Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum with Cast Keith Bullet

This is my Marlin 1894 carbine in .44 Magnum. It was made in 1978 and thus does not have the crossbolt safety. It does have Micro-Groove rifling with a 1:38 inch rifling twist rate. Although I would prefer the Ballard type rifling, I have had no problems with shooting cast bullets in this rifle. I suspect the slow rifling twist helps. I have had this rifle about five years, and in that time I have fired plainbase cast bullets exclusively in it. I'm not saying I wouldn't or never will fire jacketed or gas-checked bullets in it, but for my uses of plinking, varmint control and game up to deer or wild hogs at ranges to 125 yards I just don't see the need to spend the money for them.
In addition to the standard refrain about Micro-Groove being "no good for cast bullets," I have also heard that the Keith bullet is too long for the 1894 if it is crimped in the crimp groove. That has not proven true in this rifle. The bullet I use most of the time in this rifle is a Lyman #429421 from a 4-cavity mould made in 1997. That is the plainbase semi-wadcutter designed by Elmer Keith and usually referenced as weighing 245 grains (mine weigh 242 grains of my alloy). Lyman tends to arbitrarily and without notice change specs on their moulds, and their Keith bullets in particular have not always adhered to Elmer's original design. This mould, fortunately, does: it has the crimp groove in the right place and the single lube groove is wide and has a square section, as it should.
I cast these bullets of wheelweight metal, and I do not quench or heat-treat them. I usually size and lube them with a .430-inch die in my Lyman 450 lubrisizer, but this time I left them unsized (at .433-inch) and tumble-lubed with a thin coat of Lee Liquid Alox. I loaded this bullet over a 1.6cc dipper (15.5 grains) of Alcan AL-8 in assorted range pick-up .44 Mag brass. Disclaimer: If you use this data, you do so at your own risk.
I don't know of anywhere Alcan AL-8 is available anymore. I bought a couple of 8-lb jugs of it several years ago from Jeff Bartlett in Kentucky. AL-8 is between Blue Dot and 2400 in burning speed, and it is listed in my Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook with a starting load of 14.5 grains and a maximum of 19.5 grains with this bullet. 15.5 grains is thus a light-to-moderate load. I didn't want to drive it too fast and overcome the liquid Alox lube.
A few minutes before making this video, I ran a few rounds over my chronograph and got an average of 1,400 fps. The outside temperature was approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
After shooting, I checked the bore. There was a very small amount of unburned powder (which this powder tends to do at less than full loads) and a tiny amount of leading just in the throat. I cleaned the bore with Ed's Red and a couple of cotton patches, then scrubbed it about ten full strokes with a bronze brush, and that was enough to remove the leading.