Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers New Marlin 44 mag opinions?

Looking at getting a companion walking around rifle to go with a 44 handgun so I can carry only one caliber ammo. Anybody have a remlin 44 ? I know they got a bad rap in general but supposedly they've gotten better. Not opposed to holding out for a JM since prices aren't that far apart unfortunately. Was looking a the stainless laminated pistol grip 16 inch with XS ghost ring .....those are pushing $1K , a bit under.

That is the 1894 SBL. Heck of a neat little gun. They could be had around $800 a while back but those days went quick, for now.
I'd have bought one if Marlin would have got the twist rate out of the dark ages. It might shoot up to 240 lead cores ok, but anything else is hopeless. A 1 in 20" is what it needs

Any idea if the JMs have a different twist rate?

The current production guns are MUCH better than the initial take over guns.

Good to hear, easier to find than a JM in good shape. Although I missed a nice JM one sold here recently at a good price.

That 16" SS was a special run for Davidson's

Price will be high........even the 20" SS will push $1K

Older JM Marlins can be had for $6-800 if you're patient

Pre safety may jump price a tad.......Lookin' for sumthing like this ?

Nice, but I am thinking of a large loop for use with gloves. But I suppose I could have the lever swapped out if need be,

yes.........Ranger Point precision makes a nice med loop lever

WWG loop levers are B I G........

Thanks for the tip, I'll check them out in case.

Anybody seen one of the maple stocked ones up close? I'm not usually a fan of maple stocks but these look nice.

Got my sbl about 6 weeks ago, loved the looks and feel of the gun. After about 25-30 rounds the bolt wouldn't push the hammer down far enough to fully cock. Back to the gunshop, they sent it to the Remington gunsmith, got it back 2 weeks later, works fine. Only other issue was the the stock didn't seem to have a matching amount of clear coat finish as the forearam did, kinda dull, not the satin. Put a little rub on polyurethane on, looks fine. Action is smoothing up nicely with use, trigger is stout but very crisp. Wood to metal fit is very nice. With a 2 x7 vortex crossfire (old eyes) I got 2.5 in.groups at 50 yards with some win. 250 gr. factory ammo. Made me happy. I like casting and shooting Keith style swc and plan to work up something for this rifle as it seems to chamber the swc with no problem.

Dogslife57, They have a couple at the lgs here. Like you, I am not generally attracted to maple stocks, but these look good enough that I am seriously considering one.

Did Marlin come out with a special run of 1894's in maple? Haven't seen one of those.....saw the Winchester 1873s...….

I bought one a few years ago.

The stock was broken from the factory....right in the wrist.


I called Marlin...or tried to call.

It was the same day that Remington declared bankruptcy. The message said no one was home....or was going to be home either.



I glued it back together and called it quits.


Other than the busted stock! it seems okay.

Well to update picked up today an 1894P carbine.......JM. Came with XS ghost ring sights, which I was going to put on anyway. May have paid a little more but it is in very good condition, so I figure this will hold me for a while. Sorry, no pics, but yes it did happen!!

Congrats! Good luck with it. I went on GunBroker this morning and bought one of the 1894s with the maple stock, they are also very nice, Plan is to go with a Skinner receiver sight.

Let us know what you think of it Tim Z