Some months ago, I bought a Marlin '94 CBC in .45 Colt. With any load that was pleasant and controllable in a revolver, it leaked gas and powder back into the action. I called Marlin, and they were very helpful. They explained that it was necessary to have a large chamber because the straight, fat cartridge needed that to function in a short action. And no, a new tighter chamber would not really help--it would only create feeding problems. Thinner-walled brass helped a little, but not much. Black Powder loads were a little help, too.

Well, the fix is done. I bought a Manson .38-40 reamer, one of the lever action barrels offered by Brownells, and a set of headspace gauges. My 'smith has it done and it is great.

I have no gas or powder leakage and the tapered cartridge feeds and functions well in the short action.

Do you think maybe Marlin could factory chamber for the .38-40?

It would be nice if they did.

Geo:

Maybe if Marlin chambered for the 38-40 the4y might do better wirth their lever actions than they did when they were chambering for the 30-30 -when Marlin was trying, in th late 1890s (after the Western frontier had ended) to imitate the Winchester rifles - a name that Marlin couldn't to this day live up to! The Marlin had a reputation around the turn of the 20th Century as a jamming rifle. It was totally mistrusted and I challenge anyone to show me where it was carried in the Klondike Gold Rush (in 1897) or even in any years in Canada -compared to the Win.94 in 30-30. It is not even today a trustworthy rifle. (Try making a Marlin 336 stay sighted in. It wanders from one week to the next. Anyone who says it doesn't is either a liar or hasn't shot many Marlins)

Gerry,
I think that I can answer some of your concerns re: Marlin rifles.

The .38-40 was an original chambering for the Marlin '94. In fact, the .38-40 designation for that cartridge was a Marlin designation, Winchester did not refer to it that way until after the turn of the century. Winchester called it a .38 WCF. The .45 Colt was never, until recently, chambered in lever rifles. First because it is an inherently difficult cartridge to get to feed reliably and second because the original .45 Colt cases had no extractor groove and a small rim and would not function well from that standpoint.

The accuracy problems with lever-action rifles are inherent in all lever guns, but can be ameliorated some by accuracy tuning the forend and magazine tube hanging arrangements.

I have a Win 94 in 45 Colt that wiil not shoot straight with the bullet seated long. It wants to be crimped hard into the canalure to shoot straight. 24 gr H110, 250 gr XTP, 1.5", 1536 fps, 1.5" groups at 50m.

So if that roll crimp is hard and into the canalure, the pressure will be way up before the bullet moves. That could make the brass seal better.