Marlin 1894 vs Henry Big Boy.

Buster95

Buster95

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Which one is the best rifle the Marlin 1894 or the Henry Big Boy with side gate both in 44 mag for plinking and some target shooting only, I know the 1894 have a lot of after market parts but not the Henry, also 1:38 twist vs 1:20 twist. One is more reliable than the other (feeding, extraction etc...)?
 
I owned both, Henry without a side gate, I preferred the Henry without a side gate, no issues with either. Just personal preference.
 
You may want to wait and check out a Ruger made Marlin before making your decision. Rumors is Marlin's are back in production this fall.
Will be interesting to see how Ruger's production & quality control compares to Henry's once they settle in. Hopefully a little more competition will lower prices.

I don't own a 44Mag Henry, but I do own a Remington made Marlin 1894 44Mag. It's my favorite 'plinker', I shoot a lot of H110 & 240gn Campro at steel.
 
6MT said:
Just be careful with the BBS. They have a magazine failure issue. It is a known problem. The mag splits up at the muzzle end where the tab locks.

I’ve owned both as have others above. The Marlin is by far the better choice. My Henry had the mag failure after just 85 rounds. No such issues with the Marlin. It just works. That…in my books, takes the Henry to the bottom of the list.
Click to expand...

They have a new design now, the slot is now in the outer mag tube support (see the fuzzy pic below).

qCXv7Ic.jpg
 
Had both. Marlin is a distant (bad) memory now. My Henry 45-70 (no side gate) is flawless. Also super easy to single feed after I run a tube of 4 rounds. My shoulder usually hates me though. As noted above, they beefed up the mag tube locking slot.

This is how my Henry's locking slot looks...
View attachment 513653
 
In the past I had a Marlin Model 1894 in .44 Remington Magnum.Great working and shooting rifle.Wish I had never sold it.
 
I just bought a Henry Big Boy Steel side gate 44 mag from P&D Enterprises, I think they have more in stock, Italian Sporting Goods have one too.
 
I have a Henry Big Boy in 44mag that I bought used about 6 months ago. I've put about 100 rounds through it so far, and I have no idea how many the previous owner had put through it. I think it's one of the earlier vintage ones. It functions flawlessly and there are no indications of any problems at the muzzle end of the magazine tube. Perhaps the problem is more with the 45-70 and heavier recoil?
Shooting that gun is the most fun I've had in years, and I love the tube loading function. It's accurate to boot. I am pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoy it. It's a heavy gun though for sure with that big ass octagonal barrel! With the brass Skinner peep/scope rail mount and Leupold 1.5-5 on it, it probably weighs close to 10lbs.
 
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Buster95 said:
I just bought a Henry Big Boy Steel side gate 44 mag from P&D Enterprises, I think they have more in stock, Italian Sporting Goods have one too.
Click to expand...

Picked up the last side gate from Italian sporting good today. Thank you very much for the tip.. I had been searching for this exact rifle for a while. They still have a Henry in .44 in stock but without the side gate. My first lever action!
 
Got a call from Italian sporting goods today. The rifle was sold in person just prior to me. They were super good about it so no hard feelings. If anyone has a line on a .44 or .357 in any barrel/ finish with side gate let me know.
 
I was wanting one of the brass Big Boy Classic rifles in 45 Colt.......then I saw the color case hardened Big Boy carbine with side loading gate and decided that is the one I must own, lol. Now I just need to find one in stock somewhere in 45 Colt.

For anyone interested in one of the Big Boy Classics there is one for sale in the EE currently, price seems pretty good to me at $900.
 
I'm desperately looking for a Color Case Hardened Carbine in .357 Mag, but it is elusive. Al Flaherty's had a single one come in on their last delivery. I may have to be patient and wait for the next delivery. :(

Bradley
 
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