Winchester or Marlin Caliber?

[sixpointfive]

After having a blast shooting and casting for my Marlin 1895 guide gun (45-70) I am starting to think about getting another lever gun for deer hunting and cowboy action shooting. The question is what is the better rifle the Winhester or marlin lever action and what would be the best cartride choice. I was leaning toward 45 colt.


I know I am opening up a can of worms here.

also what woud the value be for a 94 winchester Dark Walnut, all original. The S/N is 64475xx, I'd guess it's about 6-8 years old, not sure.

[6pt-sika]

For a pistol class cartridge I "prefer" Marlin Model 1894's over the Winchester 94's .

The Marlin Model 1894 was designed for short cartridges while the Winchester Model 94 was "adapted" to accept them .

You could get a knock off of a Winchester Model 1892 or Model 1873 from someone like Puma or Uberti or some such .

But still my personal prefernce is the Marlin model 1894 .

[AJ Peacock]

6pt-sitka has it right.

Get a Marlin 94, they are the best most bullet proof rifle for pistol cartridges made and they can take full tilt loads.

For Cowboy Action Shooting, the Marlin is the best 'off the shelf' rifle.

A Uberti clone of the Winchester '73 is very good and is used by most of the top shooters, but it is a toggle link action that requires a lot of gunsmithing to be as fast (short stroked) as the Marlin.

Also, the toggle link action is not as strong (not even close) as the Marlin with it's locking block.

As far as caliber, the 45lc is great if you are ever going to shoot black powder, as it resists fouling better than the .357/38spcl. If you want to shoot it a lot and are only using smokeless powder, the .357 is very hard to beat. It's cheaper to shoot (less lead/shot). For hunting, it would depend on the game, as both the 45lc and the 357 are great in the right situation.

The .357 would likely be easier to sell if you ever decided to get rid of it.

Hope that helps,
AJ

[Lonegun1894]

I can not speak for or against the Marlin, but since both Winchester 94s and 92 have been brought up, and I have the 94 in .357 and .45, along with Rossi 92s also in both, I can tell you that the 92s are much smoother. Both models are equally accurate, but as has been said above, there is a difference between being scaled and built for a pistol cartridge, and just being adapted to function.

[Artful]

Overall I must say Marlin - I do love my Rossi 92 in 357 but all the rest of my pistol caliber are Marlin's they seem to offer more advantages, easier takedown for cleaning, side ejection if you want to mount a sight on top, etc.

[Trifocals]

My vote goes to Marlin. They are quite accurate and reliable. There are many who worship at the alter of Winchester. There is nothing wrong with a pre '64 '94, but Winchester had many quality control issues in later years. Insofar as caliber, the .30-30 is a proven deer cartridge. I have recently been using the .35 Remington cartridge and love it. It's everything the .30-30 is but with more "thump". If you are inclined to use factory fodder, Hornady's Leverevolution ammo is great stuff. If you plan to use cast boolits you can't go wrong with Ranch Dog's. They were designed for Marlins. LOL

[btroj]

I have 5 Marlins so I may be biased......
The Marlin is much easier to disassemble for cleaning from the breech. Like has been said, the 1894 was made for pistol cartridges and it works great for them.
The side eject is nice too if you want to mount a scope at some time.
I would not take anything for my Marlin 1894cb in 45 colt. It is my favorite rifle by far.

[Dan Cash]

Winchesters are wonderful guns, at least the older ones. That being said, my vote goes to pre Remington Marlins for quality and accuracy. As has been said, the Marlin is much easier to dissassemble and maintain, especially if you wish to shoot black powder. If you will only shoot smokeless, the Rossi Puma is a fine gun and I think, the mechanical equal of the Winchester 92 though the wood is sometimes not up to par. I have a Puma in .45 and prefer it to the Marlin 94s.

