The cast action is definitely not strong enough for these rounds.  They tend to start cracking at the rear of the block cut in the action.

Jerry

jgraham1 wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2022 at 2:15pm:


By which you mean cast Ballards, I assume.  Model 44s 1986 and later don't crack, instead the link gives up from the battering so the headspace increases drastically.

Might be possible to stretch a 44 that has the lugged hammer with an ongoing diet of heavy loads, but I have no examples to point to.  

Trying to defeat my insomnia last night, I had my father's college text book (circa 1925) on the malleable iron process open.  A bit daunting how many factors have to be right to get good malleable parts, beginning with the chemistry of the iron, how it is melted and for how long, the speed with which it cools in the mould, the temperature at which the casting is broken out of the mould, how completely the moulding sand is cleaned out before packing for the annealing process, und-und-und.  By 1925 most of this was pretty well understood, but in 1885 it was all art and rule of thumb. Evaluating the chemistry of molten iron didn't become a science until about 1900, and temperature control using instruments rather the Mark 1 eyeball was still not widely used until WW1, as collectors of Krags and  '03 Springfields know only too well.   

So Marlin has to be forgiven if the consistency of his cast frames was a little spotty. Even today there isn't any practical way to test a frame for proper molecular structure once it's annealed, short maybe of X-ray diffraction techniques.  We just have to presume that any frame we pick up may not be of optimum strength, and act accordingly.

yes val  and all done with no computers  just  true skill   art

Not a doubt in my mind that Marlin and all major manufacturers had their own foundry. Smaller or start up makers may have used other large makers to source their castings, but not Marlin.
I have a DVD remake of an old B&W silent movie done in the 1920's of the Marlin factory processes from initial casting, to forging, stock making, etc., etc. From the ancient appearance of the inside the factory, and equipment in the 20's, I'm certain it's not post 1900 furnaces, forging equipment, etc.
The Marlin Firearms Collectors Assn. sells these DVD's they made up off the original silent movie, and they're really neat for people who like old guns, and want to see the process.