Winchester Vs. Marlin Model 94 in 357M

[king nero]

Hi y'all,
I'm new here, got directed to this board from the S&W forum.

short intro: I'm from Belgium, where there's no such thing as CCW or "freedom" in owning firearms, in fact over here laws are very restricting regarding firearms.
I got some leveractions, few revolvers and a 1911 clone.
Anything else you want to know, please feel free to ask, as I always love a discussion about firearms with people that know what they're talking about, as we don't have many folks like that over here.
(corrupcy of police, means that who's got lots of money (but not necessarily brains) can get access to firearms and licences).


What I wanted to know is the next:
I'm going to purchase a lever action in 357Magnum, and the choice is now narrowed down to these two:

Win: Model 94 Trapper
http://www.winchester-guns.com/prodinfo/catalog/detail.asp?cat_id=534&type_id=094&cat=003C


^Marlin: Model 1894C
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/1894_centerfireRifles/1894C_PR.htm

both have a 1:16 rifling and a mag for 9 rounds.
(Can I also feed 'em 38Spl's, or will this cause for any danger in the mag, I mean the the tip of the heads against the primers?)

It's going to be a 357M, as I already have a revolver in that calibre, and for ease of reloading that's why I'm going for a 357.
Also the gun will be mostly used at a 50yard range, so no need for Hi-Power ammo.
(and for the varmint in our back garden, and the occasional burglar).

I've already got both a Win (.30-30) and a Marlin (.22LR), and both are top quality. I personally favor the Win, because of the rounded lever and the smoother lines, but the Marlin shoots ace as well.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated,
I'm happy to learn about the accuracy (Marlin has got Ballard rifling), the reliability (Win isn't that good with pistol cartridges I've heard?) and overall handling, all comments are welcome!

PS I'm from Belgium, hence my bad English, pls forgive any spelling or grammatical errors...

Thx in advance!

[Mikey]

King Nero:  Howdy.  There have been a few posts on the preferences between the Winchester M94 and the Marlin 1894 in pistol cartridges.  It seems that more folks prefer the Marlin, as it was designed to handle the shorter pistol cartridges whereas the Winchester was designed for the longer rifle length cartridges and sometimes has feeding problems with shorter rounds.  

I like the Winchester 94s but those Marlin 1894 Cowboy guns are very attractive and really appealing, so much so that I may even get one for a friend.  Lots of folks are really happy with theirs.

HTH.  Mikey.

[Bullseye]

I have never had a problem with my Winchester feeding pistol ammo. My opinion the Winchesters are smoother guns and a better design, but that is my opinion only.  Since you have both, you have a good comaprison of which you think is the smoothest and handles the best.

[popplecop]

Own Win. and Marlin lever guns and love both makes.  I prefer the Marlin in 357 because of the action size.  Mine has Micro Grove rifling and took some experimenting in finding a good cast bullet to shoot accuratly.  The Cowboy version has Ballard rifling I believe.  This will handle cast bullets very well.  Not as fussy.  I think, no I know you will enjoy this rifle.

[king nero]

Indeed I've got both, and as said i like 'em both very much, but they are in .30-30 and in .22LR.

Problem is, now I'm going for a 357M, and I've heard that the Win wasn't made explicitly for handgun cartridges, whereas the marlin was developed especially for those short cartridges.
There were already action and extractor problems with Win's, and they are difficult in loading up some ammo, and the marlin eats all what's thrown at him. I've heard and read, again, i can't say for sure.

I've got nothing against Marlin, I know they're fine guns, but normally I'd go eyes closed and hands down for the Win. Too bad I've heard such bad stories about it, and I wouldn't be posting this if I weren't seriously considering buying a Marlin.

[Ganjiro]

King Nero, I had a similar question awhile back posted at Leverguns.com forum:
http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1272
I am VERY happy with my Winchester 94AE it feeds anything I put through it 38 Special, and 357 magnum with absolutely no feed problems. I recommend a Winchester 94AE without reservations, and me a 30 year Marlin man.

[king nero]

thx Ganjiro,
I've been a winchester enthousiast mainly because of the commemorative model 94 I have, (that's the best shooting gun I have). But I've read alot about the problems with the short cartridges, that made me doubt about getting one.
I'll go with the winchester. and if I have problems with it, then we'll see. But I doubt it, too.
thx!

[old06]

I too had a post on this very subject I have a Win 94 AE in 357 and to date it has had zero problems and handles great. One thing it seems to like 357 a little more than 38 sp but still not a problem at all. Enjoy!!!!!!

[Nanook 450]

Marlin's eject the shell to the side, instead of towards your face - although I've seen Cowboy Action Shooters catch a lot of shells in their ten gallon hats, one hot shell down your shirt at the wrong time may be a "wake-up" - also, I own six Winchester commeratives, and only the John Wayne and the Golden increased in value - I'm pining to sell these commeratives and replace them with Marlin shooters.  The action on the Marlin '94, with a bit of work is very smooth - I have an 1894p that to date shoots best with 240 grain JSP Winchester ammo.

[deecee]

Have a 1894 in 44 mag.  Will these guns somehow take down like a 22 cal. model 39?

  I do not have a manual -- purchased the gun used/

  Thanks for any help.

[Numpty Pete]

King,

You think Belgium is restrictive?  Try living in the UK, at least you can still own a pistol, most of ours are in.....Belgium, the Coppans club in Knokke Heist is where we go to shoot them.

Anyway, all that means that we only have Lever Actions so they get a lot of use.  I have a Win 94AE in 357 & a Marlin 1894SS in 44 so I'm in a good position to compare.

The Marlin action is shorter & can be made much slicker than the Win, it ejects straight out the side & loads easily.  The Marlin prefers a TC bullet and doesn't overly like SWCs (but will feed them) whereas the Win likes SWCs and struggles with other bullet shapes (mine does anyway but I'll admit it's very worn now its had 10s of thousands of rounds through it!).

Marlin firing pins break but the Win in 357 has a part called a cartridge block which breaks very regularly, mine were lasting less than a year.

I would say that barrel wise there is very little in it but I think the Win just shaves it, the Win trigger is also better and is two stage i.e. it has a first pressure which I like.

Basically if you want to just plink then it won't make much difference but if you want to do more action type shooting go for the Marlin every time but get some spare firing pins!!!!

If you want to see lever actions being used as they were never intended to be check out www.galleryrifle.co.uk.

Hope this helps.

[John Y Cannuck]

I love my '94s in 30-30, BUT Just to throw a wrench in the works, have you looked at the 1892 Winchester clones?
They are available in 357, designed for pistol sized cartridges, and one of the strongest, smoothest and lightest lever guns out there.

I have an Original in 44-40, and I think it's the smoothest of five different lever gun types in my safe.



http://www.winchester-guns.com/prodinfo/catalog/detail.asp?cat_id=534&type_id=079&cat=014C