[WyrTwister]

After having a blast shooting and casting for my Marlin 1895 guide gun (45-70) I am starting to think about getting another lever gun for deer hunting and cowboy action shooting. The question is what is the better rifle the Winhester or marlin lever action and what would be the best cartride choice. I was leaning toward 45 colt.


I know I am opening up a can of worms here.

also what woud the value be for a 94 winchester Dark Walnut, all original. The S/N is 64475xx, I'd guess it's about 6-8 years old, not sure.

You can hunt deer with the .45-70 . What distance are you talking about ?

I do not do CAS , but .45 LC would be fine . The real hot competitors tend to drift toward the older toggle lin actions ( 1873? ) . But I think they get pricy ?

Also consider the Rossi .45 LC for CAS . I have one in .45 LC and one in .357 Mag . Both are relatively cheap to shoot with reloads & my home cast bullets .

I also have a Marlin .44 Mag . It wears a scope and a slip on recoil pad . I like to try to shoot at rocks and dirt clods at 200 yards . Off of a rest .



God bless
Wyr

[KirkD]

If you are leaning toward the 45 Colt, then my number one recommendation would be to get your hands on one of the limited edition Winchester Model 92's chambered in that caliber. They were built in the Miroku factory and the fit, finish and quality are excellent. Since they were built about 10 years ago, you would have to search the used gun auctions, but they turn up from time to time. The 45 Colt can be loaded up to awesome levels in a modern Model 92 action (see Paco Kelly's article on the cartridge).

[45r]

I think you would be happy with a Marlin 357mag or 45colt Cowboy.They are getting hard to get for a good price now.The 357 would be excellent for cowboy action.There are some pretty amazing clips showing guys shooting 10 rounds in around 2 seconds with a Marlin.

[EDK]

Get a MARLIN...if you shop the internet auctions, you might find a used 24 inch octagon barrel. 44 or 45 caliber are running cheaper than the 357...since it was discontinued, the 24 inch 357 brings a premium. 20 inch is also a good choice.

Glenn Fryxell's article on 1894s at lasc.us will give you a lot of good loads and data. John Taffin, our most prolific gun writer, said something to the effect that "a 357 lever gun is the third most useful firearm you'll own; a 22 LR rifle and pistol being tied for first."

I shoot 44s mostly, but I've got 357s also....and 30/30 and 45/70 Cowboy Rifles. They're all good!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have samples of them all. 1866 (repro), 1873s (original and repro), 1892s (original and repro), 94Marlin, 94 Winchesters, (pre and post 64), 336 Marlin, 444 Marlin and 1895 45/70 Marlins.

I think it boils down to usage mostly.

Cowboy action use only?=1873
Cowboy action and hunting(unscoped)= 1894 Marlin or 92 Rossi.
Cowboy action and hunting (scoped)= 1894 Marlin

Rifle Calibre unscoped= Winchester 94
Rifle Calibre scoped= Marlin 336

Big bore rifle calibre= Marlin 444 or 1895 (Possibly Winchester Big Bore if you can find one).

As far as strength goes in pistol calibre levers the 92s are the strongest, you don't see marlins or Winchesters chambered in 454, but you do see 92 and they work well. 94 Winchesters are not popular in pistol lenght calibres, but are ok. They work well as a rule, but are a bit slow for continual fast cycling, such as cowboy action, but work well as hunting arms and are sometimes cheap. Don't try and hot rod it like the Rossi or it will disassemble. I always thought that they would be stronger being chambered for rifle cartridges, but that is not the case apparently.

[Heavy lead]

Here's my .02, I've got both, more or less I would buy a Marlin, however the advantage to a 94 Winchester, if you can find one is IME, they can be made, if they already don't, to feed almost anything. I have a Trails End made in the early 2000's, before they put the tang safety on, in .45 Colt and it will feed anything, SWC's, long noses (at least up to .43). I also have an old .44 top eject, this would not feed anything long from the factory, but it does now, it's a simple mod that a little file work will take care of on the follower, it now feeds boolits as long as .470, I shoot the Blammer honcho'd NOE .430-300 hollow points and the 330 solids out of it all day. The Marlin will never do that, it just isn't long enough, so it depends on what you want to do with it, and if you necessarliy want to taylor your loads to just one lever gun.

