Marlin Lever Action World of Firearms

[cigar_man]

The older I become, I find myself less dependant on semi auto rifles, so I have finally joined the Marlin 1894 ranks once again with a recent purchase as of yesterday of a Classic in .44 Rem Mag - Ruger/Marlin, thanks to Northern Elite Firearms.

I was looking to buy a .357, but the price was right for the .44 and in reality, I'm a long time re-loader and bullet caster, so that won't make much difference in the long run, plus the .44 has a lot more power when needed.

I have owned several variations of Marlins over the years from 30-30's to 45-70's, 44 Rem Mag's and .45 Colt's, but amazingly my tastes changed over time and I sold them all off.

I presently have a Marlin - (Remlin) 1895 CB and it works flawlessly, the stocks are very cowboy plain, but that's OK with me.

I looked over the Henry's, Winchester's and the Smiths, but the Marlin 1894 Classic won the day.

 

[eco]

Congrats. Now get one in 357 too

I have the Marlin and Henry. The new Marlin is ultra smooth and fancy as hell. Just a tad better in fit and finish than the Henry I find.

 

[DerWeißeWolf]

Sold my Henry X in 30-30, regretted it and lucked out by finding a Marlin 336 Dark Series. Love Henry, but there’s something special about Marlins. Nice post!

 

[Alex McKr]

Perfect choice! Have seen more than one nice white tailed buck taken down by a '94 Marlin chambered for the versatile .44 Mag. cartridge. With cast bullets, too. Great rifle and caliber(where legal), for close range deer hunting.
The Ruger Marlins seem to have turned the corner on delivering good, well built rifles, bearing the Marlin name.
I am much the same...the older I get, the greater appreciation of the simple, classic lever rifle as a hunting tool.

 

[willtoride]

Curious how your new Marlin compares to the ones you had in the past in terms of overall build quality. I'm looking to get the same in .44 from either Marlin or Henry.

 

[saskcop]

Congrats on the .44! Good Marlins will never let you down. Remlins on the other hand ...

 

[Czy_Horse]

Curious how your new Marlin compares to the ones you had in the past in terms of overall build quality. I'm looking to get the same in .44 from either Marlin or Henry.

Spring of 2024 I ordered a pair of Ruger Marlins.

The Ruger Marlin 1894 44Mag/44Spl arrived first, in mint condition.

A couple days later, the Ruger Marlin 1894 357Mag/38Spl arrived looking like this out of the box.

The replacement was in mint condition. Cost me shipping & insurance to return the scratched up rifle.

IMO, both Ruger Marlins are over 'sprung'. The Lever Plunger Spring is terrible. It's hard to keep the rifle on your shoulder while cycling thru a mag dump. I have the spring kits, just haven't had time to replace. I installed spring kits in the Remington Marlins shortly after getting them in 2018.

Ruger's on top, Remington's on bottom.
357Mag/38Spl

44Mag/Spl

The Rugers have a better fit & finish and they where also 2x the price.

 

[kamlooky]

Marlins have won me over.
The older ones.
Perched with a 1.5-5 Leupold is a sure bet for purrformance and classy looks.

 

[willtoride]

Those are some nice looking rifles! Thanks for taking time to respond. I had my eye on a lightly used Remington Marlin, but went with a new 1894. Just arrived today and couldn't be happier. Thanks for the noting the spring too, I'll look into replacing the factory one.