Marlin 94 .44 Mag

John in B.C.

John in B.C.

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I have a friend considering buying a Marlin .44Mag levergun. I have only seen 2 in operation and both of them were less than impressive. Anyone have first hand experience with Marlin ‘94 in .44 Mag?

John
 
I owned one in the 70s shot it lots, sold it to a friend He was going hiking and really wanted it, was going to buy another then marriage and children happened, regretted that sale for a few decades, never hunted with it. finally replaced it with a Henry that I like at least as much. Wouldn't hesitate to buy another as long as it was in person hands on sale. Too many complaints about some of the newer ones.
 
I just bought one. Havent even shot it yet.

It had a rough spot in the action. Cycled it a few hundred times and its very smooth now.

The fore grip is kinda large, I like the winchester sized wood. The checkering is meh.

The butt stock is a straight variety, and the wood is nice.

The barrel is regular grooving not a marlin micro groove.

I really really like it. I have a winchester 1894 in 3030 made in 1912 as well, and I would probably keep the marlin if I could only have one. It also helps I absolutely love 44mag.


Edit; two things I forgot to mention. The wood fit is pretty good but not great, thats where the rifle could be improved the most. And it takes down to clean easier than the winchester. A huge thing to consider because lever guns can be a pain to clean.
 
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I like mine. I could like a Winchester 94, too, but I like the Marlin better. I prefer the fatter forestock that FarmerDanz doesn't.

It's always best to see and handle a gun in person before deciding but especially with Marlin lever actions because of the trouble Remington had with production quality. Or pay the premium for an old used Marlin.
 
IO've had a couple and currently have 1. Fine rifle for what it is. Really fun little lever suitable for hunting at short ranges and plinkin. Now....lever can be rough, trigger tends to be floppy and crappy. Fit and finish are....inconsistent. I have a wild west trigger in mine and a smoothed action and its dynomite. Truth told, a winchester 92 current production is far superior. But the marlin is a fun little rifle!
 
I used mine for Cowboy Action shooting for 14 years. At the 9,000 rd downrange stage the front firing pin broke, 1,500 rds later the back portion of the firing pin broke so I replaced it with a 1 piece firing pin. Great rifle, very reliable if you feed it correctly and don't do half a$$ loading your ammunition. When I upgraded to a Uberti M73 for competition, I sold the Marlin for twice what I originally paid for it.
 
Bought my wife one built Sept 2017. Have to use locktite to secure the action screws...all of them or they shoot loose in 10-15 rounds. The lifter had a burr, and I hesitate to call it a burr as it required a mill file to cut it. This "burr" was so pronounced the rifle would only cycle about half the time and then the action would lock up with the "Marlin jam" (Yes I am using the term correctly to describe the exact FTFs that occurred, please google if you don't know to save time here in my post). The brass had DEEP gouges, beyond what I would call a scratch.

After I dealt with that, I still had "Marlin jams" occur that required partial disassembly. I was now only getting scratched cases, not gouged. Further inspection revealed another burr, an apt description this time, inside the feed tube. I removed that, polished the internals a bit, used loketite on the screws and my troubles are over.

One other issue was the fore stock wood was way too loose to snug up and had about an 8th of an inch play forward and back even after all adjustments had been made with the end cap and "hanger". Although it pains me to admit it, I used epoxy(ok, JB weld), to build up the end of the stock enough to snug up. This is not the least bit visible when assembled and has worked quite well.

The front sight screws were cut too shallow, and even when snugged the front site would not tighten. I bought Ashley express sights for it, and those screws were again unable to snug down the sight. So once again I was forced to gunsmith a new gun for fit and finish.

This rifle was ordered from Epps over the phone, and I specifically requested the rifle be tested for feed function and inspected for obvious issues. I was assured it would be. Hindsight makes the 8hr drive one way look much more attractive.

I have a 2016 built 1895 SBL, handpicked by myself, and it required a bit of emery cloth in the action, but otherwise is great. The one next to it on the shelf had the sight canted to the left at least 12 degrees and the sight rail was visibly torqued.

Both of these were bought well after all the "issues had been fixed" stories written of online and in magazines. I have never had a firearm give me as much grief as that Marlin 94. Most have mild issues to be addressed when discussing modern production rifles, but not like this. This kind of first experience could well sour a new shooter/gun owner.

As a note now that the rifle functions, my wife loves it. And it is accurate.
 
Buddy keeps begg'in fur mine.
Knocks the centers owt the bullseye at fiffy yards.

Mr. H had one that I could do the same with.
Never could git hiz mittzs lewse awn that gal.

Had tuh find nudder.

This one t'ain't gewn nowarezs qwick.
 
kamlooky said:
Buddy keeps begg'in fur mine.
Knocks the centers owt the bullseye at fiffy yards.

Mr. H had one that I could do the same with.
Never could git hiz mittzs lewse awn that gal.

Had tuh find nudder.

This one t'ain't gewn nowarezs qwick.
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Saw one at the last local gun show and ;) was tempted but my old Marlin 94 in 44-40 is close enough for me, at this point in time.
 
Took my new to me to the range today to sight in. Three, three shot groups 1.75 inches, one .65. That was at 50 yards, a common bush distance here in Ontario. No feeding or ejection problems. I am very happy with it. Handloads, 240gr Hornady XTP over 24.8 grains H110.
 
the sock said:
Took my new to me to the range today to sight in. Three, three shot groups 1.75 inches, one .65. That was at 50 yards, a common bush distance here in Ontario. No feeding or ejection problems. I am very happy with it. Handloads, 240gr Hornady XTP over 24.8 grains H110.
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Just loaded up some 300gr at 19gr h110 and 20gr h110. Should be fun!
 
Somewhat related, my guide gun had some roughness, and liked to jam with Hornady lever revolution, that stuff is 1/10th shorter.

Anyways, i had Rusty woods give it a action job, lower the trigger pull ( which did not register on my guage), and put in a weaker loading gate spring. I would recommend him for lever gun work. The bad news, i am now into my JM ported guide for much more than i could ever sell it.
 
nowarningshot said:
Somewhat related, my guide gun had some roughness, and liked to jam with Hornady lever revolution, that stuff is 1/10th shorter.

Anyways, i had Rusty woods give it a action job, lower the trigger pull ( which did not register on my guage), and put in a weaker loading gate spring. I would recommend him for lever gun work. The bad news, i am now into my JM ported guide for much more than i could ever sell it.
Click to expand...

That means you have to keep it and shoot it enough to get the value for your money. Which isn't all bad, is it? :)
 
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