Marlin 1894C 357 Mag/ 38 Spl

If you have seen any Marlin of the late production (and I mean late...not a year ago), you want to be very careful with your money.
Quality improved for a while just to drop again over the last couple of months. It's however an interesting development to follow.
 
If you have seen any Marlin of the late production (and I mean late...not a year ago), you want to be very careful with your money.
Quality improved for a while just to drop again over the last couple of months. It's however an interesting development to follow.

Interesting. Brian Pearce addressed this in his Rifle Mag. article and his conclusion was that the rifle he had was pretty much back to the old pre-Rem standards. (He did note that it was a preproduction one, though.) He probably wrote that article last Fall.

Upon opening the box, my overall impression was positive. The machining was good, with finished metal surfaces displaying at, clean lines. The walnut stock is relatively straight grained, which is strong and serviceable. How- ever, the checkering could be improved, and I would like to see the forearm thinned, which would generally make the rifle appear to have a better wood-to-metal fit with an overall trimmer feel. With that said, the buttstock wood-to-metal fit is better than previous production in New York and is on par with New Haven-built rifles. The 6.5-pound trigger pull was much heavier than necessary. Although the action worked relatively smoothly, a good action job would be beneficial and would cure the heavy trigger pull....

...The only small hitch occurred when loading cartridges through the loading gate, which would occasionally bind. By simply holding cartridges in line with the magazine tube, then pushing the nose directly in, cartridges loaded with ease. Keep in mind that this sample rifle is a preproduction version, and company sources assure me that this small glitch will be corrected with production versions.

The 1894CS was disassembled and studied. There are some very minor engineering changes, but the design has remained largely unchanged. Internally the machining is good and in many respects held to tighter tolerances, and is smoother than guns produced in New Haven.
 
Would that be also for the new 1895 Trapper ?

70433_Marlin-1894CSBL-SS_Order70433_0.png



https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-1894/model-1894-csbl

This is the Trapper model. Its a 1894CSBL in 357/38. Retail is a guess at $1350.00 Canadian, even more at some retailers I spoke with. The Marlin manufacturer # is 70433.

Marlin advise these are set to start production in the next 30-60 days. They also advise September they might start trickling into our Canadian Market.


Working-File-70450_Marlin_1895TSBL_Trapper_45-70_16in_right.png



The 1895 Trapper in 45-70 is also very cool. I do not know manufacture time frame on this model, but Marlin can be reached at 1-800-544-8892.
 
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70433_Marlin-1894CSBL-SS_Order70433.png


https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-1894/model-1894-sbl


The 44special/44 magnum model looks like the above, almost indentical to the 357. This is a Marlin 1894SBL, manufacturer # 70432. Price will also be close to $1350.00 Cdn., or more, at retail, so I am told by dealers.

I have been looking for these models since they came out in 2011. Apparently very few if any made their way to the Canadian Market.

Marlin stated last week that these 44 mag models have been made and are in testing right now as proto-types. Again, September was the time frame when they were supposed to see the Canadian Distributor.
 
I've been lurking :redface: around a few websites looking for the first signs of the 357's hitting the Canadian market :d. ATM there are a few 1894's in 45LC/45 Colt at a several different retail outlets, you'll just have to search around.

Epps has a Limited edition, a Cowboy and a couple other 1894's in 45 Colt on their site ATM
Wolverine has a couple as well, a 1894 45 Colt and a 1894 45 Colt Octagon Barrel
I know of another couple of sites, but they are not a sponsors so I'll not mention.

The 1894's in 44 Mag/44 Spl's have been slowly but surely disappearing from the retailers racks since Christmas. Glad I got my 44 Mag/44 Spl when I did, not many left out there.

A few months ago I couldn't find any in 45LC. Stopped looking. Thanks to you post I now own one.
 
I've owned two of these in 44Mag and they were both garbage, cycled horribly and not accurate at all. They were both JM stamped guns as well, I can only imagine what Remington can do with the design.
 
I've owned two of these in 44Mag and they were both garbage, cycled horribly and not accurate at all. They were both JM stamped guns as well, I can only imagine what Remington can do with the design.

