What's the difference between Marlin 1894 std and Cowboy versions

[AbitNutz]

There's a couple of hundred bucks between the two versions. Did they tune up the cowboy version a bit for competition shooting? Or is it just a wood and finish upgrade?

[Bohica793]

Cowboy version is a 26" barrel and a straight stock I believe.

[AbitNutz]

It looks like they both have 20" barrels but the Cowboy is an Octagon. The stocks also appear to be straight on both as well. This may be a recent development...They do sort of hint about competition ready. Might be an appearance thing.

[Bohica793]

I have a Cowboy and it is definitely a 26" barrel. You are correct that the Cowboy has an octagonal barrel.

[Triggerfinger]

Cowboys come in 20" and 26" octagon barrels.

[ReloaderFred]

I have five Marlin Cowboys, a .357 1894 20", a .357 1894 24", two .45 Colt 1894 24" and a .45-70 1895 26".

The ones I handled at the SHOT Show last week were all 20" barrels. The Cowboys have octagon barrels and Buckhorn sights, but there were several variations over the years.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[northmn]

For a while the Cowboy had Ballard rifling and the standard Microgroove. Now all 94's may be Ballard. I have a 336 CB 38-55 that is Ballard rifled and has a straight grip.

DEP

[gundownunder]

I don't know which caliber you are looking at, but my Cowboy II in .357 has a 20" oct. barrel while the carbine has an 18.5" round barrel. The earlier Cowboy had a 24" barrel. .357 Cowboys have Ballard rifling and the carbines were microgrooved until they changed them to Ballard. Sorry I can't tell you when that change occurred. As to accuracy, with the right bullet they are comparable. I was casting a 175 gr Mihec bullet which out of my rifle would group 5 shots into 1.5" at 50, but a friends carbine would easily shoot that same bullet to 1". I now get a 1" 5 shot group with the rifle, but with a 180 gr bullet of a different design. The 24" cowboy is very front heavy in .357 because Marlin used the same barrel blank for all the 1894 cowboys. In 45 colt they are much better balanced as a 24". If they weren't like hens teeth I would gladly grab a 44 or 45 in the 24" model.

[Wind]

Hey there AbitNutz -- Here's how the Marlin 1894 Cowboys played. Anything else is pretty much "standard". Short of the color cased receivers, there were no differences in the bluing or wood finish between the Cowboys and "standard'. Click to embiggenate...

186237 186238 186239

Hope this helps. Best regards. Wind

[1Papalote]

Boys, get your tapes out. The 1894 CBs were originally produced beginning 1996. These had 24" barrels and checkered stocks. The 1895 CB had a 26" barrel.

The 1894CB later sported the 20" barrel we see today.

1Papalote

[Gregg Gibson]

The standard 1894 is not a good choice for the bullet caster. It comes equipped with micro groove rifling. The 1894CB has Ballard style rifling and is much better suited to shooting cast bullets.

[wrench man]

The 45 Colt Cowboys have fat chambers, you need to run them on the upper end to get them to seal up so they won't blow back in your face!

[kingstrider]

The standard 1894 is not a good choice for the bullet caster. It comes equipped with micro groove rifling. The 1894CB has Ballard style rifling and is much better suited to shooting cast bullets.

That's funny because in my experience microgroove barrels perform as good or better than those Ballard rifling when the bullets are sized correctly. 99% of what I shoot is cast and I have owned over 40 Marlin lever actions including several Cowboys over the years. To eliminate a Marlin from consideration based on the type of rifling is rather short sighted.

[ReloaderFred]

That's funny because in my experience microgroove barrels perform as good or better than those Ballard rifling when the bullets are sized correctly. 99% of what I shoot is cast and I have owned over 40 Marlin lever actions including several Cowboys over the years. To eliminate a Marlin from consideration based on the type of rifling is rather short sighted.

I knew that post wasn't going to stand unanswered for long... I own well over a dozen Marlin leveraction rifles, with about half of them Micro-Groove. They all shoot cast bullets just fine, as long as I sized the bullet to the bore correctly.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[W.R.Buchanan]

My 1894CB must have been made in 2002 because it has a 24" bbl in .44 Magnum. It was a pretty homely gun when I got it.

After scraping the goo off the stock and refinishing it came out looking really nice.

This gun is a good shooter as long as you run .432 boolits thru it. It is my Goto Short Range Silhouette Rifle along with my 1895 CB .45-70.

Both of these guns required extensive work on the interiors to make them run smoothly. Not hard to do and about 2 hours each. The wood took a few days due to coats of oil needing a day to dry each time.

The 1895 was the worst with a lever that was so sharp it would cut you. The wood on that gun was an insult to "Fence Post Grade" wood. but came out looking OK after refinish. I would love to upgrade the wood on that gun someday, and it is a great shooter. I also added a Graycoil Recoil Reducer in the buttstock of that gun and it now weighs 8 lbs 1 oz which soaks up the recoil a little better. I really would like to see another pound on it.

I would also like to find a used 20" 1894 CB in .44 Magnum to rework and make into a Takedown.

All of these guns need some work to make them really right. If you buy one with that in mind you'll find that they are among the best Leverguns ever made. Everything is there to make a really good rifle, you just have to put the finishing touches on it.

Unfortunately you couldn't afford it if Marlin did it at the Factory.

Randy