The Winchester 94 AE 444 and the Timber Carbine are fine rifles, and like all Winchesters they are lighter rifles than the Marlins. Recoil seems sharper in my Winchester Big Bores than my Marlins. I will always prefer a Winchester to a Marlin just for no other reason than I like them better, and to me , Winchesters carry better. This is only my opinion. Accuracy in my Winchester 444's is as good as my Marlins. Marlins have grown on me in the past few years though. I don't think you can go wrong with either. The Timber Carbine is one of the nicest levers ever offered in 444 I think. It carries like a dream, which means it gets grabbed out of the safe more often, and being a 444, it can handle about anything in front of it. Grab one if you can.