Sorry to hear you had two poor quality JM Marlins. They can be hit and miss on the Remington made models, but the JM Marlins are usually pretty good. On both JM and Remington rifles I have had to polish the internals and do hammer springs, etc. in order to make them cycle flawlessly.

I have not experienced the accuracy issues you spoke of, but I certainly empathize with you!.....:(

Not sure what will happen now with the restructuring and bankruptcy issues. I wish Remington and Marlin well, I hope to get a 1894SBL in 44 magnum one day!...:)
 
I have a 2015 manf. 1894CB in 45Colt. Sweet shooting, wonderful cycling, and the fit of everything was A+. Always inspect before you buy, it gets rid of the odd chance of a manuf. dud.
 
Sorry to hear you had two poor quality JM Marlins. They can be hit and miss on the Remington made models, but the JM Marlins are usually pretty good. On both JM and Remington rifles I have had to polish the internals and do hammer springs, etc. in order to make them cycle flawlessly.

I have not experienced the accuracy issues you spoke of, but I certainly empathize with you!.....:(

Not sure what will happen now with the restructuring and bankruptcy issues. I wish Remington and Marlin well, I hope to get a 1894SBL in 44 magnum one day!...:)

They are a great concept, small, light gun chambered in 44 mag, unfortunately they don't seem to get it sorted out 100%.
 
They are a great concept, small, light gun chambered in 44 mag, unfortunately they don't seem to get it sorted out 100%.


Agreed, I now have a Remington made Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. I spent countless hours polishing and tuning this baby, plus, installed a Wolf hammer spring. I actually hand picked this one from nine different guns at Wholesale Sports when they were still in business. The fit and finish was good but it jammed all the time. Now that I worked it over, no jams, very accurate and a lot of fun to shoot and carry....:)

I do hope Marlin carries on and makes some nice carbine rifles.
 
I love my marlin .357 stainless carbine, but even after polishing the internals it’s nowhere near as smooth as either my henry 357 or the gf’s Chiappa .44.
On the upside the loading gate on the 1894 beats the Henry system hands down imho, and the xs peep sight/rail combo works great (I have a little fixed power 2.5x Leupold ultralight that fits the rifle well without destroying the balance) that can’t be used on the Chiappa due to the top eject. Also, after replacing the Marlin’s trigger with a Wild West happy trigger it’s easily the best of the 3.
 
:) Good stuff, now all of us are waiting on your pictures, range and quality control report ;) .

The finish is excellent. I can't find a single flaw in any metal or bluing. The wood is very nice, but the fitment of the butt could've been done a little better. Slight gaps around the tang and receiver. Ran 100 Federal 225gn JSP through it. Every few rounds one would hang up while travelling into the chamber and I'd have to back off the lever a little and try again. Didn't test accuracy due to all the snow in the hayfield. Had an IPSC torso at 130 yards and we were easily hitting it off hand. Not enough adjustment in the rear sight for that distance so had to hold over. I was hitting 7/10 on steel. I'm gonna try reloading for it. Also have a spring kit on its way. I still haven't decided if this is something I'll keep around as I'm more of a long range and 9mm carbine kind of guy. No other 45 Colt chamberings in the stable.
 
I've owned two of these in 44Mag and they were both garbage, cycled horribly and not accurate at all. They were both JM stamped guns as well, I can only imagine what Remington can do with the design.

What happened is that you owned the late production JM rifles. They were of much lower quality than the older counterparts. I owned two late 336s JM stamped and both would not feed. Both were sent back for warranty service which resulted in only partial improvement. Funny thing is that now people are willing to pay extra for the JM stamped rifles. Marlin was in fact border line bankrupt before Remington took over and QC was nowhere near the old standard. I've spent 18 months behind the gun counter of the large store not too long ago and Marlin was the single, most troubled brand that we carried. Around 2015 quality slightly improved (with all kinds of fairly evident problems still being present) just to dive lately again. Time will tell the rest of the story I guess.
 
What happened is that you owned the late production JM rifles. They were of much lower quality than the older counterparts.

That's what I've read as well, late Marlin and all Remlin production should be inspected and cycled in person if at all possible.
 
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