Two Lever questions - Marlin vs. Henry

Howdy, been out of the shooting game for a couple of years. Now I am looking at getting a centerfire lever, maybe 30-30, maybe .357.

Two questions:

1) I have noticed there is a sentiment that since being taken over by Remington, Marlin's quality has gone down. Is this really true, and can anyone explain that?

2) Any thoughts on Henry's 30-30 lever? I just got their catalog in the mail, and it's a pretty nice looker, but I haven't heard anything about them.

Henry's look nice. And they are made in the good ole USA. But..... Everyone I know that has had one has had feed issues. I'd probably buy a Rossi or Taurus mfg before I spent a lot of money on a Henry.

Marlin is hard to beat, for accuracy and reliability. Don't own any of the Remington made Marlins, so I couldn't say on QC Issues of those. All my Marlins were made before 1990. Dealers & gun traders Definately ask a premium for PRE-Remington Marlins. If I was gonna use it as a hog gun or deer rifle I wouldn't be two concerned about the newer models, personally.

I also have several Winchester's 94's & 92's that are Pre-Saftey models. Plenty accurate for what I use them for. And I've never had one fail to feed.
Recent or current production Winchester Lever Actions are all made by Miruka ? In Japan. They are probably made on some of the finest CNC machines in the world, as the Japanese also make the best CNC Machinery.
Other than new Winchester Lever Actions being a LOT more Expensive nowadays, I don't see a thing wrong with them. Most traditionalist hate them because of the new style saftey.
Buy the one you like the best. Remember you ALWAYS get exactly what you pay for! I find that to be especially true with firearms.

And yes, the 30-30 is still a decent hunting cartridge for whitetail sized game. Probably more deer killed over the years with the 30-30 than all other Cartridges put together.
Personally, I prefer to hunt with my little short barreled Trapper Carbines in .357 magnum & 44 Magnum if I drag a Lever Gun out of my safe. I just consider them a 100 yard Max hunting rifle & know my limitations.
If I'm gonna shoot something past 100 yards, I'll be hunting with a Model 70 Winchester Featherweight in 7x57 or .264 Win Mag. JMHO, though.

The Remington made Marlins( or Remlins as they are called) definitely suffer from some quality control problems. Just go to the Marlin Owners Forum and you'll get an earful. I think Remington quality in general has suffered.
As far as Henry's go, they are good guns and have excellent customer service, but they are heavy and expensive. If I were looking for a lever 30 30, I'd look for a used Ct.-made Marlin or an older Winchester 94.

Heavy is right when talking about the Henry's

Thanks for the feedback guys. I should have cast my net a bit further when looking for comments on Marlin quality, I am now finding some threads that discuss quality issues since the takeover of Marlin by Remington. I've wanted a 1894 in .357 for quite awhile; maybe I'll just have to look on the used market.

The Henry is a pretty nice looking rifle in my eyes, maybe if I kept it unscoped it wouldn't seem too heavy. All good food for thought.

The scoped 30�30 is a 225 yard rifle any day of the week.

The Henry 30-30's ain't bad. I would consider a MossB 464. There are many god used 30-30s out there.

Find a good used pre safety Marlin 336 30-30 and forget the Henry. I am sure they are well made guns, but are HEAVY.

Are all the current Henry models all that heavy? In the .30/30 line, they now have a blued steel version with a thin barrel. They advertise the same nominal 7 lb weight as the comparable Marlin 336.

If u want a great lever gun Buy a Taurus Rossi sence Taurus own them now . Thier pattern after winchester 92 Great guns for about 450.00 also the new 45-70 looks like a old Marlin An feel like one of the jm Marlins .

Originally Posted by gun_fever

Two questions:

1) I have noticed there is a sentiment that since being taken over by Remington, Marlin's quality has gone down. Is this really true, and can anyone explain that?

After Remington aquired Marlin most of the long-time/experienced Marlin levergun workers were also history (some due to attrition, some due to being unwilling to relocate) - and then Remington not only moved the Marlin production initially to NYS, a few years later they moved the Marlin levergun production from NYS to Kentuckey. THEN, QC really went down the tubes, causing Remington to "temporarily halt" Marlin levergun production (it ended up being a year or two), before resuming the levergun production of a reduced lineup.

2) Any thoughts on Henry's 30-30 lever?

The brassie Golden/Big Boy's - FatBoy's, heavy for what they are (or should be: a hunting rifle); the blued carbon steel model much less so, most likely because they are a closer copy of the Marlin design.

The Rossi .30-30's seem to have good reviews, the .45-70's less so. YMMV)

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Would agree that the Henry is a bit heavy. I have one in 44 mag. It was accurate and smooth as silk out of the box. Would avoid the Remlins. A good used Marlin 336 might be a good choice.

Interesting info, thanks. I need to talk to my local dealers and get the low down on availability and price, as well as scope out the used market.

The Henry 30-30 is only 7 pounds, so maybe all of those heavy golden boy type models with the fancy receivers have given them the rep for heaviness.

I have to admit to checking out the Ruger 77/357 bolt gun just a bit. That is very interesting.