checked several load manuals and can't find 500 grain data.

I appreciate any responses. Thanks

John

Edit:

Here's the bullet next to a Speer 400 grain.

Hodgdon has data for a 485 gr bullet. It's a Trapdoor load, but a place to start.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

Thank you for that lead.

Make sure the round isn't too long to feed properly !!

I know it's not a Marlin and not any powder you listed but I shoot 27-29 gr. of 5744 in my rolling block and Sharps.

Steve............

Hornady #8 has data for 500 gr jacketed. Just pick a lower velo load.

Some QL data...for 1.310", Alaska Bullet Works Kodiak RN SPBC jacketed bullet, 22" bbl. Start at least 3 gr below these amounts.

748/40 gr/2.55" COAL/1479fs/30.4KPSI/94% load density.

Varget/39 gr/2.55"/1430fs/30.2KPSI/101% ld

H4895/39 gr/2.55"/1484fs/30.8KPSI/98% ld

IMR4064/36 gr/2.55"/1359/27.5KPSI/101% ld

Check out Beartooth Bullets forums...lots of good information on the 525 gr for Marlin lever guns.

I try to stay away from 500 grain loads in the marlin 1895. I have 3 of them and all 3 share the same trait of needing the overall round being no longer than 2.550. As you are using a lead bullet and not an expanding one, you can use it with no problem. (expanding 500 grainers rarely expand because you can't get enough velocity in most cases).
There is 500 grain info for the Ruger #1 in my old hornady manual. As the number 1 will take lots more pressure than an 1895, you could start with the starting load and work up very carefully.I am positive that big piece of lead will roll the biggest black bear you can find, even at 1200 to 1300 fps. The challenge comes in when that monster bear is 250 yards away and you have to try a long shot with something that will drop feet instead of inches.

Not to get a big hoohaw going but if you have a Marlin you need to send it to a Lever smith to have the action adjusted to feed a 2.62-2.64" long COAL. It isn't all that expensive and it gives you a much wider range of loadings.

There are several 500-550 gr bullets, Beartooth PILE DRIVERS and Jae-Bok CRATERS specifically designed for the Marlin and they are used for large game all over the world.

I have a "switch barrel" Marlin I built with barrels for 356 W 444 M and 458 American and adjusted the carrier and other parts to handle specific bullets(depends on the nose profile) out to 2.65" COAL or slightly longer.

One problem with the longer COAL is you can't eject the loaded round...you have to shoot it out or take off the lever and slide the bolt back a bit for the cartridge to clear the. I made a knobbed screw, commercially available, to make it easy to remove the lever.

I also have a bullet casting friend that has a mold, don't know what brand or bullet name, that casts 530 gr RNGC bullets that by happenstance the crimp groove falls in the specific place for that ~2.63-5" COAL.

The 458 Am is closer to the 450 Marlin in case capacity and about 5 gr less than the 45-70, but I have little problem reaching 1400-1475fs/2600 ftlbs within the pressure limits of the Marlin levergun.

That is plenty for woods game within 100-125 yds, but still holds it's own out to ~200 yds where it has plenty of whack but starts dropping like a lead brick.

I do agree a 500 plus grain bullet is a bit heavy for the Marlin Levergun because the pressure range is too low to really get the performance out of that size bullet....you really need a bolt gun for the higher pressure and higher velo.

I like the 430-450 gr range better for the higher velo and less drop in my Marlin and the 430 gr True Shot bullet is the most accurate in the Marlin 458 Am and very accurate in all my 45 cal shooters except for specific jacketed bullets that varies with rifle.

I'm in the same boat as John...I had Mike cast me up 500 bullets to have a good supply so I have a ways to go even with 5 45 cals before I shoot those up. With powder prices and availability that might be forever.

Nawwww. I use the marlin the way it was designed. If I want a longer cartridge, then I pull a Winchester 1886 or 71 out of the safe.

With the length of the bullet and the loaded length, you could plug that into Quickload to get an Idea of where to start and stop.

With useing the length of the Hornady 500, 1.316" and a COAL of 2.55" out of a 20" bbl
43gns of Win 748 should give 1540fps @ 34k psi, that's at 100% load density.

It looks like the Lyman 500gn is 1.290"
so 100% load density is 43.8gns of Win 748 should give 1556fps @ 34.1k psi
Should still be way good.

Remember this is not load data, just a computer simulation.

What pressure is the Marlin 1895 good for? 45k?
So the pressure should be way good.

I've shot those. The only problem was that they are .459" and my rifle needed .460" or gas checks to keep from keyholing after 8-10 shots. You'll want the fastest of your powder selection for best results IMO. I tended to use H4198 the most.

So assuming your rifle likes .459", they'll run just fine. The crimp groove is in the right place for a 2.5" COL that the Marlin action likes.

Thanks for all the replies.

I found IMR 3031 and 4198 powder last week while out of town.

I'll report back on how things go.

I have shot the 500 grain in the 45-70 Marlin using the RCBS mould and had good accuracy, although the 405 cast bullet is all you will ever need in any 45-70.
I load my 86 Winchester 45-70 with 40 grains of IMR 4198 under the 405 grain cast bullet, I get 1640 fps without even straining the gun or brass.
The crescent buttplate on the ole 86 sure lets you know when the load levels are topping out.
The 405 will be flatter shooting and will take care of anything that walks the earth.
Afterall, the T -Rex was wiped out by cavemen packing Trapdoor 45-70's.