Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Winchester 94 sporter or Marlin 336

Definitely, get one of each. My 336 is scoped and I pretty much limit it to hunting with Hornady Leverevolution. The 94 is open-sighted for the occasional deep-brush still hunt with jacketed bullets and plinking with cast bullets. 9 grains of Trail Boss under a 165 gr .309 cast boolit is dead on at 25 yards with the 94's sight elevator in the highest position and well within a minute of a tin can with my old eyes. It's a fun, soft-shooting load at about 1150 fps. Mama and I both love it. Something neat about fooling around with a lever gun.

I finally got my hands on another Marlin model 30TK after foolishly letting my previous one get away from me. I like a model 94 for shooting with open sights, and all around portability, but the little 30TK is just a sgood for that, and I can drop a little 4x on it if I want a scope.

For shooting cast boolits, the Winchester with it's 1 in 12 twist is easier to reach full jacketed velocity.

The Marlin with it's quicker 1 in 10 twist shoots cast bullets better than the Winchester at lower velocities.

This is a generic statement and I am sure individual rifles can prove it wrong, but if I was targeting 2100 to 2300 fps I would use the win. For 1700 to 2000 fps I would go with the Marlin.

For Jacketed bullets either will work, the advent of the Doug Turnbull Fast Fire II sight base for the Win Mod 94 has allowed me to start enjoying my Winchesters again. My eyes have lost the ability to use the peeps.

I would take either rifle hunting and be happy with it.

Just get a Savage 99 in 30-30 and be done with it. You can use pointy bullets, put the scope on top where it belongs and you don't have that tube hangin' under the barrel. An its usually more accurate.

Marlin.

I like the 94. Both shoot better than me off hand. But for reliability and durability, I'll take the Marlin.

Actually, the new 94 Sporters have 24" barrel.

http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/detail.asp?family=003C&mid=534178

I own both and like both but I prefer the Marlin.

I have had both. Grew up hunting with Dads 336 in 30-30 and years later I bought a 94 in 30-30 with a short barrel. That gun carried like none other I have owned. I kept the iron sights on it and only carried it when I went in the thick bottoms of Alabama. I wound up selling it years later when I started having kids and wasn't hunting like I used to. Now that they have gotten older and I am back in the woods, I picked up a 336 in 35 rem, cut the barrel down to 16 1/2", put a fixed 4x sightron SII scout scope with a weaver scout rail and couldn't be happier. It carries like the 94 but feels much more sturdy.

I like to get a good deal on a gun, buy the first one that has a price you can't resist. I wouldn't pass up a Mossberg either.

I think the marlin has the strongest, simpelest, action. They also have easily adjustable triggers and are ready for scope or peep sights. I think the Winchester has the weakest action but most collector value.Putting a scope or peep on a vintage winchester require drilling holes. The Savage has a strong action but they are complex, as well as their trigger creep is nearly impossible to address. Putting a scope on a vintage Savage may require drilling holes. If one was stuck on hunting with the 30 wcf cartridge I would use the marlin first due to my ageing eyes and need for a scope! I have all three (Marlin, savage, winchester) and love them all to shoot!

I don't know where this idea comes from but it's wrong IME. The weak links in the Marlin levers are the extractors and ejectors. I kept spares on hand and replaced them fairly regularly when I was gunsmithing. Never saw a Win. 94 break an extractor or ejector.

I have never heard of a Winchester 94 breaking anything (other than the pistol grip of the stock in a bad fall) and I have had three of them myself.
I had a Marlin once but I got tired of tightening up the screws all the time and with a scope on it it was just as heavy as a bolt action anyway.

I would give the gold star to Winchester for durability and reliability, the three I bought were all thirty years or older, had been hunted through hell and back as pig hunting guns over dogs before I got them, and were all the same as they came from the factory.