[1Shirt]

I would like one of each Win and Marlin in each ctg that they were made of. Now that isn't going to happen due to lack of funding. Love my long bbl 94Win in 357 (angle eject by the way so it is scoped). Fond of my 94 30-30 but sure wish it had a longer bbl. My 444 Marlin is an early one, micro groove and shoots well with anything I put down it. My most recent lever is a 44Mag in an older Marlin with micro as well. Agree with btroj regarding cleaning of Marlins. Take down is simple and breach cleaning is great. Wish I could find a lever in 375Win or 38-55 and would not care who made it. That said, if I were going by druthers, would by choice pic Marlins.
1Shirt!

[northmn]

Were I to pick it would be a Marlin CB as they now use Ballard rifling. As to caliber I would tqake a 44mag over a 45 Colt. The 45 colt is not a rifle cartridge. I shot a Rossi loaded with light charges in a 45 colt and it spit in my face. Also the rim is too thin. A 44 Mag gives a better selection of factory loads for a hunting gun and one can use 44 specials for Cowboy shooting. Until the Cowboy action shooting brike loose recently no lever gun was offered in 45. Another .02 cents

DP

[Eutectic]

Original Winchester Model 92 for pistol size cartridges....

[BeemerMark]

The Winchester is lighter, the Marlin has way more advantages. For hunting that involves a lot of hiking and climbing I'd take the Winchester. Everything else I'd take the Marlin.

The 45-70 will do about everything for hunting (except for duck hunting) load it heavy, load it light. If you want another lever gun I'd look for a 30-30. Nobody wants them, there are thousands for sale and $300 is about the most you could expect to pay. The 30-30 is another great cartridge loaded heavy or light.

[runfiverun]

i would think it wouldn't be too hard to load a 45-70 to use for duck hunting.
the soldiers out here used to shoot 410 shells through thier 73' springfields for rabbits and birds.

any ways i prefer the 92's, originals, brownings ,rossi's.
or even my 20 year old 45 colt, navy arms 92.
if i were gonna use it for hunting i'd find a short rifle, the rifle versions have smoother actions than the carbines do [dunno why but all 5 of my rifles are smoother than the 3 carbines i have]
the 94's are okay too and feed well, but i prefer the 92's over either of my 94 pistol cartridges.
in the 30-30 rifles the 94 is excellent, both my pre and post are fine rifles. [havent tried a marlin]
and the only other one i have to compare to is a savage bolt gun.

as far as the 375 win goes the win big bore i have beats my marlin straight up hands down,
except in the recoil dept. it's smoother ,more accurate, the sights work better with cast , and looks better too.
you'll find a marlin for less than a rossi or win though. except the cowboy model [i wonder whty they changed the bbl for a cowboy model???]

[NickSS]

+1 on what Four Fingers of Death said. I too have them all and in a pistol caliber rifle I would pick a 92 Win clone in 44 mag or 45 Colt for what you want to do unless you want to put a scope on it for hunting then buy the Marlin. I have several 94 Winchesters both top and angle eject in 30-30, 45 colt and 44 Mag. I would pick any of them for deer hunting but not for CAS shooting as they are too slow in cycling. The fastest cycling and smoothest action for a lever gun strictly for CAS shooting is any of the toggle link Winchesters or clones of them. However, They can not be hot loaded for hunting. The 92 Winchester and clones are also very smooth once you break them in and are the strongest lever action out there bare none. The Marlin is great for both hunting and CAS but is heavier than the 92 for hunting unless you want to scope it. For just a hunting gun either use your 45-70 which can do the job on anything in the US or get a 30-30 Win 94 unless you want to scope it them get a marlin.